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For The Real World cast member, see Steven Hill (model)

Steven Hill (born February 24, 1922) is an American film and television actor who was a founding member of Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. Hill is perhaps best known for portraying District Attorney Adam Schiff in the NBC TV drama series Law & Order, a part that he played for ten seasons (1990 – 2000).

Steven is the BEST person alive. He was born August 28, 1994

Mission: Impossible

Hill was the original leader of the Impossible Missions Force, Dan Briggs (as in "Good morning, Mr. Briggs...") in the series Mission: Impossible in 1966-1967, but he left the show after the first season. As one of the few Orthodox Jewish actors working in Hollywood, he was not willing to abide by the show’s production schedule because it required him to work on the Sabbath. He was suspended during the production of episode no. 23, entitled Action! near the end of the season when he refused to climb the rafters via a soundstage staircase. Consequently, he was written out of that episode, had his role scaled back in the few remaining episodes of the season and was not asked to return for season 2.

After appearing in Mission Impossible, Hill didn't work in acting for another ten years. Hill had what he calls "tremendous periods of unemployment" in his career. "What we have here is a story of profound instability and impermanence," he said of his own career. "This is what you learn at the beginning in show business; then it gets planted in you forever". Hill left acting in 1967 and moved to a Jewish community in Rockland County, New York where he worked in writing and real estate. Hill said later "I don't think an actor should act every single day. I don't think it's good for the so-called creative process. You must have periods when you leave the land fallow, let it revitalize itself". After ten years, he was ready to begin acting again. "They say you can't quit show business," he said in 1977. "It took ten years, but I could get it out of my system. So I called an agent and put him to work."

Hill returned to work in the 1980s and 1990s, playing parental and authority-figure roles in such films as Yentl (1983), Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, Heartburn (1986), and Billy Bathgate (1991). Hill also appeared as a mob kingpin in Raw Deal (1986), an action vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Law & Order

Hill is best known as Adam Schiff in the NBC TV drama series Law & Order, a part that he played for ten seasons (1990 – 2000). Hill's character is loosely modeled after the real district attorney of New York, the legendary Robert Morgenthau and it is reported that Morgenthau was a fan of the character. Hill says playing Adam Schiff is the hardest role he's ever had because of all the legal jargon he has to learn. "It's like acting in a second language," says Hill. Hill adds that he agrees with the show's philosophy. "There's a certain positive statement in this show," Hill says. "So much is negative today. The positive must be stated to rescue us from pandemonium. To me it lies in that principle: law and order." Hill earned another Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor In a Dramatic Series in 1997. At the time of his departure, Hill was the longest-serving cast member. Along with Law & Order castmate Sam Waterston, Hill has also appeared in commercials for T.D. Waterhouse, an investment brokerage.

Personal life

Hill and his first wife, Selma Stern, were married in 1951 and had four children before divorcing in 1964. Hill married his second wife, Rachel, in 1967 and they have five children.

Orthodox Judaism

Appearing in the play A Far Country in 1961 had a profound affect on Hill's later life. In one scene of A Far Country a patient screamed at Freud, "You are a Jew!" this caused Hill to think about his religion. "In the pause that followed I would think, 'What about this?' I slowly became aware that there was something more profound going on in the world than just plays and movies and TV shows. I was provoked to explore my religion". Hill began to adhere to strict Orthodox Judaism, observing a kosher diet, wearing a four-cornered garment beneath his clothes, and strictly observing the Shabbat. This made Hill unavailable for Friday night or Saturday matinee performances and effectively ended his stage career and closed many roles to him in the movies, most notably The Sand Pebbles.

See also

References

1. White, P., "The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier," pages 98-99, Avon Books 1991.
2. White 1991 pages 60-61 and 100.
3. ^ New York Times. "Signoff; On 'Law and Order,' a Real Idealist." February 2, 1996.
4. ^ Time Magazine. "New Play on Broadway" April 14, 1961.
5. CNN.com - Entertainment - Another crime perpetrated on 'Law & Order' - August 2, 2000
6. Robert Morgenthau
7. Robert Morgenthau - Manhattan DA
8. ^ Cite error: The named reference PCOLPodengo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

External links

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• 1922 births
• Actors Studio alumni
• American film actors
• American Orthodox Jews
• American stage actors
• American television actors
• Jewish actors
• Living people
• People from Seattle, Washington
• United States Navy sailors
• Washington actors
• Baalei teshuva