Titanic star dies suddenly at 79
British actor Bernard Hill has died suddenly at the age of 79 just days before a scheduled appearance at a fan convention.
His agent announced his death in the early hours of Sunday morning, although no cause of death has been shared.
Hill was most known for his role of Captain Edward Smith in the Oscar-winning 1997 film Titanic opposite Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and earned global recognition playing Theoden, King of Rohan, in two of the three The Lord Of The Rings films.
The actor was scheduled to appear at Liverpool’s Comic-Con over the weekend but cancelled at the last minute, as the convention shared on X.
When news broke of the actor's passing the organisers of the event took to social media to lead the tributes.
“We’re heartbroken to hear the news of Bernard Hill’s passing,” they wrote on X.
“A great loss. Thinking of his family at this very sad time, and wishing them a lot of strength.”
Hill's Lord of the Rings co-star Elijah Wood shared his condolences, adding a moving quote from the film they starred in together.
"So long to our friend, our king, Bernard Hill. We will never forget you," he wrote. “For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning.”
In the hours after his death, four Lord of the Rings actors who play the iconic hobbits took to the stage of Liverpool Comic Con to pay their respects to Bernard.
Sean Astin, known for his role in the trilogy of Samwise Gamgee, said on stage, "He was intrepid, he gruff, he was irascible."
Echoing Sean's words, Billy Boyd who played Pippin in the films, said, “We were watching the movies and I said to Dom, I don’t think anyone spoke Tolkien’s words as great as Bernard did.”
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