Gil Hill

{{short description|American politician, police detective and actor (1931–2016)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Gilbert R. Hill

| image = File:Gil Hill in Beverly Hills Cop (1984).webp

| caption = Hill as "Inspector Todd" in the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop.

| birth_name = Gilbert Roland Hill

| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|11|5}}

| birth_place = Birmingham, Alabama. U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|02|29|1931|11|05}}

| death_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

| party = Democratic

| occupation = Politician, police officer, actor

| years_active = 1984–1994

| spouse = {{marriage|Delores Hooks|1955|2015|end=her death}}

}}

Gilbert Roland Hill (November 5, 1931 – February 29, 2016) was an American politician, police officer, and actor, who was the President of the Detroit City Council. He gained recognition for his role as Inspector Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop film series. He was the runner-up in the 2001 Detroit mayoral election, losing to Kwame Kilpatrick.

Biography

=Early life=

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Hill was the son of Mary Lee Hill, who raised him and his sister Toni, alone. In the 1940s, Hill moved with his mother and sister to Washington, D.C. Hill attended Cardozo High School, graduating in 1949. Hill had wished to attend Howard University, but was not able due to strained financial resources.

Instead, Hill joined the United States Air Force in 1950 and was stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base near Detroit. After leaving the Air Force in 1953, he returned to the Detroit area, where he worked a number of jobs for the next four years.

=Law enforcement career=

Hill joined the Wayne County Sheriff's Department in 1957, but quickly became disillusioned with the slow pace, so he joined the Detroit Police Department in 1959. In 1969 he was promoted to detective and was assigned to the homicide division the following year. Over the next decade, Hill rose to national attention for his ability to obtain confessions out of the most notorious killers. He was part of the law enforcement task force of over 100 agents in the investigation surrounding the Atlanta Child Murders in 1979.{{cite news |last=Burch |first=Audra D. S. |title=Who Killed Atlanta's Children? |date=April 30, 2019 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/us/atlanta-child-murders.html |access-date=May 1, 2019 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107190832/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/us/atlanta-child-murders.html |archive-date=2023-11-07 |url-status=live}}

Hill was promoted to the rank of Inspector in charge of the Homicide Division by 1982, and in 1989, retired from the Detroit Police Department at the rank of Commander.Gil Hill Dies [http://www.freep.com/story/news/obituary/2016/02/29/gil-hill-movie-star-and-ex-detroit-councilman-dies/80666762/ Gil Hill, movie star and ex-Detroit councilman, dies], Detroit Free Press, February 29, 2016.

In 2016, former hit man Nate "Boone" Craft alleged that Hill had once offered to pay him $125,000 to kill Richard Wershe Jr., to keep Wershe from revealing alleged corruption in the Detroit police department.[https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/15740/ex-detroit_hit_man_claims_gil_hill_wanted_him_to_kill_richard_wershe_jr Past Detroit Hit Man Claims Gil Hill Wanted Him To Kill Richard Wershe Jr.], Deadline Detroit, September 7, 2016.

=Political career=

Following his retirement from police work he became a councilman for Detroit, becoming its president in 1997,{{cite web | url=https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2016/03/01/some-advice-gil-hill/81149630/ | title=Detroit Free Press Subscription Offers, Specials, and Discounts }} and ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Kwame Kilpatrick in 2001. He was initially considered to be the leading candidate and had support from many people connected with incumbent mayor Dennis Archer.{{cite web|title=Did Freman and His Supporters Sabotage Gil Hill|url=http://hoodresearch.org/TheThinkersReport/?p=338|website=Hoodresearch.org|accessdate=October 26, 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629132303/http://hoodresearch.org/TheThinkersReport/?p=338|archivedate=June 29, 2015|date=October 17, 2005}}{{better source needed|date=October 2017}}. In 2019, a portrait of Hill was unveiled at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in downtown Detroit, a tradition carried out for all former City Council Presidents.{{cite web|title=Gil Hill Portrait unveiled|work=The Michigan Chronicle |date=19 November 2019 |url=https://michiganchronicle.com/2019/11/19/portrait-of-former-city-council-president-gil-hill-unveiled-at-detroit-city-hall/}}{{cite web | url=https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/movies/beverly-hills-cop-movies-franchise-recap-155950439.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKhAUhVOdzxGdJxcMBtEbfNIpvySNWuk-UluIOYmkMsSzv4s0D5J1caDzpJ9m1rvaPO6Q_oenWmlgzw_fEBst-jCjKwx3oMjG9_Z8e4Gs2YG8KD__Yw8HygDfl-TdZ-DQzbrvAtYAF0XUNPOhq5zuaKCdUWi7oB0pmjcbxp_bFqn | title=What happened in the Beverly Hills Cop movies | date=4 July 2024 }}

Kilpatrick won with 54%{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/2008/09/04/94271285/kilpatrick-accepts-plea-deal-resigns-as-mayor | title=Kilpatrick Accepts Plea Deal, Resigns as Mayor | work=NPR | date=4 September 2008 }} of the vote (98,124 votes) to Hill’s 46% (82,484 votes), with 88% of precincts reporting and 47% of absentee ballots outstanding.{{cite web | url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/kilpatrick-appears-have-won-detroit-mayors-race/ | title=Kilpatrick appears to have won Detroit mayor''s race | date=7 November 2001 }} Later Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was released on probation after serving 99 days.{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/05/uselections2008.usa | title=Detroit's 'hip-hop' mayor jailed for perjury | work=The Guardian | date=5 September 2008 | last1=Glendinning | first1=Lee }}

=Acting career=

Already a prominent figure in law enforcement, Hill appeared in the Beverly Hills Cop films, playing the role of Inspector Todd, the boss of Eddie Murphy's character, Axel Foley.{{cite web|last1=Gruson|first1=Lindsey|title=Exit Stallone, enter Eddie Murphy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/16/movies/exit-stallone-enter-eddie-murphy.html|website=The New York Times|accessdate=October 26, 2017|date=December 16, 1984}}{{cite web|last1=Maslin|first1=Janet|authorlink1=Janet Maslin|title=Film: Murphy in 'Cop II'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/20/movies/film-murphy-in-cop-ii.html|website=The New York Times|accessdate=October 26, 2017|date=May 20, 1987}} Offered other acting work after the film's release, Hill declined to pursue acting as a career, but did appear in the two subsequent sequels of the movie, saying that the only difference between his famous character's life and his own was that he did not curse as much in real life.

==Inspector Douglas Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop film series ==

Gilbert R. Hill, a real-life Detroit police detective, landed the role of Inspector Douglas Todd in the Beverly Hills Cop film series through a serendipitous encounter with the film's director, Martin Brest. {{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/jerry-bruckheimer-hasnt-seen-beverly-hills-cop-3-8674110 | title=Jerry Bruckheimer hasn't seen the panned 'Beverly Hills Cop 3' | magazine=Entertainment Weekly }}While Brest was scouting locations {{cite web | url=https://people.com/movies/gil-hill-beverly-hills-cop-actor-dies-at-84/ | title=Gil Hill, Beverly Hills Cop Actor, Dies at 84 }}in Detroit for the first film in 1984, Hill was assigned to show him around the city due to his role as head of the Detroit Police Department's homicide division. During this tour, Brest, on a whim, asked Hill to read a few lines from the script. {{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/de/title/tt0086960/characters/nm0384280/ | title=Beverly Hills Cop - Ich lös' den Fall auf jeden Fall (1984) - Gilbert R. Hillals Inspector Todd - IMDb | website=IMDb }}

=Personal life and death=

Hill married Dolores Hooks, who sang in a local church choir, in 1955. They remained married until her death in 2015. They had two sons and a daughter. Hill died from pneumonia at the age of 84 on February 29, 2016, {{cite web | url=https://variety.com/2016/film/people-news/gil-hill-dead-beverly-hills-cop-1201719565/ | title=Gil Hill, Eddie Murphy's Boss in 'Beverly Hills Cop,' Dies at 84 | date=March 2016 }}at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.{{cite web|title=Former Detroit City Council President Gil Hill dies at 84|url=http://www.fox2detroit.com/home/former-detroit-city-council-president-gil-hill-dies-at-84|website=Fox 2 Detroit|publisher=WJBK|accessdate=October 26, 2017|date=February 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807032953/http://www.fox2detroit.com/home/former-detroit-city-council-president-gil-hill-dies-at-84|archive-date=August 7, 2018|url-status=dead}}{{cite web | url=https://deadline.com/2016/02/real-life-cop-beverly-hills-cop-actor-gil-hill-dies-at-84-1201711964/ | title=Gil Hill Dies: Real Life Detroit Police Detective Who Appeared in 'Beverly Hills Cop' Was 84 | date=March 2016 }}

Filmography

Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes
class="wikitable"
1984	Beverly Hills Cop	rowspan="3"\|Inspector Douglas Todd
1987	Beverly Hills Cop II
1994	Beverly Hills Cop III	(final film role)
2024	Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F	Archive photo \|

Hill also appeared as himself in the documentary, White Boy, in which details were revealed of alleged corruption during his time as a Detroit law enforcement officer.

References

Sources

[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20089638,00.html People Jan. 7, 1985] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304173144/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20089638,00.html |date=2016-03-04 }}