Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
George Roy Hill (December 20, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American film director. He is best known for directing films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Great Waldo Pepper and Slap Shot.
Early life
He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to George Roy and Helen Frances (née Owens) 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 to George W. Hill, director and cinematographer of numerous silent movies and early sound films in the 1920s and early 1930s. He was educated at The Blake School, one of Minnesota's most prestigious private schools, and at Yale University, class of 1943.
He 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 pilot Speed Holman, who, Hill once explained, "used to make his approach to the spectators at state fairs flying past the grandstand upside down." Hill obtained his pilot's license at the age of sixteen. Airplanes featured prominently in his later films and are frequently crashed as well — in Slaughterhouse-Five, The World According to Garp and especially The Great Waldo Pepper which showed the influence on Hill of pilots like Speed Holman.
Hill loved classical music, especially Bach, and as an undergraduate at Yale University studied music under notable composer Paul Hindemith, graduating in 1943. His film The World of Henry Orient contains a humorous spoof-like tease of Hindemith during the piano concerto scene of Henry Orient (Peter Sellers). While at Yale, Hill was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, the Scroll & Key Society and of The Spizzwinks(?) and The Whiffenpoofs, America's oldest collegiate a cappella singing group.
Career
After being discharged, Hill worked as a newspaper reporter in Texas, then took advantage of the GI Bill to do graduate work at Trinity College, Dublin, studying James Joyce's use of music in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Some sources say he graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in literature.
Other sources say 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, with Cyril Cusack's company in a production of George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple. He had a leading role in Raven of Wicklow by Bridget G. MacCarthy in the same theater in February 1948.
Actor
On his return to the U.S., Hill studied theatre at HB Studio in New York City. He acted Off Broadway and toured with Margaret Webster's Shakespeare Repertory Company. He appeared on Broadway in Richard II, The Taming of the Shrew, and August Strindberg's The Creditors (with Bea Arthur).
In 1952 he featured in a supporting role in the Hollywood movie Walk East on Beacon, and appeared in episodes of Lux Video Theatre including "The Doctor's Wife", "Man at Bay" and "Masquerade". He also acted in episodes of Kraft Theatre such as "The Golden Slate". He also acted on radio, including portraying Ned on The Doctor's Wife.
Television and theatre director
Hill used his Korean War experience as the basis for a TV drama, "My Brother's Keeper", which appeared on Kraft Television Theater, with Hill himself in the cast. During his military service at Cherry Point, he had had to be 'talked down' by a ground controller at Atlanta airport, an incident that led to his writing the screenplay. The episode was performed and transmitted live in 1953. After his demobilisation, he joined the Kraft Television Theater as a writer, one of his scripts included Keep Our Honor Bright. He later directed episodes of Ponds Theater ("Time of the Drought"), and Lux Video Theatre ("The Creaking Gate", "Not All Your Tears", "The Happy Man".) Hill returned to Broadway in 1957 as director of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Look Homeward, Angel. Starring Jo Van Fleet and Anthony Perkins this ran for 564 performances.
Hill continued to direct television, most notably episodes of Kraft Theatre including "Eleven O'Clock Flight", "The Devil as a Roaring Lion", "Good Old Charlie Faye", "A Night to Remember", an adaptation of Walter Lord's book about the sinking of the Titanic (of which Hill also co-wrote the teleplay). In addition he did "Man on the White Horse", "Carnival", and "A Real Fine Cutting Edge" with George Peppard for The Kaiser Aluminum Hour. Hill's work on Night earned him two Emmy nominations for writing and directing. He directed some famous episodes of Playhouse 90 including "The Helen Morgan Story" (1957), "The Last Clear Chance" (1958), "Child of Our Time" (1958), and "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1959).
Hill then focused on theatre, directing the Broadway productions of The Gang's All Here (1960) with Melvyn Douglas (132 performances), Greenwillow (1960) with Anthony Perkins (97 performances) and Period of Adjustment (1961) by Tennessee Williams, which ran for 132 performances. He replaced Elia Kazan for the latter.
Filmography
- Period of Adjustment (1962) - Director
- Toys in the Attic (1963) - Director
- The World of Henry Orient (1964) - Director
- Hawaii (1966) - Director
- Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) - Director
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - Director
- Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) - Director
- The Sting (1973) - Director
- The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) - Director, producer, writer
- Slap Shot (1977) - Director
- A Little Romance (1979) - Director
- The World According to Garp (1982) - Director, producer, actor as Pilot (uncredited)
- The Little Drummer Girl (1984) - Director
- Funny Farm (1988) - Director
External links
- George Roy Hill on Wikipedia
