Bernard Hill’s final TV performance in BBC’s The Responder left viewers in tears on Sunday, just hours after the actor’s d3@th was confirmed aged 79.

The Lord Of The Rings star passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to his agent.

As well as appearing in billion pound fantasy LOTR trilogy which won 11 Oscars, he also starred in Titanic and iconic 1980’s TV play The Black Stuff and it’s sequel which  catapulted him to stardom.

Bernard’s last role saw him play Martin’s Freeman’s estranged father in the BBC police drama, which returned for a second season on Sunday.

Following the episode emotional viewers took to X, formerly Twitter, writing:  ‘Poignant seeing Bernard Hill in the Responder on BBC1 on the day he passed away’: ‘RIP wonderful Bernard Hill, tears welling as always with this powerful performance’.

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Bernard Hill’s final TV performance in BBC ‘s The Responder (pictured) left viewers in tears on Sunday, just hours after the actor’s d3@th was confirmed aged 79

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The Lord Of The Rings star passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to his agent (pictured in The Responder with co-star Martin Freeman)

‘Unexpectedly I find myself watching Bernard Hill on The Responder tonight on the telly box. What superb timing! Hat’s off o you sir, you were one of the best RIP’:  Awe, watching The Responder and knowing Bernard Hill is in it RIP’.

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’ following the news of his d3@th.

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 d3@th 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.’

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Bernard’s last role saw him play Martin’s Freeman’s estranged father (pictured) in the BBC police drama, which returned for a second season on Sunday

Following the episode emotional viewers took to X, formerly Twitter , writing: ‘Poignant seeing Bernard Hill in the Responder on BBC1 on the day he passed away’: ‘RIP wonderful Bernard Hill, tears welling as always with this powerful performance’

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.

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Bernard rose to fame for his performance as Yosser Hughes in the 1982 BBC drama Boys from the Blackstuff

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The actor also portrayed Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic (pictured)

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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 (pictured)

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.

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

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