Bleasdale

Manchester-born, Bernard Hill became a Liverpool icon for the ages as Yosser "Gizza Job" Hughes in Alan Bleasdale’s 1982 TV series, Boys from the Blackstuff.

His writing heroes include Jimmy McGovern, who he has worked with previously, and Alan Bleasdale.

Alan Bleasdale, who wrote Boys from the Blackstuff, said Hill's death was "a great loss and also a great surprise".

Mr. Bleasdale said in reply, Mr. Hill recalled in a 2002 BBC interview.

Around the same time, The Times also praised Mr. Hill for playing a bouncer at a seedy nightclub “with splendid blankness” in “No Surrender,” a 1986 movie whose screenplay was also written by Mr. Bleasdale.