Roger Hill (actor)

Roger Hill (July 31, 1948 – February 20, 2014) was an American stage, film and television actor. Beginning his acting career in the early–1970s, Hill is best known for his role as Cyrus in the 1979 action thriller film The Warriors.

Career
Born in the Bronx borough of New York City, Hill graduated from City College of New York. Hill portrayed the character of Lil John in the 1974 film The Education of Sonny Carson, and took on the role of Ernest Clay in the 1976 television movie Hazard's People starring John Houseman. In 1979, Hill portrayed the role of Cyrus in the 1979 film The Warriors. Hill was chosen to portray the doomed gang lord Cyrus after the original actor chosen for the part, a real life gang leader, mysteriously disappeared just before filming started. After his work in The Warriors, Hill performed in the ABC Daytime soap opera One Life to Live playing the part of Alex Lowndes from 1982–1985. Hill was in the Hart to Hart episode Murder, Murder on the Wall. Aside from his film and television career, Hill appeared in stage productions. Hill was a part of the Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop and appeared in Off Broadway along with touring productions of Charles Gordone’s “No Place to Be Somebody,” Ed Bullins’ “The Fabulous Miss Marie” and “Hamlet”.

Later, personal life and death
In later years, Hill retired from acting and worked as a part-time librarian along with writing poetry. In 2005, Hill filed a lawsuit of $250,000 against Take-Two for using his voice and depiction in The Warriors video game. Hill claimed that it would not have been difficult for Take-Two to pay, since the game made $37 million. A spokesman for Take-Two stated that the company "has a valid third-party license for the rights to use Roger Hill's likeness and the character of Cyrus in The Warriors video game and related marketing materials". Hill had a relationship with actress Ellen Holly from 1974 until 1977. Hill never married and had one child, a son. Hill's son, Chris Hill is a film editor. Hill died of a heart attack on February 20, 2014, in The Bronx, New York, aged 65.