- Born
- Died
- Height5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
- Arthur Hiller was born on November 22, 1923 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was a director and producer, known for Love Story (1970), The Hospital (1971) and See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). He was married to Gwen Hiller. He died on August 17, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- SpouseGwen Hiller(February 14, 1948 - June 24, 2016) (her death, 2 children)
- Died just twelve days before his Silver Streak (1976) and See No Evil, Hear no Evil (1989) star, Gene Wilder.
- Although since dismissed by some as overly syrupy, "Love Story," with Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal as star-crossed Ivy League lovers, was one of the most popular movies of 1970. The film, based on the popular novel of the same name by Erich Segal, reduced thousands of moviegoers to tears and created a national catch phrase: "Love means never having to say you're sorry." McGraw stated after Hiller's death, that Hiller was "an integral part of one of the most important experiences of my life. He was a remarkable, gifted, generous human being and I will miss him terribly. My heart and love go out to his family." Interestingly enough, Hiller recalled in 1991, the film almost didn't get made. "Paramount was in rocky financial shape," he recalled, and executives wanted to cancel the project. But production boss Robert Evans loved the script and allowed Hiller to proceed - if he would spend only $2 million. Hiller brought the film in - $25,000 under budget, then Hiller insisted on spending $15,000 for memorable exterior location scenes in the Boston snow. "Love Story" kicked off a busy two decades of work for Hiller, who had gotten his start directing such television shows as "Gunsmoke," "Perry Mason" and "The Rifleman" in the 1950s. He directed nearly two dozen feature films between 1970 and 1990 and was equally at ease with comedy and drama. He even helmed a musical, 1972's "Man of La Mancha" with Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren, and a biography, 1976's "W.C. Fields and Me," with Rod Steiger and Valerie Perrine.
- (1993-1997) President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
- His parents, Rose (Garfin) and Harry Hiller, were Polish Jewish immigrants. They ran a Yiddish school and theater in Edmonton, Alberta.
- He studied psychology at the University of Toronto, and law at the University of British Columbia. He decided to go into communications, and got a job at Canada's CBC network in Toronto. He started out directing public affairs programs, and eventually advanced to dramas, where he caught Hollywood's attention.
- [on Rome, Open City (1945)] It was all that neorealism; it just caught me at the right time. I can't even remember, but I know there were a few films at that time, neorealist films, that they were doing in Europe that we were not doing here. It just felt so real to me and so good. I didn't jump and say, "Oh, I want to make movies like that," but I guess I was feeling that without realizing it. The same as when I finally woke up and said, "I want to be a director."
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content