Bernard Hill

Born: 17 December 1944 Manchester, England
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1975 - present

Detailed Biography

Bernard Hill is a British actor of film, stage and television. In a career spanning thirty years, he is best known for playing Captain Edward John Smith in Titanic, King Théoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and as the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime. Hill is the only actor to have appeared in more than one of the three films awarded 11 Oscars, and in more than one film grossing more than $1 billion USD, namely: Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This latter record would later be matched by Orlando Bloom who starred in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Lastly, Hill has appeared in three films which have won Best Picture: Gandhi, Titanic, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Biography

Early life

Hill was born in Blackley, Manchester, England. He attended Xaverian College although at the time it was known as "Xaverian School", and then Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama at the same time as Richard Griffiths. He graduated with a diploma in theatre in 1970.

Career

Hill first came to prominence in Britain through his portrayal of Yosser Hughes, a working-class man ultimately driven to the edge by an uncaring system, in Alan Bleasdale's BBC Play for Today The Black Stuff and its more famous series sequel , Boys from the Blackstuff. His character's much-repeated phrase "Gizza job" became popular with protesters against Margaret Thatcher's government, because of the high unemployment of the time.

He had previously taken smaller parts in a number of British television dramas, notably appearing as the no-nonsense Roman soldier Gratus in I, Claudius, and as Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York in the BBC's 1982 productions of Shakespeare's Henry VI plays. In addition to TV roles, Hill appeared on stage in The Cherry Orchard, and the title roles in Macbeth and A View from the Bridge.

Hill became known to a worldwide audience when he was cast in the role of King Théoden of Rohan in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy based on Tolkien's novel trilogy of the same name. Before casting him as King Théoden, director Peter Jackson considered Hill for the part of Gandalf. When he was due to leave the set at the end of production, Peter Jackson gave Hill two gifts, Théoden's helmet and sword Herugrim.

At the 2006 BAFTA Television Awards, Hill was nominated for the 'Best Actor' award for his portrayal of David Blunkett in the one-off satirical drama A Very Social Secretary/