Fonds P0217 - Harry Hill fonds

Harry Hill was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1940. He died in Montreal on August 18, 2005, at age 64. He taught English at Concordia University for 30 years and was an actor who was a key figure in English-language theatre in Montreal through the 1980s and 1990s. He studied English at the University of Aberdeen and later at the University of Alberta. He came to Montreal in 1970 to teach at Loyola College, one of the founding institutions of Concordia University, where he started The Actor’s Company in 1972 as a credit program offered to students for practical drama activity. Beyond his dynamic teaching of poetry, drama, critical reading and Shakespeare, he also served for many years as coordinator of the English Composition program. He also developed the University Writing Test, which has been a requirement for every Concordia student since 1983. He retired from Concordia in 1999.

Hill had also a parallel career as an actor which continued in his retirement. His numerous credits at the Centaur Theatre included Dancing in Lughnasa, The Dresser and Taking Sides. He was equally comfortable on radio, stage, film and television and was also a published writer. His textbook, A Voice for the Theatre, includes interviews with John Gielgud, Douglas Campbell, and Geraldine Page and has become an indispensable actor’s manual.