George Roy Hill (1921–2002) was an American film director whose work in theater, television, and film spanned over four decades. Known for his successful collaborations with actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman, Hill directed fourteen feature films in a variety of genres, including romance, musicals, and historical pieces, while his notable Western feature, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), is regarded for its watershed influence on 1960s–1970s Hollywood.
Hill began his career during television's first Golden Age in the 1950s, writing, directing, and acting in episodes for the early television plays of Kraft Television Theatre, following a brief career on stage working in off-Broadway roles. As an actor, Hill appeared in a supporting role in the feature film noir picture Walk East on Beacon (1952). He drew from his military experiences in the Korean War to write screenplays for the TV drama episodes "My Brother's Keeper" and "Keep Our Honor Bright" in 1953. Hill began directing teleplays for episodes of Pond's Theater and Lux Video Theatre in 1954, while continuing to work on Kraft Theater and eventually earning two Emmy nominations for his writing and direction of the episode "A Night to Remember" in 1956. He directed several notable episodes of the anthology series Playhouse 90, including "The Helen Morgan Story" (1957), "The Last Clear Chance" (1958), "Child of Our Time" (1958), and "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1959), as well as episodes for The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, before ultimately returning to Broadway directing in 1957.
In 1962, Hill made his film directorial debut with his feature adaptation of Period of Adjustment, starring Tony Franciosa and Jane Fonda in one of her earliest breakthrough roles. He continued a brief run of stage-to-film adaptations with his subsequent release of Toys in the Attic (1963), from Lillian Hellman's play of the same name. Hill's next film, The World of Henry Orient (1964), was adapted from a novel by Nora Johnson and starred Peter Sellers as the eccentric concert pianist Henry Orient. After replacing Fred Zinnemann as appointed director, Hill achieved his first major commercial success with the large-budget blockbuster release Hawaii (1966). Hill then directed the 1967 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, starring Julie Andrews, which became one of the highest-grossing films of that year in North America, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards.
Hill directed Robert Redford and Paul Newman in the 1969 Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid from a screenplay by William Goldman, which became a major commercial and critical success. He followed this with Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) before reuniting with Newman and Redford for The Sting (1973), which won seven of its 10 Oscar nominations at the 46th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. The combined success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting briefly made Hill the only director to have made two of the ten highest-grossing films in motion picture history. His later work included The Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Slap Shot (1977), A Little Romance (1979), The World According to Garp (1982), The Little Drummer Girl (1984), and Funny Farm (1988), after which he retired from filmmaking to teach drama at Yale University.
Film
+YearTitledirectorscreenWriterProducerNotesRef(s).1962Period of AdjustmentBased on the 1960 play by Tennessee Williams1963Toys in the AtticBased on the 1960 play by Lillian Hellman1964The World of Henry OrientBased on the 1958 novel by Nora Johnson1966HawaiiBased on the 1959 novel by James A. Michener1967Thoroughly Modern MillieBased on the 1956 British musical Chrysanthemum1969Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid1972Slaughterhouse-FiveBased on the 1969 novel by Kurt Vonnegut1973The Sting1975The Great Waldo Pepper1977Slap Shot1979A Little RomanceBased on the 1977 novel E=mc2 Mon Amour by Patrick Cauvin1982The World According to GarpBased on the 1978 novel by John Irving1984The Little Drummer GirlBased on the 1983 novel by John le Carré1988Funny FarmBased on the 1985 novel by Jay Cronley
Acting roles +YearTitleRoleNotesRef(s).1952Walk East on BeaconNicholas Wilben1982The World According to GarpPilotUncredited
Television +YearTitleDirectorWriterExecutive producerNotesRef.1953–1956Kraft Television TheatreEpisodes: "My Brother's Keeper", Keep Our Honor Bright, "Eleven O'Clock Flight", "The Devil as a Roaring Lion", "Good Old Charlie Faye", "A Night to Remember"1954Ponds Theater Episode: "Time of the Drought"1955Lux Video TheatreEpisodes: "The Creaking Gate", "Not All Your Tears", "The Happy Man"1956–1957The Kaiser Aluminum Hour Episodes: "Man on the White Horse", "Carnival", and "A Real Fine Cutting Edge" 1957–1959Playhouse 90Episodes: "The Helen Morgan Story" (1957), "The Last Clear Chance" (1958), "Child of Our Time" (1958), and "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1959).1958The Seven Lively ArtsEpisode: "Blast at Centralia No. 5"
Acting roles +YearTitleRoleNotesRef.1951–1952Lux Video TheatreMark, Dan, GeorgeEpisodes: "The Doctor's Wife", "Man at Bay", "Masquerade"1953Kraft Television TheatreNews CommentatorEpisodes: "My Brother's Keeper", "Keep Our Honor Bright"1954Ponds TheaterEpisode: "Deliver Me from Evil"
Stage +YearTitleDirectorWriterActorRef.1948Biography1957Look Homeward, Angel New York Times, Nov. 29, 1957, "The Theatre: 'Look Homeward, Angel' --- Luminous Adaptation of Wolfe Novel Opens," by Brooks Atkinson, p. 33."'Look Homeward, Angel' Broadway 1957" playbillvault.com. Retrieved November 28, 20151959The Gang's All Here1960Period of Adjustment1961Moon on a Rainbow Shawl
Notes
References
External links
George Roy Hill filmography at IMDb