26 Facts About Steven Hill

Steven Hill had a brother, Charles, and two sisters, Ruth and Jo Ann.

Steven Hill graduated from the University of Washington and moved first to Chicago and then to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Steven Hill made his first Broadway stage appearance in Ben Hecht's A Flag Is Born in 1946, which featured a young Marlon Brando.

Steven Hill said that his big break came when he landed a small part in the hit Broadway show Mister Roberts.

In 1947, Steven Hill joined Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Julie Harris, among others, as one of the 50 applicants to be accepted by the newly created Actors Studio.

Steven Hill made his film debut in 1950 in A Lady Without Passport.

Steven Hill then re-enlisted in the Navy in 1952 for two years and, when he completed his service, resumed his acting in earnest.

Steven Hill was particularly busy in the so-called "Golden Age" of live TV drama, appearing in such offerings as The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1960, where he portrayed Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

In 1961, Steven Hill had an unusual experience when he was cast as Sigmund Freud on Broadway in Henry Denker's A Far Country, portraying Freud at the age of 35.

For on April 12,1961, the night of a sold-out performance for the Masters Children's Center of Dobbs Ferry, Steven Hill was stricken with a virus which incapacitated him so severely that as a direct result, just as the curtain was about to rise, the producers decided to cancel the performance.

Steven Hill was the original leader of the Impossible Missions Force, Dan Briggs, in the series Mission: Impossible beginning in 1966.

Steven Hill was recruiting a minyon, a prayer group of 10 men, to worship together on top of the studio's highest building and only had six Jews so far from Mission.

Steven Hill asked if I would come and bring Nimoy and Justman and you.

Consequently, Steven Hill was written out of that episode and when he returned to Mission: Impossible for the five remaining episodes of the season, his role was severely reduced.

Steven Hill was not asked to return for season two, and was replaced as the show's star by Peter Graves.

Steven Hill had what he calls "tremendous periods of unemployment" in his career.

Steven Hill returned to work in the 1980s and 1990s, playing parental and authority-figure roles in such films as Yentl, Garbo Talks, Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, Heartburn, Running on Empty, The Boost, Billy Bathgate, and The Firm.

Steven Hill appeared as a mob kingpin in Raw Deal, an action vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Steven Hill's character was loosely modeled on the real former district attorney of New York City, Robert Morgenthau, and Morgenthau reportedly was a fan of the character.

Steven Hill admitted that he found the character of Adam Schiff his most difficult role because of all the legal jargon he had to learn.

Steven Hill married his second wife, Rachel Schenker, in 1967 and they had five children.

Steven Hill resided in Monsey, New York for many years.

Steven Hill began to study Torah with Rabbi Yakov Yosef Twersky, the late Skverrer Rebbe, and started adhering to Orthodox Judaism.

Steven Hill observed a kosher diet, prayed three times a day, wore a tallit katan beneath his clothes, and strictly observed Shabbat.

Letters from Steven Hill sent in 1965 to an Orthodox Jewish friend, describing this challenging period in his life, were found in 2021.

Steven Hill died of cancer in a New York hospital on August 23,2016, at the age of 94.