Arthur Edward Spence Hill (1 August 1922 – 22 October 2006) was a Canadian actor. He was known in British and American theatre, film and television. He attended the University of British Columbia law school. He studied acting in Seattle, Washington.
Arthur Hill | |
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Born | Arthur Edward Spence Hill (1922-08-01)1 August 1922 Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada |
Died | 22 October 2006(2006-10-22) (aged 84) Pacific Palisades, California, U.S. |
Nationality | Canadian |
Alma mater | University of British Columbia |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1949–1990 |
Spouse(s) | Peggy Hassard (1942–1998; her death; 2 children) Anne-Sophie Taraba (2001–2006; his death) |
Arthur Hill was born Arthur Edward Spence Hill in Melfort, Saskatchewan, on 1 August 1922, the son of Edith Georgina (Spence) and Olin Drake Hill, a lawyer. As part of the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, Hill served in the mechanic corps. He attended the University of British Columbia, studying law. He joined the RCAF while in UBC pre-law.[1] After the war, finishing the university degree, he was lured to the stage.
Hill's Broadway theatre debut was in the 1957 revival of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, playing Cornelius Hackl. In 1963, the Tonys awarded Hill Best Dramatic Actor for his portrayal of George in the original Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Other Broadway credits include: Ben Gant in the original production of Look Homeward, Angel (1957); All the Way Home (1960); Something More! (1964); and More Stately Mansions (1967).[2]
In the film The Andromeda Strain (1971), Hill played Dr. Jeremy Stone. Other film work: The Ugly American (1963); Harper (1966); Petulia (1968); The Chairman (1969); The Killer Elite (1975); Futureworld (1976); A Bridge Too Far (1977) (uncredited); and narration of Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983).[3]
Hill's television role portraying lawyer Owen Marshall in the 1971–74 TV series Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law had high status at the time.[2] He appeared on many other television shows, including The Reporter, a 1964 drama starring Harry Guardino. Grandpa Lansford Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie (1976) was another of Hill's portrayals.
Other television shows were: Mission Impossible, episode "The Carriers" (S1:E10) 1966; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, episode "The Monster from the Inferno" 1966; The F.B.I., (S1:E23) "Flight to Harbin" 1966; The Invaders, episode "The Leeches" 1967; Murder, She Wrote, the pilot episode, 1984, reprising the role in 1990; and Columbo, episode "Agenda for Murder", portraying a governor, was his final role in 1990.
Hill married Peggy Hassard in September 1942. Their children were Douglas and Jennifer.[4] The family moved to Great Britain in 1948. In London, he was at the BBC, both radio and television. They moved to New York City in 1958,[3] then to Los Angeles in 1968.
He retired in 1990. After the death of his wife in 1998, he re-married, to Anne-Sophie Taraba, in 2001.[5][6]
Hill died on 22 October 2006, in Pacific Palisades, California. He lived in a nursing home, and was 84 years old. His passing was attributed to Alzheimer's disease.[7]
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