George Roy Hill, Bway and Hollywood Director, Dead at 81 | Playbill

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Obituaries George Roy Hill, Bway and Hollywood Director, Dead at 81 George Roy Hill, the Hollywood and Broadway director whose films included "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and whose Broadway career included Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment and the musical, Greenwillow, died Dec. 27 in Manhattan.

Mr. Hill was 81 and died of complications from Parkinson's disease, according to The New York Times. Although best known for his films "The Sting," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The World According to Garp" and "The Great Waldo Pepper," Mr. Hill's roots were in theatre. His 1960 direction of Williams' play, Period of Adjustment, led him to Hollywood, where he directed the work for film. His Broadway directorial credits also included Look Homeward Angel (1957), a stage version of the Thomas Wolfe novel; the revival, The Gang's All Here (1959); the Frank Loesser musical, Greenwillow (1960); and, later, Henry, Sweet Henry, a 1967 stage musical version of the film he directed, "The World of Henry Orient." He also wrote and directed TV dramas. He directed a film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic (1963), starring Dean Martin, Geraldine Page and Wendy Hiller.

Mr. Hill was born in Minneapolis and would later become a Marine pilot, serving in World War II and the Korean War. He studied at Yale and at Trinity College, Dublin. According to the Times, his theatrical debut as an actor (in a walk-on role) was in The Devil's Disciple at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. He also acted Off-Broadway and toured with Shakespeare productions.

Mr. Hill is survived by two sons, two daughters and 12 grandchildren.

 
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