Bernard Hill, actor who rose to fame in Boys from the Blackstuff, dies aged 79 https://t.co/dmBU5Ssk3y
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 5, 2024
Bernard Hill was born into a working class Mancunian mining family, and since this was the postwar UK when social mobility in the arts was somewhat a thing, he was able to pursue a career as an actor. Somewhat ironically (or fittingly) in light of this, his breakthrough TV role came in Boys from the Blackstuff, a critique of the economics of Thatcher-era Britain.
Internationally he was, of course, best known for his roles as Captain Edward Smith in Titanic and King Théoden in the final two films of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. These gave him the distinction of being the only actor to appear in two different films that each won eleven Academy Awards.
