**Steven Hill** born Solomon Krakovsky February 24, 1922 – August 23, 2016 was an American actor.

Career
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Hill was a founder member of the Actor's Studio in 1947. He made his first movie, *A Lady Without Passport*, in 1950. In 1952 he reenlisted into the US Navy for two years, and then began concentrating on his acting. In 1955 he co-starred with Kim Stanley and Lloyd Bridges, *The Goddess* directed by John Cromwell.

In 1961 a play had caused Hill to rexamine his religion, and he began to follow Orthodox Judaism. As a result he refused to work on Friday evenings or Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, and he had to give up his stage career.

In 1966. he played the role of Daniel Briggs in the CBS TV series *Mission Impossible*. Briggs was the leader of I.M.F. Steven Hill left the series after one season and was replaced by Peter Graves. Hill had refused to work extra time or reshoot scenes on Sabbath. He also took time every day to pray three times. After leaving *Mission Impossible*, Hill left acting for 10 years, and moved to a Jewish community in Rockland County, New York where he worked in writing and real estate.

Among his works in the 1970s, he played a role in the Abby Mann miniseries "King" (1978) based on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..

The 1980's brought a lot of work to Hill. He performed in movies such as *Eyewitness* (1981), directed by Peter Yates, *Yentl* (1983), starring and directed by Barbra Streisand, *Garbo Talks* (1984) directed by Sidney Lumet, Raw Deal (1986) with Arnold Schwarzenegger, *Legal Eagles* (1986), with Robert Redford and *Heartburn* (1986) with Jack Nicholson.

Law & Order
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His best known role is that of District Attorney Adam Schiff, in the NBC TV series *Law & Order*. He played the character of the District Attorney for 230 episodes, between 1990 and 2000.

In 2011, he had a special participation in *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit*.

For Law & Order, Hill was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 and 1999.

Death
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Hill died in Monsey, New York of cancer on August 23, 2016, at the age of 94.

Filmography
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Movies| Year | Títle | Role | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1955 | *Storm Fear* | Benjie |  |
| 1958 | *The Goddess* | John Tower |  |
| 1959 | *Kiss Her Goodbye* | Ed Wilson |  |
| 1963 | *A Child Is Waiting* | Ted Widdicombe |  |
| 1965 | *The Slender Thread* |  |  |
|
| 1966/1967 | *Mission Impossible* | Daniel Briggs | TV series |
| 1978 | *King* | Stanley Levison | TV mini-series |
| 1980 | *It's My Turn* | Jacob |  |
| 1981 | *Eyewitness* | Lieutenant Jacobs |  |
| 1981 | *Rich and Famous* | Jules Levi |  |
| 1983 | *Yentl* | Reb Alter Vishkower |  |
| 1984 | *Teachers* | Sloan |  |
| 1984 | *Garbo Talks* | Walter Rolfe |  |
| 1986 | *On Valentine's Day* | George Tyler |  |
| 1986 | *Raw Deal* | Martin Lamanski |  |
| 1986 | *Legal Eagles* | Bower |  |
| 1986 | *Heartburn* | Harry Samstat |  |
| 1986 | *Brighton Beach Memoirs* | Mr. Stroheim |  |
| 1987 | *Courtship* | George Tyler |  |
| 1988 | *Running on Empty* | Donald Patterson |  |
| 1988 | *The Boost* | Max Sherman |  |
| 1990 | *White Palace* | Sol Horowitz |  |
| 1990/2000 | *Law & Order* | D.A. Adam Schiff | TV series |
| 1991 | *Billy Bathgate* | Otto Berman |  |
| 1993 | *The Firm* | F. Denton Voyles |  |
| 1995 | *Where's the Money, Noreen?* | Brian Olmsted | TV movie |
| 2011 | *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* | Hospital Guard | TV series |

Other websites
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* Steven Hill on IMDb