Happy Birthday, George Roy Hill! Born today in 1921, this American actor and film and stage director was the first and only director to have two all-time, top-ten, box-office hits.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hill was a son to George Roy and Helen Frances Hill, part of a well-to-do Roman Catholic family with interests in the newspaper business; the family owned the Minneapolis Tribune.
Hill was no relation and is not to be confused with American film director and cinematographer George W. Hill (many historians do mix up the names).
He had shot and headed numerous silent films and early sound films (or talkies) for MGM in the 1920s and early 1930s. Unfortunately, W. Hill had passed on August 10, 1934 from suicide due to a gunshot wound.
Years later, Roy Hill was educated at The Blake School, one of Minnesota's most prestigious private schools, and at Yale University, class of 1943.
Hill had a love of flying. After school he liked to visit the airport, and his hobby was to memorize the records of World War I flying aces.
He idolized American stunt pilot, barnstormer, wing walker, parachutist, airmail pilot Charles W. "Speed" Holman, who, Hill once explained, "used to make his approach to the spectators at state fairs flying past the grandstand upside down."
Hill later obtained his pilot’s licence at the age of sixteen. Airplanes were featured prominently in his later films, and are frequently crashed as well, which showed the influence on Hill of pilots like Holman.
Hill loved classical music, especially Bach, and as an undergraduate at Yale University studied music under prolific German composer, violist, violinist, teacher and conductor Paul Hindemith.
Hill's later feature, 'The World of Henry Orient' (1964) contains a humorous spoof-like tease of Hindemith during the piano concerto scene of Henry Orient (Peter Sellers).
During World War II, Hill served in the United States Marine Corps as a transport pilot with VMR-152 in the South Pacific.
However, the outbreak of the Korean War resulted in his recall to active-duty service for eighteen months as a night fighter pilot, attaining the rank of major.
After the war, Hill was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point jet flight-training center in North Carolina.
Upon being discharged, Hill worked as a newspaper reporter in Texas, then took advantage of the GI Bill to do graduate work at the research university Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
While there, he studied James Joyce. Some sources say that Hill graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in literature.
Other sources say that his thesis was never completed because he became sidetracked by the Irish theater, making his stage debut as a walk-on part in 1947 at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. This was with Irish actor Cyril Cusack's company in a George Bernard Shaw production.
On his return to the United States, Hill studied theatre at the non-profit organization HB Studio in New York City, New York.
He later acted Off Broadway and toured with American-British theater actress, producer and director Margaret Webster's Shakespeare Repertory Company.
Hill also later appeared on Broadway in William Shakespeare's "The Life and Death of King Richard the Second" (commonly called "Richard II") and August Strindberg's 1889 naturalistic tragicomedy "The Creditors" (with American actress and comedian Bea Arthur).
In the early 1950s, Hill married American film, television and stage actress Louisa Horton in 1951. They later had four children together.
Later on, Hill used his Korean War experience as the basis for NBC's American black and white drama/anthology television series My Brother's Keeper. The program appeared on Kraft Television Theatre (1947–1958), with Hill himself in the cast.
During his military service at Cherry Point, Hill had had to be 'talked down' by a ground controller at airport in Atlanta, Georgia, an incident that led to his writing a screenplay for the show.
After his demobilization, he joined the company as a writer, later becoming a director of various Kraft episodes.
He later won an Emmy for writing and directing a one-hour television version of "A Night to Remember" (S09E31), the story of the sinking of the British passenger liner RMS Titanic. It aired on May 2, 1956.
The 1964 film 'The World of Henry Orient', starring Peter Sellers, later raised Hill's profile in Hollywood, but his epic three-hour 1966 American Deluxe drama film 'Hawaii' was a setback.
Reportedly, when budget estimates reached $14 million, the producers attempted to replace Hill with Canadian-American television and film director Arthur Hiller.
However, he abandoned the idea after hundreds of native Polynesians in the cast went on strike, declaring: "We can and will perform only for our friend, Monsieur Hill."
Hill eventually rebuilt his Hollywood reputation with the 1967 American Technicolor musical-romantic farce/comedy film 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' starring Julie Andrews, of whom had previously featured in 'Hawaii'.
Two years late, Hill directed the first film of which he is best known: the 1969 American Western drama/crime buddy film 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'. Written by William Goldman, the film was based loosely on fact.
Starring Pail Newman and Robert Redford and made on a budget of $6 million, the film grossed $102.3 million at the box office.
The following year, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' received three Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Sound
However, it won two for Best Cinematography, Best Music (Original Score) and for Writing (Original Screenplay). This occurred at the 42nd Academy Awards in early April 1970.
One year later, the film won nine BAFTA Awards for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Robert Redford), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Katherine Ross), Best Screenplay, Best Original Music, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound. This occurred at the 24th British Film Awards in early March 1971.
The success of 'Butch' later allowed Hill to direct the 1972 American comedy-drama military science fiction film 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.
This also included directing the second film of which he is best known. This was the 1973 American drama/heist film 'The Sting'.
The title phrase refers to the moment when a con artist finishes the "play" and takes the mark's money. If a con is successful, the mark does not realize he has been cheated until the con men are long gone, if at all.
The story was inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by American professor of linguistics David W. Maurer in his 1940 true crime book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man.
The film also reignited Newman's career after a series of big screen flops. Regarded as one of the greatest films ever made,
'The Sting' is noted for its anachronistic use of ragtime, particularly the melody "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, which was adapted (along with others by Joplin) for the film by Marvin Hamlisch.
The arrangement was also a top-ten chart single for Hamlisch when released as a single from the soundtrack. From this, the film's success created a resurgence of interest in Joplin's work.
Again, starring Newman and Redford, 'The Sting' received ten Oscar nominations but won seven Oscars.
This included Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. This occurred at the 46th Academy Awards early April 1974.
The success of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'The Sting' films meant that, for a time, Hill was the sole director in history to have made two of the top ten moneymaking films.
Hill disliked tardiness on set. Newman said of his time (as Cassidy) on 'Butch Cassidy': "If you weren’t on time, he’d take you up in his airplane. Scare the bejesus out of us."
In the early 1980s, a sequelto 'The Sting' was made. This was the 1983 American comedy/historical drama film 'The Sting II'. It starred Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden and Oliver Reed.
Again, written by David S. Ward, Hill had nothing to do with the production.
However, 'The Sting II' was nominated an Oscar for Best Musical Score, this time composed by Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor Lalo Schifrin. This occurred at the 56th Academy Awards in early April 1984. 'The Sting II' currently holds a 0% rating on rotten Tomatoes.
Hill passed from complications of Parkinson's disease at his home in New York City, New York on December 27, 2002. He was 81. This was just one week after his birthday.
Hill was survived by George Roy Hill III and John Hill, two daughters, and twelve grandchildren. Hill's nephew is American animator, film director, screenwriter and producer Tim Hill.
In 2003, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
In 2005, The Sting was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
In 2008, 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' was selected by the American Film Institute as the 7th-greatest Western of all time in the AFI's 10 Top 10 list.
The American Film Institute ranked 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' as the 73rd-greatest American film on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)" list.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were ranked 20th-greatest heroes on AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains.
Among his credits, Hill is also known for directing 'The Great Waldo Pepper' (1975), 'Slap Shot' (1977), 'The World According to Garp' (1982), and 'Funny Farm' (1988).
Having had emerged from the theater world as an actor and director, Hill made a smooth transition to motion pictures by directing both Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the actors' most recognizable roles.
A filmmaker with backgrounds in music, drama and television, Hill was a popular storyteller. His films reflect an ironic, bittersweet vision of life. The stories entertain, but the subtext is often disturbing.
He felt that all of his major characters "create an environment, a fantasy, an illusion, and then go on to make it happen."
Hill later unofficially retired from Hollywood and returned to academia.
Despite his rather sudden abandonment of filmmaking, Hill nonetheless remained one of the giant directing talents who contributed to Hollywood's second Golden Age of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Hill had been active from 1954–1988.
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