Martin Freeman pays tribute to ‘light’ and type’ Bernard Hill

Martin Freeman has paid tribute to his co-star Bernard Hill as a ‘gentle’ and ‘kind’ man following his death at the age of 79.

The actor, who starred alongside Martin in BBC police drama The Responder, died in the early hours of May 5, his agent confirmed. 

Bernard was best known to audiences for his role as King Theodon in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and he also played Captain Edward J. Smith in Titantic.  

Martin, 52, reflected on his working relationship with Bernard during an appearance on The One Show on Thursday.

He said: ‘It was delightful, it was really lovely. I think, you know, when he came on set he’s sort of, you know, he was from Manchester but he was Liverpool royalty, having played Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff like 40 years ago. 

‘He was loved in that city. And for us and the cast and crew, he was a really gentle kind, sort of playful man with a twinkle in his eye. And I loved working with him, it felt like a real… 

‘Well, now, of course, it’s his last performance so I mean for us, it’s devastating he’s not here to see, to sort of reap the rewards of what he did because what he did is so good. 

‘But I’m glad that his last thing was something he cared about and loved so much. We were very lucky to have him.’

Martin appeared on the show with fellow The Responder star Adelayo Adedayo. 

Bernard first become familiar to many in the UK for his emotive and bold performance as Yosser Hughes in the 1980s drama Boys from the Blackstuff, a role that also brought him to the attention of Hollywood.

His passing comes hours before he was due to return to TV in Martin Freeman drama The Responder, which airs on BBC One tonight.

Tributes have been paid to the thespian, with praise for his ‘incredible talent’ and a career that saw him ‘blaze a rail across the screen’. 

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: ‘Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent.

‘From Boys from the Blackstuff, to Wolf Hall, The Responder, and many more, we feel truly honoured to have worked with Bernard at the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.’ 

Actress and musician Barbara Dickson, who starred with him in a musical based on the Beatles, was among those paying tribute, describing him as a ‘marvellous actor’.

Alongside a photo of them together, she wrote: ‘It’s with great sadness that I note the death of Bernard Hill.

‘We worked together in John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert, (by) Willy Russell marvellous show 1974-1975.

‘A really marvellous actor. It was a privilege to have crossed paths with him. RIP Benny x.’ 

The Manchester native had a varied on-screen career, coming to prominence acting in small realistic dramas, before going on to star in films that made billions worldwide.

Born in Blackley into a family of coal miners, he would attend acting school with Richard Griffiths, before moving into television.

After bit roles in Hard Labour and the poorly received but now acclaimed I, Claudius, he got his first major break in the early 1980s.

The actor was cast as Yosser Hughes, a working class Liverpudlian in The Black Stuff and its sequel, Boys from the Blackstuff, in 1982.

His character was a man left struggling to do the right thing after becoming unemployed and coined the phrase ‘gizza job’ – meaning ‘give us a job’ – became a common refrain among protesters in Thatcherite Britain.

The sequel won a Bafta for best drama series in 1983 and was listed as the seventh best TV show ever made on a British Film Institute list in 2000. 

The same year he took the role of Sergeant Putnam in Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning biopic Gandhi, before starring in the BBC‘s 1983 adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play Henry VI, in which he played the Duke of York.

He would later be cast as Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s gargantuan film, Titanic. 

The 1997 movie saw him play the captain of the infamous vessel on what would be its maiden and only voyage across the Atlantic, before going down with the ship after it hit an iceberg.

It marked the start of a late career renaissance for Hill, who was then chosen by Peter Jackson in the role of King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The actor was praised for his portrayal of the embattled King of Rohan who valiantly fights to save his people from the forces of evil.

Hollywood kept calling, with Hill making appearances in Dwayne Johnson vehicle The Scorpion King, Halle Berry horror film Gothika and the tennis-themed romantic comedy Wimbledon.

He continued to make regular appearances on British television, before being cast in the 2015 BBC drama Wolf Hall. 

An adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Hill portrayed the Duke of Norfolk in the first series of the show, before being replaced by Timothy Spall in the second.

He had been due to return to our screens once more tonight, with a role in Martin Freeman’s BBC show The Responder.

The thespian lived in Suffolk and is survived by his wife Marianna Hill and their son Gabriel.