Voices - LOTR Memories: John Noble and Bernard Hill

Here is another of my occasional Voices posts. Today I'm featuring two actors I first got to know in the Lord of the Rings films and have since seen in other roles: Bernard Hill and John Noble. I sometimes wander if I had seen them on screen before getting to know them as Denethor and Theoden. Great character actors sometimes pass through our lives and we don't stop to find out a bit more about them. 


John Noble

I first saw John Noble as Denethor, father of Boromir and Faramir,  in The Lord of the Rings films. Now I watch John Noble every Monday when Sleepy Hollow is on.  He plays the evil Henry Parrish, son of darling Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and annoying witch Katrina (Katia Winter).

John Noble is an Australian actor and theater director. He’s directed more than 80 plays in his career, including plays in London’s West End.  He was Head of Drama at the Brent St. School of Arts in Sydney, Australia from 1997-2000.  

Daughter Samantha Noble is also an actor/actress.


Below are two examples of John Noble’s work. 

A Noble family produced/directed film starring John Noble:





My favorite scene from LOTR Extended Edition - Osgiliath

Bernard Hill

I first remember seeing Bernard Hill as Theoden, King of Rohan, in the LOTR films.  

Bernard Hill was born in Manchester and is a film, stage, and television actor.  Hill graduated with a diploma in theater from Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama.

He became well known in the UK for playing Yosser Hughes in the 1980’s TV dramas The Blackstuff and  Boys from the Blackstuff. The British Film Institute described it as a "seminal drama series... a warm, humorous but ultimately tragic look at the way economics affect ordinary people...”


Since then Hill has worked in several popular films, including Titanic and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.


Below is Bernard Hill reading a poem by Shelley:






A bit of fun behind the scenes during LOTR filming with Bernard Hill and a glimpse of John Noble:






(Info thanks to Wikipedia, IMDB, YouTube)

(Disclaimer: Shelley's poem are not necessarily my views or indeed even Mr Hill's)