Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and went down with the ship as the captain in Titanic, has died.

Hill, 79, passed away on Sunday (British time), agent Lou Coulson said.

He had been due to appear at Liverpool Comic Con alongside LOTR co-stars Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan but had cancelled just days earlier.

“Due to Bernard’s partner being taken very ill, he can no longer attend the event,” Comic Con Liverpool posted to X last week.

“He sends his sincere apologies and thanks you all for your understanding. He sends his love to all of you and will see you all again soon.”

In an official statement after Hill’s death, Comic Con said it was “a great loss”.

Wood, Astin, Boyd and Monaghan spoke about Hill on stage on Sunday.

“We lost a member of our family this morning, Bernard Hill passed. Our King Theoden,” Astin said.

“We just want to take a moment before we walk off the 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.”

Boyd added: “We were watching the movies and I said to Dom, I don’t think anyone spoke Tolkien’s words as great as Bernard did,” Boyd said.

“He would break my heart. He will be sorely missed.”

Hill joined the LOTR franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002’s The Two Towers as Théoden, King of Rohan.

The following year, he reprised the role in Return of the King, a movie that won 11 Oscars.

In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Hill’s character fires up his overmatched forces by delivering a battle cry on horseback that sends his troops thundering downhill toward the enemy and his own imminent death.

“Arise, arise, riders of Théoden!” Hill hollers. “Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Death! Death! Death!”

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In Titanic, Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one of the only characters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic romance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The film also won 11 Academy Awards – with the roles making Hill the only actor to star in movies with that haul of Oscars.

As the doomed ship takes on water, Hill’s character silently retreats to the wheelhouse.

As the cabin groans under the pressure of the waves, he takes a final breath and grabs the wheel as water bursts through the windows.

Hill first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in Boys From the Blackstuff, a 1982 British TV miniseries about five unemployed men.

He was nominated for an award in 1983 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the role, and the show won the BAFTA for best drama series.

News of Hill’s death came on the same day the second series of the BBC drama The Responder was to air, in which he played the father of star Martin Freeman.

“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,” BBC drama director Lindsay Salt said.

“Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”

-with AAP