Bernard Hill Biography

When producers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy needed an actor of eminence and power to play King Théoden in the second and third films, they went fishing and reeled in a prize catch: Bernard Hill. It was Hill who portrayed Captain E.J. Smith in the 1997 box-office blockbuster Titanic. By sinking to the bottom as the stiff-upper-lipped commanding officer of the doomed ship, Hill rose to new heights in his profession, receiving international recognition for his acting skill. Although Titanic was mediocre artistically, audiences loved it for its soapy melodrama, special effects, and strong performances from veteran actors like Hill. But who was Hill? When fans checked into his background, they discovered that he was among Britain's most accomplished actors. In the 1980s, he earned critical acclaim for roles in stage and television productions of Shakespeare's plays and won Britain's Press Guild award for Achievement of the Decade for his performance in the TV miniseries Boys From the Blackstuff. In 1994, he received a British Academy award for his starring role in Skallagrigg. Further research revealed that Hill had portrayed Gratus in what was unquestionably one of the top three or four TV miniseries of all time -- I, Claudius (1976) -- and Sergeant Putnam in the 1982 Academy Award-winning biodrama Gandhi. Hill was born on December 17, 1944, in Manchester, England, and eventually resided with his own family in Suffolk. Since the early '70s, he has acted in television and film, as well as theater. Hill has appeared in TV adaptations of such classics as The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot; The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame; and Antigone by Sophocles. Hill accepted roles in a string of films with offbeat names: Besides Skallagrigg, he appeared in Madagascar Skin (1995), Drug-Taking and the Arts (1994), Dirtysomething (1993), Drowning by Numbers (1988), Bellman and True (1987), Milwr Bychan (1986), Squaring the Circle (1984), The Spongers (1978), and Pit Strike (1977). In the Lord of the Rings films, Hill plays white-haired Théoden Ednew, the 17th king of Rohan and a defender of Middle-earth. Made old and decrepit beyond his chronological age by the machinations of Grima Wormtongue and Saruman, Théoden regains his vigor through the intervention of Gandalf and rides his horse, Snowmane, to battlefield glory. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

• 1. Captain Smith: Women and children first!
  From Titanic (in 3D). Submitted by Jed G (6 days ago)

• 1. Captain Smith: You'll get your headlines Mr. Ismay!
  From Titanic (in 3D). Submitted by Larry X (51 days ago)

• 1. Philos: Good lord. Are you going to kill me?
  2. The Scorpion King/Mathayus: Maybe later.
  From The Scorpion King. Submitted by Taylor W (2 months ago)

• 1. Captain Smith: It looks like you will get your headlines after all, Mr. Ismay...
  From Titanic (in 3D). Submitted by Jiashu X (3 months ago)

• 1. Théoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
  From The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Submitted by Ingri A (7 months ago)

• 1. King Théoden: I know your face, Eowyn.
  From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Submitted by Amy C (8 months ago)

• 1. King Théoden: Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day... a red day ere the sun rises! Ride now!... Ride! Ride to ruin and the world's ending!
  From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Submitted by Haroon M (10 months ago)

• 1. King Théoden: Death!
  From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Submitted by Waliyya B (13 months ago)

• 1. Gimli: We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances.
  From The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Submitted by Waliyya B (13 months ago)

• 1. King Théoden: Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread. If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end, as to be worthy of remembrance
  From The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Submitted by Ignacio D (13 months ago)