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Actor Arthur Hill dead at 84

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Veteran Canadian character actor Arthur Hill, whose dozens of television and movie appearances included the title role in the series "Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law," has died.

He was 84.

Hill died Sunday at a Pacific Palisades care facility after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, his friend Walter Seltzer said Thursday.

Hill, who hadn’t worked in the motion picture or television business since 1990, was a well-known face on TV, appearing on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Defenders," "Ben Casey," "The Untouchables," "The Nurses," "The FBI," "Mission Impossible," "The Fugitive" and "Marcus Welby, M.D."

He was the star of "Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law" from 1971 to 1974.

Hill also appeared in the films "Harper," "The Ugly American," "The Andromeda Strain" and "A Bridge Too Far."

Born Aug. 1, 1922, in Melfort, Sask., Hill served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and attended the University of British Columbia, where he studied law but was lured to the stage.

He moved to Great Britain in 1948, where he performed in a variety of stage productions, then he moved to New York City 10 years later and established himself on Broadway.

Hill made his Broadway debut opposite Ruth Gordon in "The Matchmaker," then went on to star in such stage hits as "Look Homeward Angel."

The actor won Tony and New York Drama Critics awards for his role as George in "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf" in 1962.

Hill is survived by his wife Anne-Sophie Taraba, son Douglas,

stepdaughter Daryn Sherman and two sisters, Pat and Eunice of

Winnipeg.