James Jerome Hill II (March 2, 1905 – November 21, 1972) was an American filmmaker and artist known for his award-winning documentary and experimental films, one of which won him an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

Career

Hill was the child of railroad executive Louis W. Hill. He was educated at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, where he drew covers, caricatures and cartoons for campus humor magazine ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it is the oldest humor magazine in the United States."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/history/ ''The Record'' is c ...

''.Caws, Mary Ann (2005). "Jerome Hill". ''camargofoundation.org''. Cassis, France: Camargo Foundation. Web. Retrieved January 27, 2014. His 1950 documentary ''Grandma Moses'', written and narrated by

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel. He won the 1958

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...

for his film ''

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

''. In addition to making films, he was a painter and composer. His last film, the autobiographical '' Film Portrait'' (1972), was added to the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

in 2003.

Philanthropy

Hill founded the Jerome Foundation, which gives grants to non-profit arts organizations and artists in Minnesota and New York City. Hill started it as the Avon Foundation in 1964, but after his death it was renamed the Jerome Foundation. Among the projects the foundation funds is the American Composers Forum's Jerome Fund for New Music, which supports the creation of new works of music with grants to composers. Hill also founded the Camargo Foundation in 1967, which administers an artists residency in

Cassis Cassis (; Occitan: ''Cassís'') is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, in Southern France. It is a ...

, France.

Personal life

Hill was a stakeholder in

Sugar Bowl Ski Resort Sugar Bowl is a ski and snowboard area in northern Placer County near Norden, California along the Donner Pass of the Sierra Nevada, approximately west of Reno, Nevada on Interstate 80, that opened on December 15, 1939. Sugar Bowl is a mediu ...

. He had a

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-su ...

built at Sugar Bowl and, while living there, paid for and operated "The Magic Carpet", the first

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

on the west coast.

Filmography (as director)

* 1932 ''La cartomancienne'' * 1937 ''Ski Flight'', featuring Otto Lang * 1950 ''

Grandma Moses Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), or Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. M ...

'', written and narrated by

* 1950 ''Cassis'' * 1957 ''

'', won

* 1961 ''The Sand Castle'' with Mabel Mercer * 1964 ''Open the Door and see all the People'' * 1965 ''Magic Umbrella'' * 1966 ''Death in the Forenoon'' * 1968 ''The Artist's Friend'' * 1969 ''Canaries'' * 1969 ''Merry Christmas'' * 1972 '' Film Portrait'', added to the

in 2003 * 1991 ''Carl G. Jung or Lapis Philosophorum'' (material from an abandoned project, shot 1950, edited and published by

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; ; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas's work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals world ...

)

References

Folkstreams Folkstreams is a non-profit organization that aims to collect and make available online documentary films about folk art and culture. It preserves and provides wide access to documentary films about the activities, voices, and experiences of memb ...

Dutiful Son: Louis W. Hill Sr. Book
Book about Louis W. Hill Sr., son and successor of empire builder James J. Hill, Father of Jerome Hill at Ramsey County Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Jerome Film directors from Minnesota 1905 births 1972 deaths Directors of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners American experimental filmmakers American documentary filmmakers

Career

Philanthropy

Personal life

Filmography (as director)

References

External links