Born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1923, Hiller was the son of Polish Jewish immigrants who kept their traditions alive by putting on plays once or twice a year, eventually going on to start a small theatre. The future director got his start helping to build sets and, at the age of 11, started acting in the plays. But instead of going straight into the arts after high school, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and fought in World War II, navigating bombers over Europe. On his return from combat, he studied arts and psychology, and went to work directing various Canadian public affairs programmes.
After switching to television in Canada, his work was spotted by US network NBC, which offered him the chance to direct TV dramas including shows such as Gunsmoke, Playhouse 90 and Naked City.
He made his film debut in 1957 with romantic drama The Careless Years, which starred a young Dean Stockwell in the story of high school lovers who elope after their families disapprove. He followed that with a set of movies that showed his flexibility as a director, including Disney film Miracle Of The White Stallions, Paddy Chayefsky-scripted anti-war satire The Americanization Of Emily, crime caper Penelope, Promise Her Anything, war drama Tobruk and The Tiger Makes Out, which marked Dustin Hoffman's cinematic debut.
His career surged in the early 1970s with Neil Simon adaptation The Out Of Towners and Love Story, which became a massive box office success and handed Hiller an Oscar nomination. While he never quite hit the same heights again, he continued with a largely solid directing career that included The Hospital, W.C. Fields And Me, Making Love, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil, starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, who had earlier starred for him in Silver Streak. Hiller had a few troublesome movies too, with misfires such as 1997's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, and his last film, hockey comedy National Lampoon's Pucked in 2006.
Perhaps his most important work away from sets was still tied to the film industry: Hiller was president of the Directors Guild of America between 1989 and 1993 and of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from 1993-97. “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved friend Arthur Hiller,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs in a statement. “I was a member of the Board during his presidency and fortunate enough to witness firsthand his dedication to the Academy and his lifelong passion for visual storytelling.”
Hiller's wife Gwen, to whom he had been married for 68 years (and to whom he first proposed marriage at the age of eight), died in June. He's survived by his daughter, son and five grandchildren.
