James Hill (British director)
| James H. Hill | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 July 1919 Eldwick, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 7 October 1994 (aged 75) London, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Jimmy Hill |
| Occupation | Film director, television director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1937–1993 |
| Known for | Documentaries, children's, feature length and short films, director of Born Free |
| Awards |
Distinguished Flying Cross Academy Award Berlin International Film Festival |
James ("Jimmy") Hill (1 August 1919 – 7 October 1994) was a British film and television director, screenwriter and producer whose career spanned 52 years between 1937 and 1989, best remembered for his documentaries and short subjects such as Giuseppina and The Home Made Car, and as director of the internationally acclaimed Born Free.
Hill also directed, produced and/or wrote such diverse films as Black Beauty, A Study in Terror, Every Day's a Holiday, The Lion at World's End (a.k.a. Christian the lion), Captain Nemo and the Underwater City, The Man from O.R.G.Y., and the children's television series' Worzel Gummidge and Worzel Gummidge Down Under.
James H. Hill was born in Eldwick, Yorkshire, England on 1 August 1919, and attended Belle Vue Boys' School. He entered the GPO Film Unit in 1937 as an assistant, then served in the RAF Film Unit during World War II, receiving a DFC. He is said to have been the model for Donald Pleasence' character Flight Lt. Colin Blythe ("the Forger") in The Great Escape (1963).
After the war he became a documentary director, primarily of shorts, before graduating to feature length children's movies with The Stolen Plans in 1952.
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