R.I.P. Bernard Hill 1944 - 2024

Veteran British actor Bernard Hill has died at the age of 79. The long time actor with a career going back to 1976 is probably familiar for his many roles over the decades but he is most famous for two - King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Captain Edward Smith in Titanic. His other work includes roles in Gandhi, The Scorpian King, Valkrie and many more. His final role will be the BBC series The Responder that begins airing on Sunday. No cause of death was provided.

The long time Manchester United fan is survived by his wife Marianna Hill and son Gabriel. Condolances to his family and friends.

Christopher Lee 1922-2015

Legendary actor Christopher Lee died Sunday in London at the age of 93. Today he is probably most famous for bringing to life Saruman but his career spans decades as his Guinness World Record of 259 movies roles attest to.

Christopher Lee was born in London on May 27, 1922. Served during World War II first as part of the Royal Air Force and then as an intelligence in their elite Special Operations Executive on missions that remain classified. He mostly worked in the African and European theatre of war helping to retake Sicily. By the time his tour of duty was over he had received commendations for bravery from four governments including his own. After the war, at the ripe old age of 25 he became an actor and started a career that would last 7 decades. The actor was James Bond creator Ian Fleming first choice for the role of Bond and personally received the permission of JRR Tolkien to play Gandalf which he fought for but was considered to old when the role became available in Peter Jackson's opus. His version of Dracula is considered definitive and often emulated today as is his version of the eye patched Rochefort.

His volume of acting is so great that there really should be a "3 Degrees of Christopher Lee" as he can connect to any actor in only 2.59 steps. He never received award accolades but then he never seem to care about prestige of a role, just that it was another chance to act. When you get a chance you should check out his filmography, I suspect you will find him in more than a few favorite films. The acting world lost a giant but the legacy of film he left behind will last for generations.

Peter Jackson summed him up best:

Christopher spoke seven languages; he was in every sense, a man of the world; well versed in art, politics, literature, history and science. He was scholar, a singer, an extraordinary raconteur and of course, a marvelous actor. One of my favourite things to do whenever I came to London would be to visit with Christopher and Gitte where he would regale me for hours with stories about his extraordinary life. I loved to listen to them and he loved to tell them - they were made all the more compelling because they were true - stories from his time with the SAS, through the Second World War, to the Hammer Horror years and later, his work with Tim Burton - of which he was enormously proud.

I was lucky enough to work with Chris on five films all told and it never ceased to be a thrill to see him on set. I remember him saying on my 40th Birthday (he was 80 at the time), “You’re half the man I am”. Being half the man Christopher Lee is, is more than I could ever hope for. He was a true gentleman, in an era that no longer values gentleman.

RIP LOTR Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie

Monday Peter Jackson's long time Oscar winning cinematographer Andrew Lesnie died of a heart attack at age 59. His work with Peter Jackson goes all the way back to the Fellowship of the Ring (which one him his Oscar) and continued from there to the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Lovely Bones, The Hobbit Trilogy, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. His final film, The Water Diviner, was just released in theaters. AICN's Quint has a lovely eulogy for the famed cinematographer whose work helped create how we see Middle-Earth. Condolences to his friends and family.

Update: Peter Jackson has commented on the death of his "brother":

“Being an only child, I grew up wondering what it would be like to have a brother. It wasn’t until today, in trying to deal with the terrible news of Andrew’s passing, that I came to realise how much he had become that person for me – someone I could intrinsically love and trust – which I know now means someone who is up for all the good and the bad. Andrew was an irreplaceable part of my family and I am in total disbelief that I’ll never again hear his infectious laugh, nor benefit from his quiet wisdom, or enjoy his generous praise. Andrew created unforgettable, beautiful images on screen, and he did this time and again, because he only ever served what he believed in – he was his own artist, separate from me, but always working generously to make what we were trying to create together better. On set we developed an ability to work together using a minimum of words – a rare meeting of minds. I will always remember turning up, countless times, at five in the morning – all those quiet moments I had with him when I could step on to set and know he was there – unfazed, ready, listening, interested, more importantly – ready to catch me if I faltered. He always had my back. The more anxious I became, the more calm he would be. A solid rock in the unpredictable world we both chose to work in. After 17 years and 8 movies together, the loss of Andrew is very hard to bear.”

R.I.P. Mike Hopkins, Sound Editor on LOTR

New Zealand Stuff reports that Oscar winner Mike Hopkins died at the age of 53 after his inflatable raft slipped on the Waliohine River, NZ around 3pm Saturday December 30th. Hopkins won his Academy Awards for Sound Editing on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2003 and another on King Kong in 2006. He was also received an Oscar nomination for Sound Editing for Transformers in 2008. He was the Supervising Sound Editor on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Kung Fu Panda, and more. Condolences to his family and friends.

R.I.P. Bob Anderson

The Lord of the Rings family has lost one of its own this New Year’s Day when sword master and fight choreographer Bob Anderson passed away at the age of 89. He had a long career creating the epic fights scenes for many movies and training the actors and stuntmen to pull them off. Or in some cases doing it himself like performing Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. His work includes The Princess Bride, Highlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many more. In short, if you have geeked over a sword fight sequence in a favorite movie, don't be surprised if he either helped create it or influenced the person that did.

Peter Jackson wrote on his Facebook page:

It is a rare, even within the film industry, that you get to work with a legend which was why I was thrilled when Bob Anderson agreed to come on board The Lord of the Rings as our sword-master. In fact, it took a while for it to sink in that I was going to get to work with the same man who had helped create some of cinema's greatest fight sequences - from Star Wars to The Princess Bride. Bob was a brilliant swordsman and a gifted teacher; I will remember him as a wonderfully patient man, possessed of a terrific sense of humour. It was a privilege to have known him.

R.I.P. Pierre Vinet

If that image to the left looks familiar, that is thanks to Lord of the Rings trilogy photographer Pierre Vinot. His many iconic images where used in the promotion of the trilogy. Sadly the Hobbit films will not be able to benefit from his skills as he died after a fight with cancer. His other works include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong, The Frighteners and other films.

Quint over at Ain't It Cools News has more Vinot's images and an excellent write-up as he describes watching Pierre at work on the set for Return of the King which you can find here. It is worth the read, if only to see some of the photos that you thought were stills from the film but was actually from Pierre Vinot.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Pauline Baynes Dead at 85

TheOneRing.net reports that JRR Tolkien's favorite illustrator, Pauline Baynes, died August 1st at the age of 85. She did art work for The Chronicles of Narnia (for CS Lewis), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Tree and Leaf, Bilbo's Last Song, and produced illustrated posters of the maps from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Pauline Baynes
9/9/1922 - 8/1/2008