King Théoden was a grear warrior-king of the Rohirrim and much beloced by his people. He was broken in spirit. In his youth he was tall and proud, strong and stern but tragedy visited his house. His wife Elfhild died giving birth to Théoden's only son Théodred. His sister Théodwyn was sickened and died of the grief of her husband who fell to Orcs, leaving behind two orphans, Éomer and Éowyn. Théoden was impowered by Sauruman with the help of the spy Gríma. When war was advancing on the people of Rohan, Gandalf the white, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli came to Edoras to find the King corrupted by Sauruman. Gandalf then banished Gríma from the lands and freed the king's mind of Saruman. Rohan now had its King back. Théoden then went to fight in the battle of Helm's Deep with his peolpe and also aid Gondor in fighting against the forces of Mordor. On the Fields of Pelenor he fell by the Witch King of Angmar.

Bernard Hill has enjoyed a multifaceted acting career on both sides of the Atlantic, starring in top British (Mountains of the Moon, Shirley Valentine) and American (Titanic, True Crime, The Ghost and the Darkness) feature films as well as scores of television and stage productions. Born in Manchester, England, he made his English television debut in 1973 in Mike Leigh's first film, Hard Labour. Balancing stage, film and television work, Hill starred in films such as Gandhi, The Bounty, No Surrender, Blessed Art Thou, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Going Off Big Time and The Criminal. He was most recently seen in The Scorpion King. He was also see in the award-winning television productions of I, Claudius, Henry VI trilogy and Richard III; Antigone; Boys From the Black Stuff; The Mill on the Floss; and Great Expectations. He makes his debut in The Lord of the Rings trilogy in The Two Towers and will next be seen in The Return of the King.

Biography from lordoftherings.net