LONDON (AP) — Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into💞 battle in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and went down with the ship as the🅰 captain in “Titanic,” has died.
Hill, 79,🔥 passed away Sunday morning, agent Lou 𒀰Coulson said.
Hill joined “The Lord Of The Riꦚngs” franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002′s “The Two Towers,” as Théoden, King of Rohan. The following year, he reprised the role in “Return of the King,” a movie that won 11 ♌Oscars.
In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Hill’s character fires up h🍎is overmatched forces by delivering a battle cry on horseback that sends his troops thundering downhill♕ toward the enemy and his own imminent death.
“Arise, arise, riders of Théoden!” Hill hollers. “Spears shall be shaken, s🍃hields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun 🧜rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Death! Death! Death!”
In “Titanic,” Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one 🐻of the only characters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic r⭕omance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film also won 11 Academy Awards.
As the doomed sꦫhip takes on water, Hill’s character silently retreats to the wheelhouse. As the cabin groans under the pressure of the waves, he takes a final breath and grabs the wheel as water bursts through the windows.
Hill first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in “Boys From the Blackstuff,” a 1982 British TV miniseries🥂 abo🌺ut five unemployed men.
He was nominated for an award in 1983 𒁏from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the role, and the show won the BAFTA for best drama series.
His death came the ꦕsame day the second series of the BBC drama “The Responder” was to air, in which he played the father of the show’s star, Martin Freeman.
“Bernard Hill blazed a trail acr🍎oss the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent, said Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”