THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, May 17, 1985

Steven Hill gave up a juicy role in
"Mission Impossible" to adhere to his
religious convictions. People told him
he was destroying his career, but it
hasn't worked out that way.

who later became the creator
and writer for 'Mission Im-
possible," Hill said. "I did a
nice job for him on "Raw-
hide." I was a bad guy. I rode
a horse for about 30 seconds.
The horse took one step and
they said okay, 'cut, that's
it.' I didn't even get a chance
to shoot my gun. They 'poi-
soned' me with chloroform
while I was lying on a pool
table. That's how I got on
`Mission Impossible,' be-
cause I did a nice job of dy-
ing on 'Rawhide.' "
On "Mission Impossible,"
Hill created the role of the
man who would climb into a
phone booth, listen to a tape,
look at a photograph and
then step back to watch the
tape destruct into flames. It
became the show's trade-
mark.
But while the series was
gearing up for a long run, Hill
was changing. He was be-
coming more and more ob-
servant.

"I was religious to a certain
extent," he said, "up to the
age of 15. But then I became
overwhelmed with the idea of
becoming an actor. I wanted
to swing into the popular,
modern ways of American
life. I felt that religion was
just old hat, and the order of
the day was to become a big
success in show business. So
I was not religious from the
age of 15 until 25 years later.
And after I had been through
so much in show business in
terms of success, I had
reached a point where I felt
somehow this success had
something to do with my re-
ligious upbringing. That's
why I really wanted to clip in-
to this whole subject."
He called his change a
gradual process. "I was
aware of a gradual kind of
coming to terms with what
life is supposed to be all
about, and what everything
adds up to on earth. I really

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