Lord of the Rings cast pay tribute to Bernard Hill

The formed of The Lords of the Rings person paid tribute to their co-star Bernard Hill, who has died aged 79.

The histrion - who played King Théoden successful Peter Jackson's trilogy - passed distant aboriginal connected Sunday morning.

Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Sean Astin, who played the 4 hobbits successful the films, said goodbye to their "funny, gruff, beautiful" friend.

They told Comic Con fans successful Liverpool they had mislaid a "family member".

Hill had been owed to look astatine the Merseyside lawsuit but had pulled out.

His co-stars from the films, based connected JRR Tolkien's classical phantasy novels, stood up unneurotic connected signifier to stock their thoughts connected his passing.

Astin, who played Frodo's faithful companion Samwise Gamgee successful the trilogy, began by saying: "So we mislaid a subordinate of our household this morning, Bernard Hill passed, King Théoden.

"So we privation to instrumentality a infinitesimal earlier we locomotion disconnected the signifier to honour him.

"We emotion him. He was intrepid, helium was funny, helium was gruff, helium was irascible, helium was beautiful."

Boyd, who played Pippin, recounted watching the trilogy with Monaghan, saying: "I don't deliberation anyone spoke Tolkien's words arsenic large arsenic Bernard did. The mode helium grounded those words successful a realism.

"He would interruption my heart. He volition beryllium solely missed."

Hill's fiancee Alison and lad Gabriel were with him erstwhile helium died.

The Manchester-born histrion joined the formed of The Lord of the Rings for the 2nd movie successful the trilogy, 2002's The Two Towers, and returned to the franchise for 2003's The Return Of The King, which picked up 11 Oscars.

He was besides good known for his relation arsenic Captain Edward Smith successful the Titanic.

But Hill's breakout relation was successful 1982 BBC TV play Boys from the Blackstuff, wherever helium portrayed Yosser Hughes, a quality who struggled - and often failed - to header with unemployment successful Liverpool.

Alan Bleasdale, who wrote Boys from the Blackstuff, said Hill's decease was "a large nonaccomplishment and besides a large surprise".

"It was an astonishing, mesmeric show - Bernard gave everything to that and you tin spot it successful each the scenes. He became Yosser Hughes."

He added: "I was hopeless to enactment with him. Everything helium did - his full process for working, the mode successful which helium worked and his show was everything that you could ever privation for.

"You ever felt that Bernard would unrecorded forever. He had a large strength, physically and of personality."

Hill was owed to instrumentality to TV screens successful bid 2 of The Responder, a BBC play starring Martin Freeman, which begins airing connected Sunday.

Lindsay Salt, manager of BBC Drama, paid tribute to him, saying: "Bernard Hill blazed a way crossed the screen, and his long-lasting vocation filled with iconic and singular roles is simply a testament to his unthinkable talent."

"From Boys from the Blackstuff, to Wolf Hall, The Responder, and galore more, we consciousness genuinely honoured to person worked with Bernard astatine the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones astatine this bittersweet time."

In Boys from the Blackstuff, Hill drew praise for his gritty portrayal of Yosser Hughes, an aggravated and memorable quality who pleaded "Gizza [give america a] job" arsenic helium sought work.

That amusement won a Bafta for champion play bid successful 1983, and successful 2000 it was ranked seventh connected a British Film Institute database of the champion TV shows ever made.

Another of Hill's memorable BBC TV performances came successful the 2015 play bid Wolf Hall, adapted from Hilary Mantel's publication astir the tribunal of Henry VIII. Hill portrayed the Duke of Norfolk - an uncle of Anne Boleyn and an force of Cardinal Wolsey.

Other roles successful Hill's decades-long vocation included the 1976 BBC TV bid I, Claudius, an quality successful 1982's Gandhi, Shirley Valentine successful 1989, The Scorpion King successful 2002 and 2008 Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie.

He was meant to beryllium astatine Comic Con Liverpool connected Saturday, but had to cancel astatine the past minute, the normal said successful a station connected X. As quality of his decease broke, the organisers said connected the level they were "heartbroken" astatine Hill's death, and wished his household "a batch of strength".

Scottish instrumentalist Barbara Dickson besides paid tribute connected X, saying helium had been "a truly marvellous actor".

She added: "It was a privilege to person crossed paths with him. RIP Benny x."