Closing the File on Hill

Steven Hill, the Seattle, Washington-born actor best remembered for playing New York County District Attorney Adam Schiff on NBC-TV’s Law & Order, and for his role as Daniel Briggs, the original team leader on CBS’ Mission: Impossible, passed away earlier today at age 94. The Los Angeles Times says, “The cause of death was not immediately available, but his wife said he suffered from several ailments.”

Born Solomon Krakowsky, Hill was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, his father being a furniture-store owner. After graduating from the University of Washington, and then working for a short time in the Chicago radio business, Hill moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. He found multiple opportunities on the Broadway theater circuit (at one point playing opposite Henry Fonda in a production of Mister Roberts), but by the late 1940s had begun taking TV roles. Over the years Hill appeared in everything from Suspense and Playhouse 90 to The Untouchables, Route 66, Naked City, The Fugitive, and Columbo. He also featured in big-screen films such as Legal Eagles (1986), Billy Bathgate (1991), and The Firm (1993).

You can learn more about Hill’s career from this obituary in The New York Times and this short remembrance in The Spy Command.

READ MORE: “Steven Hill Passes On,” by Terence Towles Canote
(A Shroud of Thoughts).