Actor. Born in Blackley, Manchester, England, Hill was raised in a catholic family of miners. Hill attended Xaverian College and then Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama at the same time as Richard Griffiths. He graduated with a diploma in theatre in 1970. Hill first came to prominence as Yosser Hughes, a working-class Liverpudlian man ultimately driven to the edge by an uncaring welfare system, in Alan Bleasdale’s BBC “Play for Today,” “The Black Stuff” and its series sequel, “Boys from the Blackstuff.” In the mid-1990s, Hill began appearing in films more regularly. His first major role came in “The Ghost and the Darkness” (1996), starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. Hill is probably best remembered for his role as Captain Edward J. Smith in “Titanic” (1997), directed by James Cameron. Hill also went on to act in “Lord of the Rings” films, as well as many other films in the early 2000s.
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