Saying Goodbye to a Legendary Actor: His Impact on Titanic and Lord of the Rings

Gallop! Gallop! Run to ruin, and to the end of the world! To death !

If you enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, it may be for the universe, the music, the main characters or even the settings, but it is also surely because of its casting. From Ian McKellen to Elijah Wood via Viggo Mortensen, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and even Hugo Weaving and Ian Holm, Peter Jackson has gathered around him actors capable of taking his project to the top. A very largely successful task, worth the trilogy 17 Oscars including 11 for The king's return. The years have passed, and several actors have since left us. Christopher Leewho had met Tolkien and who knew his work by heart and had performed Saruman wonderfully well, left us in 2015.

More recently, it is Ian Holm, seen in Alien and having played Bilbo Baggins (Blibo Bessac). The actor took his last breath in 2020, at the age of 88. Yesterday, the cast of Lord of the Rings was once again in mourning, since we learned the death of Bernard Hill, the actor who brought the character of Theoden to life, king of Rohan and Lord of Horses. First appeared in The Two Towershe largely left his mark on two of the three opuses of the saga with his stature, his epic speeches, and his relationship with Aragorn, Eomer and Eowin.

We also remember its morphing which, even today, goes very well from a visual point of view. The 79-year-old actor, born in Blackley, Manchester, in 1944, was due to appear at Liverpool Comic Con before canceling at the last minute. The reasons for his death are not known, but the disappearance was confirmed to the BBC by Lou Colson, the actor's agent. Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sean Astin (Sam), Dominic Monaghan (Merry) and Billy Boyd (Pippin), who were to attend the convention with Bernard Hill, obviously commented on the death of their colleague and friend:

Goodbye to our friend, our king, Bernard Hill. We will never forget you. (…), said Wood
We like it. He was fearless, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was handsome, added Sean Astin
I don't think anyone has said Tolkien's words as well as Bernard. It breaks my heart. We will miss him so much.

From Boys From Blackstuff to Titanic, Bernard Hill represented a whole generation of British actors

Born in 1944 into a mining family in the north of England, Bernard Hill belonged to a generation of working-class British actors. His portrayal of Yosser Hughes in the drama series Boys from the Blackstuff by Alan Bleasdale propelled him to the rank of spokesperson for a generation. His career obviously included other main roles, such as that of John Lennon in the TV movie A Journey in the Life (he also played the singer three times on stage and on screen), Bernard Hill will remain associated with the notable characters that are Theoden and theCaptain Smith. Because yes, if you don't know it, the one who shouts “Arise, horsemen of Theoden!” in the Return of the King was also the captain of the Titanic in James Cameron's film.

The final scene, where the captain chooses to sink with his ship, has long marked the public. At a Comic Con, Bernard Hill recounted how director James Cameron, having no precise information about the location of the real Captain Smith's death, asked his opinion for the final scene. “For the film, he had to be on the bridge, it's the most dramatic place“, concluded the actor, surprised by the question and initially hesitant to answer. The actor leaves behind his family and loved ones, to whom we send our most sincere condolences.