39 Facts About Arthur Hiller

Arthur Hiller, was a Canadian-American television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career.

Arthur Hiller began his career directing television in Canada and later in the US By the late 1950s he began directing films, most often comedies.

Arthur Hiller directed dramas and romantic subjects, such as Love Story, which was nominated for seven Oscars.

Arthur Hiller served as president of the Directors Guild of America from 1989 to 1993 and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1993 to 1997.

Arthur Hiller was the recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2002.

An annual film festival in Arthur Hiller's honor was held from 2006 until 2009 at his alma mater, Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts.

Arthur Hiller was born in November 1923 in Edmonton, Alberta, the son of Rose and Harry Arthur Hiller.

Arthur Hiller's family was Jewish, and had emigrated from Poland in 1912.

Arthur Hiller had two sisters, one 13 years older and one 11 years older.

Arthur Hiller's father operated a second-hand musical instruments store in Edmonton.

Arthur Hiller recalls they started up the Yiddish theater when he was seven or eight years old; he helped set carpenters build and decorate the sets.

Arthur Hiller says that "the love of theater and music and literature my parents instilled in me" contributed to his later choosing to direct TV and films.

Arthur Hiller served as a navigator on four-engine Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers on night missions over Nazi-controlled territory in Europe.

Arthur Hiller continued in college and received a Master of Arts in psychology in 1950.

Arthur Hiller was calm, quiet and he knew exactly what he wanted.

Arthur Hiller took what you had and very gently focused it.

Arthur Hiller began his career as a television director with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Arthur Hiller directed his first film, The Careless Years, the story of young couple eloping.

Arthur Hiller next directed a satirical anti-war comedy by screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, The Americanization of Emily, starring James Garner and Julie Andrews.

In 1964 Arthur Hiller directed the first episode of the television series The Addams Family.

Whatever Arthur Hiller asked of me, I did to the best of my ability.

Arthur Hiller directed Love Story, his best known work and most successful at the box-office.

In directing the film, Arthur Hiller tried to create a sense of action and movement by keeping the camera mobile and using handheld cameras as much as possible.

Arthur Hiller's goal was to have the camera reflect the chaos and confusion taking place in the hospital.

Arthur Hiller directed two comedy films in collaboration with playwright Neil Simon.

Arthur Hiller returned to directing serious drama with The Man in the Glass Booth, starring Maximilian Schell, in a screen adaptation of a stage play written by Robert Shaw.

Arthur Hiller directed another comedy, The In-Laws, with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, which was a critical and commercial success.

Arthur Hiller was good director who wanted to know all about the subject.

Arthur Hiller is a real straight Jewish guy, married to the same woman for a hundred years, kids, and everything so far removed from the scene that it was like he was doing a movie about aliens.

Arthur Hiller directed the film Making Love, which was released in February 1982, a story of a married man coming to terms with his homosexuality.

The 1990s saw Arthur Hiller directing a number of films, most of which received negative or mixed reviews: Taking Care of Business ; The Babe, a biographical film about Babe Ruth, portrayed by John Goodman; Married to It and Carpool.

Nine years later, when he was in his 80s, Arthur Hiller directed National Lampoon's Pucked, his last film, which starred rock star Jon Bon Jovi.

Arthur Hiller preferred his scripts to contain "good moral values," a preference which he says came from his upbringing.

Arthur Hiller wanted high quality screenplays whenever possible, which partly explains why he collaborated on multiple films with both Paddy Chayefsky and Neil Simon.

Arthur Hiller was a member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress from 1989 to 2005 and President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1993 to 1997.

Arthur Hiller served on the board of the National Student Film Institute.

Arthur Hiller received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Academy Awards ceremony in recognition of his humanitarian, charitable and philanthropic efforts.

Arthur Hiller received an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in June 1995.

Arthur Hiller died almost two months later in Los Angeles on August 17,2016, at the age of 92 from natural causes.