Yahoo News Bernard Hill's life - from his 'insanity' after Boys From The Blackstuff to making Hollywood history
The news of Manchester-born actor Bernard Hill's death aged 79 has sparked heartfelt tributes from fans and colleagues across the worlds of TV and film. His most famous film roles were in Oscar-winning blockbusters Titanic and Lord of the Rings.
To another generation of fans, his memorable role playing Yosser Hughes in Boys From The Blackstuff was the Blackley-born actor's most iconic screen performance. Bernard Hill was born on December 17, 1944, and grew up in Blackley, Manchester.
He graduated from Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama in 1970 and went on to pursue his acting career throughout the '70s, exploring theatre, TV, and film roles. His breakthrough came in 1979 in his role playing Yosser Hughes in Boys From The Black Stuff - Alan Bleasdale's gritty TV drama.
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Set in Liverpool and first broadcast in 1982, the TV series was both a funny and tragic look at how widespread unemployment decimated working-class lives. In his moving portrayal of headbutting Scouser Yosser Hughes, Hill masterfully depicted a man crumbling before our eyes.
Yosser came to represent the desperation of Britain's mass unemployed of the early 1980s and his catchphrase "Gizza job" became immortalised in the nation's consciousness. It was a role that won him a litany of awards but he later revealed the it almost "drove him to the edge of insanity."
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Following Yosser, Hill continued to work in theatre, TV and film. He earned critical praise for his performance as Joe Bradshaw in Shirley Valentine in 1989. Viewers still recall his "chips and egg" monologue.
The mid-1990s saw more appreciation for Hill's talent, giving him bigger roles in film which eventually resulted in him being cast as Captain Edward J. Smith in James Cameron's hit from 1997, Titanic.
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Titanic was not just a critical success but also a commercial one, breaking the billion-dollar mark as the first film to do. It continued to be the highest-grossing film until Cameron's own 2010 movie 'Avatar' eventually surpassed it.
Hill's film career continued its rise with more prominent roles coming his way after Titanic. He starred as Philos in The Scorpion King (2002), alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He then landed the role of King Theoden of Rohan in two Peter Jackson's epic movies - The Two Towers and The Return Of The King - from The Lord Of The Rings series.
Uniquely, Hill holds a record where he is the only actor who has appeared in multiple films which were wrapped with a record 11 Oscars. Only three movies until now have received this many Academy Awards - Titanic, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, and Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston and released in 1959.
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However, Hill has been in more than one film that made over $1 billion USD at the box office, those being Titanic and The Return Of The King. Not too shabby for a boy from Blackley.
He was expected to make a return to our TV screens on Sunday evening in series two of The Responder, which also stars Martin Freeman. His agent Lou Coulson told BBC News that Hill had died in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Blackley actor had been due to attend the Liverpool Comic Con this weekend but he cancelled at the last minute.
Hill was married to American actress Marianna Hill. Together they had a son, Gabriel.
