George Roy Hill

George Roy Hill met Louisa Fleetwood Horton while they were both actors at Margaret Webster Theatre Company. Subsequently, they got married on April 7, 1951. Later, they divorced in 1970, but remained friends throughout their life. They had four children and twelve grandchildren.

George Hill retained his interest in flying all through his life. Returning after the Korean War, he purchased a Waco biplane, which he kept till early 1990s.

In later years, he used to live in Upper East Side of Manhattan. Sometime now, he also developed Parkinson’s disease and died at home on December 27, 2002 from complications arising out of it.

George Roy Hill was born on December 20, 1921, in Minneapolis into a well-to-do family that owned Minneapolis Tribune. His father’s name too was George Roy Hill and his mother’s name was Helen Frances Hill.

Young George had his schooling at The Blake School and passed out from there in 1939. While in school, he developed an interest in flying and obtained his license at the age of 16. He was equally fond of classical music, Johann Sebastian Bach being his favorite musician.

After passing out from school, he entered the Yale University with music. Here he studied under notable musicians, including German composer Paul Hindemith and earned his degree in 1943.

Afterwards, he joined United States Marine Corps as part of his military service. He was stationed at the South Pacific, where he served as cargo pilot. On his release, he first began working as a newspaper reporter in Texas.

Later taking advantage of the GI Bill, he went to Ireland to study music and literature at Trinity College, Dublin. There he worked on James Joyce and his use of music in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

In 1947, while still in Ireland, he made his stage debut with ‘The Devil's Disciple’, a play written by Bernard Shaw and produced by Cyril Cusack at Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. Later in 1948, he played the leading role in ‘Raven of Wicklow’ and also directed his first play, ‘Biography’.

Subsequently, he returned to the U.S.A, where he started working in Off Broadway shows, touring with Margaret Webster's Shakespeare Repertory Company for some time. During this period, he supplemented his income by working at the radio.

Subsequently, he began appearing on Broadway shows like ‘Richard II’ and ‘The Creditors’. In 1952, he took part in an anti communist docudrama called ‘Walk East on Beacon’. Soon after that, he was recalled to serve in the Korean War.

For 18 months, he served as a night fighter pilot. Stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point jet flight-training center in North Carolina, he soon rose to the rank of a major.

After being released from the military service, he began working in television. During this period, he also wrote a play titled ‘My Brother’s Keeper’, in which he used the experience he gathered during the Korean War. It was telecast on Craft Television Theatre in late 1953 and he himself was one of the casts.

George Roy Hill is best remembered for his 1973 heist film, ‘The Sting’. Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Robert Shaw, the film tells the story of two small-time conmen, who defraud a mob-boss in Chicago during the Great Depression. It was both financial and critical successes.

’Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ was another of his important work. It was not only the highest grossing film of the year, but also won numerous awards including four Oscars.