Terence Hill

Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Hill's mother, Hildegard Girotti (née Thieme), was from Dresden, Germany; his father, Girolamo Girotti, was Italian from Amelia, Umbria, and a chemist by occupation. During his childhood, Hill lived in the small town of Lommatzsch, Saxony. As a child, he experienced the bombing of Dresden, which was traumatic for him. He was there until the end of World War II in Europe.

Career Child actor He was discovered at the age of 12 by Italian filmmaker Dino Risi at a swimming meet, and he became a child actor, appearing in Risi's Vacation with a Gangster (1951) as Gianni, the orphan gang leader. "They were looking for a boy gang leader and they found me", he later said.

Girotti did Anna of Brooklyn (1958) with Gina Lollobrigida, The Sword and the Cross (1958) with Yvonne de Carlo (playing Lazarus of Bethany), and a TV version of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1958).

He had supporting parts in Il padrone delle ferriere (1959) with Virna Lisi, Juke box - Urli d'amore (1959), and Hannibal (1959) with Victor Mature and Carlo Pedersoli, who later became known as Bud Spencer. Girotti had the lead roles in Spavaldi e innamorati (1959) and Cerasella (1959), a teen comedy.

He returned to supporting roles with Carthage in Flames (1960), Un militare e mezzo (1960), and The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (1961) with Geoffrey Horne and Robert Morley, directed by Irving Rapper.

Girotti had supporting parts in The Wonders of Aladdin (1961) with Donald O'Connor and directed by Henry Levin and Mario Bava, Pecado de amor (1961), Seven Seas to Calais (1962) with Rod Taylor, and The Shortest Day (1963).

Girotti secured a substantial supporting role in Luchino Visconti's film epic The Leopard (1963) alongside Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon, in which he unsuccessfully tries to court the daughter of Lancaster's character. During this time, he studied classical literature for three years at an Italian university. These included Last of the Renegades (1964) with Lex Barker; three films with Stewart Granger, Amongst Vultures (1964), The Oil Prince (1965) and Old Surehand (1965); Shots in 3/4 Time (1965); Duel at Sundown (1965) with Peter Van Eyck; Call of the Forest (1965), an Austrian movie; Die Nibelungen, Teil 1 - Siegfried (1965); and Die Nibelungen, Teil 2 - Kriemhilds Rache (1967).

In 1967, he returned to Italy to make Io non protesto, io amo (1967), co-starring Caterina Caselli.

Partnership with Bud Spencer

Girotti then appeared alongside Bud Spencer (then known as Carlo Pedersoli) in Giuseppe Colizzi's spaghetti Western God Forgives... I Don't! (1967). (Although Girotti appeared in the same movie as Pedersoli in Hannibal in 1959, they did not meet during filming. ) At the time, cast and crew in Westerns frequently adopted American names to give the film a better chance of selling in non-Italian-speaking countries; Girotti changed his name to "Terence Hill". He picked the name from a list of 20 he was given, the story about using his wife's name was a publicity idea. The film was a huge hit – the most popular film of the year in Italy – and established him as a star.

Hill followed it with a musicarello, The Crazy Kids of the War (1967) with Rita Pavone, then did a Western, Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968) for director Ferdinando Baldi, a sequel to Django (1966) with Hill playing the role done by Franco Nero in the original; it co-starred Horst Frank and George Eastman (and was featured, much later, at the 64th Venice Film Festival, in 2007).

Hill was a leading man in a musical Western Crazy Westerners (1968), again with Rita Pavone, then was reunited with Spencer in Ace High (1968), a sequel to God Forgives with a cast including several American actors such as Eli Wallach. Hill did The Tough and the Mighty (1968), a biopic of Graziano Mesina, then a second sequel to God Forgives, Boot Hill (1969), co-starring Spencer and Woody Strode. is his personal favorite of all his films.

After returning to Italy for Crime Busters (1977) with Spencer, Hill then made another English-language movie, March or Die (1977), an $8 million French Foreign Legion tale for Lew Grade, co-starring Gene Hackman and Catherine Deneuve. It was a box-office disappointment.

Despite his fluency in Italian and English, Hill was usually dubbed by other actors in both languages. In the Italian versions of his films, various actors provided his voice until the late 1960s, when he was primarily dubbed by Sergio Graziani; he was voiced by Pino Locchi from 1970 to 1983, and by Michele Gammino from 1983 to 1996. For English dubs, Lloyd Battista dubbed him in six films, including the Cat Stevens and Hutch Bessy trilogy, while Roger Browne dubbed him in most of his early 1970s films (They Call Me Trinity to A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe); from Mr. Billion onward, Hill dubbed his own English voice.

Hill and Spencer starred in Odds and Evens (1978), I'm for the Hippopotamus (1979), Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981), and Go for It (1983). Without Spencer, Hill made Org (1979), which he also produced, and Super Fuzz (1980).

Director Hill did The World of Don Camillo (1984), which he also produced and directed. He teamed with Spencer for Double Trouble (1984), and Miami Supercops (1985), then did They Call Me Renegade (1987), based on a story by Hill.

Television

Hill turned director for Lucky Luke (1991) in which he starred and that was shot in the United States; it led to a TV series of the same name.

He reunited with Spencer one last time for Troublemakers (1994) which Hill also directed. He did Virtual Weapon (1997) with Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

In 2000, he landed the leading role in the Italian television series Don Matteo (2000–ongoing), about an inspirational parish priest who assists the Carabinieri in solving crimes local to his community. This role earned Hill an international "Outstanding Actor of the Year" award at the 42nd Monte Carlo Television Festival, alongside ones for the series, and for producer Alessandro Jacchia at that festival. Hill left Don Matteo in 2022 after 13 seasons, last appearing in 2024.

During the series' run, he appeared in TV movies L'uomo che sognava con le aquile (2009), Riding the Dark (2009), Doc West (2009), and Triggerman (2009); he co-directed the last two.

In the summer of 2010, Hill filmed another Italian television series for the Italian state television channel Rai Uno, this time entitled Un passo dal cielo (One Step from Heaven), playing a local chief of the state foresters in the region of Alto Adige, with a second season filmed in 2012.

Hill directed the 2018 film My Name Is Thomas, in which he also appeared. The same year, the co-op beat 'em up videogame Bud Spencer & Terence Hill: Slaps and Beans was released.

Personal life Hill is married to Lori Hill (née Zwicklbauer) and they have two sons. Ross, who was adopted at birth, was killed in a car accident in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1990, while Hill was preparing to film Lucky Luke (1991) on the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

He holds American citizenship, and in November 2022, he also attained a German citizenship by descent from the German consulate-general in Los Angeles without requiring a naturalization test.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1951 Vacation with a Gangster Gianni 1953 Il viale della speranza Girolamo Girotti Voice of Silence Boy at the barrier Un amore per te It Happened in the Park Un compagno di scuola di Anna Maria Uncredited 1955 Golden Vein Corrado Abandoned Wounded Estray Folgore Division Paratrooper Delavigne 1956 Guaglione Franco Danieli Mamma sconosciuta Gianni Martini I vagabondi delle stelle Franco 1957 Lazzarella Luciano Pico The Wide Blue Road Renato 1958 Anna of Brooklyn Ciccillo – Don Luigi's nephew The Sword and the Cross Lazzaro 1959 First Love Il padrone delle ferriere Octave de Beaulieu Juke box urli d'amore Othello Hannibal Quintilius Spavaldi e innamorati Paolo Cerasella Bruno 1960 Carthage in Flames Tsour Un militare e mezzo Giorgio Strazzonelli 1961 The Story of Joseph and His Brethren Benjamin The Wonders of Aladdin Prince Moluk Pecado de amor Ángel Vega 1962 Seven Seas to Calais Babington The Shortest Day Austrian soldier 1963 The Leopard Count Cavriaghi 1964 Last of the Renegades Lt. Robert Merril Among Vultures Baker Jr. 1965 Shots in Threequarter Time Enrico The Oil Prince Richard Forsythe Call of the Forest Marcello Scalzi Duel at Sundown Larry McGow Old Surehand Toby 1966 Die Nibelungen, Teil 1: Siegfried Giselher 1967 Io non protesto, io amo Gabriele God Forgives... I Don't! Cat Stevens The Crazy Kids of the War Prof. Giuliano Fineschi 1968 Django, Prepare a Coffin Django Rita of the West Black Star Ace High Cat Stevens 1969 The Tough and the Mighty Graziano Cassitta Boot Hill Cat Stevens 1970 The Wind's Fierce Marco They Call Me Trinity Trinity 1971 Blackie the Pirate Blackie Trinity Is Still My Name Trinity 1972 The Hassled Hooker Marco Manin Man of the East Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore ... All the Way, Boys! Plata 1973 My Name Is Nobody Nessuno 1974 Watch Out, We're Mad! Kid Two Missionaries Father / Padre J. 1975 A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe Joe Thanks 1977 Mr. Billion Guido Falcone Crime Busters Matt Kirby March or Die Marco Segrain 1978 Odds and Evens Johnny Firpo 1979 Org Zohommm!!! Also producer I'm for the Hippopotamus Slim 1980 Super Fuzz Policeman Dave Speed 1981 Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure Alan 1983 Go for It Rosco Frazer / Steinberg The World of Don Camillo Don Camillo Also director and producer 1984 Double Trouble Eliot Vance / Bastiano Coimbra de la Coronilla y Azevedo 1985 Miami Supercops Doug Bennet / Officer Jay Donell 1987 They Call Me Renegade Luke Also writer 1991 Lucky Luke Lucky Luke Also director 1994 Troublemakers Travis 1997 Virtual Weapon Skims 2018 My Name Is Thomas Thomas Also director and writer

Television Year Title Role Notes 1958 Il Novelliere: Il ritratto di Dorian Gray Television film 1992 Lucky Luke Lucky Luke 8 episodes 2006 L'uomo che sognava con le aquile Rocco Ventura Television film 2009 L'uomo che cavalcava nel buio Rocco Doc West Doc West Triggerman 2000–2022 Don Matteo Don Matteo 265 episodes 2011–2015 Un passo dal cielo Pietro 41 episodes

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2017 Slaps and Beans Terence Hill With Bud Spencer; for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC 2023 Slaps and Beans 2 With Bud Spencer; for PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC

Music video Year Artist Song Role Notes 2019Fabio Rovazzi Senza pensieri Terence HillFeat. Loredana Bertè & J-Ax

Awards On 8 October 2016 Hill received the Tabernas de cine Award at Fort Bravo in Almería.