Hill starred as grumpy legal eagle
LOS ANGELES — Steven Hill, a versatile character actor in theatre, films and television who achieved his greatest success late in life as grumpy District Attorney Adam Schiff on TV’s long-running Law & Order, died Tuesday. He was 94.
He died Tuesday morning at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said his wife, Rachel.
Hill, who also starred for a season in the 1960s series Mission Impossible, was remembered warmly by Law & Order producer Dick Wolf.
“Steven was not only one of the truly great actors of his generation, he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. He is also the only actor I’ve known who consistently tried to cut his own lines,” Wolf said in a statement.
Hill, who studied acting with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, began his career on Broadway but later turned to television in such shows as Studio One and The Ford Theatre Hour.
Later, he appeared on shows including thirtysomething, The Fugitive, Rawhide and The Untouchables.
When Mission Impossible debuted in 1966, he landed a starring role, as undercover team leader Daniel Briggs. But he left after one season when the show’s shooting schedule interfered with his observation of the Jewish Sabbath. He was replaced by Peter Graves.
He married Selma Stern in 1951 and the couple had four children before divorcing in 1964. He married his second wife, Rachel, in 1967, and they had five children together.