On January 14, the DGA and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) held a special memorial tribute honoring the late Arthur Hiller, who passed away in August 2016. Held at AMPAS’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, the afternoon was a celebration of Hiller’s life and work and his contributions to two cornerstones of the industry as Hiller had served as president of the DGA from 1989 to 1993 and president of the AMPAS from 1993 to 1997.
Following a welcome from Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, DGA President Paris Barclay stepped to the podium to speak about his predecessor.
“Arthur Hiller was the type of loving leader we’d all want to represent us — a prototype we’d build from scratch if given the choice,” said Barclay. “As the president of the Directors Guild of America from 1989-1993, he was a guiding light for each president who followed him. In his nearly five decades of service at the DGA—which continued right up to his passing—he was involved, always there for this fellow members, guiding and informing, his gentle strength an example to us all.”
Following Barclay’s remarks, the audience viewed a clip from Hiller’s drama, The Americanization of Emily, and a video message from its star Julie Andrews. After a clip from Hiller’s DGA and Academy Award-nominated feature Love Story, actors Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw took the stage to share fond memories of their work with the director. Clips from Hiller’s The Out-of-Towners, The Hospital and The Man in the Glass Booth were followed by Roz Wolfe, the former senior officer of Canada’s consulate general office in Los Angeles, who spoke about his support and encouragement of his fellow Canadians. Actor Alan Arkin, who starred in Hiller’s comedy The In-Laws, recalled his work the director following clips from that film and Hiller’s comedy classic, Silver Streak. A. Scott Berg, author of the story that formed the basis for Hiller’s drama Making Love, spoke about how Hiller broke new ground with the with the first studio film with a gay protagonist.
After clips from his films, The Lonely Guy and Outrageous Fortune, the final tribute to Hiller came from his daughter Erica Hiller Carpenter and son Henryk Hiller who shared their memories of life with their father. The afternoon ended with the words of the man himself via a clip from Hiller’s acceptance speech for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy Awards broadcast of 2002.
Hiller was a DGA member for six decades. He served on the DGA National Board in various capacities beginning in 1971 and was the Guild's Fifth Vice President from 1985-1987, Third Vice President from 1987-1989 and DGA President for two terms from 1989-1993. Hiller served on the Western Directors Council for over 35 years, on the Creative Rights Committee for 20 years and was a member of several Negotiating Committees. He also served as a member of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress from 1989-2005. A strong advocate of film preservation, Hiller was the founding chairman of the Artists Rights Foundation, which was formed during his presidency in 1991 and later consolidated with the Film Foundation in 2002 under the DGA umbrella, as well as chairman of the DGA President’s Committee on Film Preservation.
In recognition of his extraordinary service to the Guild and its membership, the DGA presented Hiller with the Robert B. Aldrich Award in 1999 and the DGA Honorary Life Member Award in 1993. In 1970 he received a DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Love Story.