'We lost a member of our family' Hobbits' tearful speech after the death of Bernard Hill

Actors from the Lord of the Rings trilogy paid tribute to fellow actor Bernard Hill at Liverpool Comic Con this weekend.

The 79-year-old, who played Théoden, King of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings films, died on Sunday morning, while his co-stars and friends attended Liverpool Comic Con. Bernard was due to appear at the event - as it was billed as a The Lord of the Rings reunion. However he pulled out of the appearance on Friday evening.

After learning of the death of their friend, actors Sean Astin, Dom Monaghan , Elijah Wood and Billy Boyd, who were Hobbits in the film series, paid tribute to Bernard at the convention. Standing beside his co-stars, Sean Astin said: "So we lost a member of our family this morning."

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He added: "We just want to take a moment before we walk off stage to honour him, he was supposed to be here today. We love him, He was intrepid, he was funny, he was gruff, he was irascible, he was beautiful." In the clip shared to Comic Com's X page, Dom Monaghan could then be seen embracing an emotional Sean.

After wiping away tears, Billy Boyd said: "We were watching the movies and I said to Dom, I don’t think anyone spoke Tolkien’s words as great as Bernard did. He would break my heart. He will be solely missed."

On X, Elijah Wood who played Frodo, said: "So long to our friend, our king, Bernard Hill. We will never forget you. 'For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning.'"

Event organisers at Comic Con released a statement following the saddening news. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Comic Con Liverpool said: "We’re heartbroken to hear the news of Bernard Hill’s passing. A great loss. Thinking of his family at this very sad time, and wishing them a lot of strength."

Bernard also played Captain Edward Smith in the Oscar-winning 1997 epic romance Titanic, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. He first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Blackstuff, which aired in 1982 about five unemployed men. The role earned him a Bafta TV nomination in 1983, the same year the show picked up the Bafta for best drama series.

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