Bernard Hill was born on December 17, 1944 Manchester, England, UK. He is an English actor.

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.

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.

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.

Credits by Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Filmography

• Lesbian Vampire Killers (2008)
• Billy Goat (2007)
• Save Angel Hope (2007)
• Exodus (2007)
• Corazón de la tierra, El (2007)
• Joy Division (2006)
• "Surviving Disaster" (7 episodes, 2006)
• A Very Social Secretary (2005)
• The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005)
• Heatwave (2005)
• Sueño de una noche de San Juan, El (2005)
• Raphael: A Mortal God (2004)
• The Deal (2004)
• Wimbledon (2004)
• "The Grid" (2004)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• Gothika (2003)
• The Boys from County Clare (2003)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• The Scorpion King (2002)
• Going Off Big Time (2000)
• Eisenstein (2000)
• Blessed Art Thou (2000)
• The Criminal (1999)
• The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
• Great Expectations (1999)
• True Crime (1999)
• The Titanic Chronicles (1999)
• "Unnatural Acts" (2 episodes, 1998)
• Titanic (1997)
• The Mill on the Floss (1997)
• The Wind in the Willows (1996)
• The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
• Madagascar Skin (1995)
• Gambling Man (1995)
• "Once Upon a Time in the North" (1994)
• Skallagrigg (1994)
• "Between the Lines" (2 episodes, 1993)
• Telltale (1993)
• Olly's Prison (1993)
• "Lipstick on Your Collar" (1993)
• Shepherd on the Rock (1993)
• A Question of Identity (1993)
• Dirtysomething (1993)
• "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" (1 episode, 1992)
• Double X: The Name of the Game (1992)
• "About Face" (1 episode, 1991)
• The Law Lord (1991)
• Mountains of the Moon (1990)
• Shirley Valentine (1989)
• The Fremantle Conspiracy (1988)
• Drowning by Numbers (1988)
• Bellman and True (1987)
• Milwr Bychan (1986)
• New World (1986)
• No Surrender (1985)
• Restless Natives (1985)
• Samson and Delilah (1985)
• The Burston Rebellion (1985)
• The Chain (1984)
• The Bounty (1984)
• Antigone (1984)
• Squaring the Circle (1984)
• Runners (1983)
• The Tragedy of Richard the Third (1983)
• Henry VI, Part Three (1983)
• Henry VI, Part Two (1983)
• Henry VI, Part One (1983)
• Gandhi (1982)
• "Boys from the Blackstuff" (1982)
• "Play for Today" (6 episodes, 1973-1981)
• "Fox" (1 episode, 1980)
• The Black Stuff (1980)
• "Telford's Change" (1 episode, 1979)
• "BBC2 Play of the Week" (2 episodes, 1977-1978)
• The Sailor's Return (1978)
• "Pickersgill People" (1 episode, 1978)
• Pit Strike (1977)
• "Warship" (1 episode, 1977)
• "I, Claudius" (1976)
• Trial by Combat (1976)
• "Crown Court" (1 episode, 1976)
• It Could Happen to You (1975)

Awards

• BAFTA TV Award Best Actor "Boys from the Blackstuff" 1983
• Broadcasting Press Guild Award Best Actor "Boys from the Blackstuff" 1983