Terence Hill (born Mario Girotti; 29 March 1939) is an Italian actor.

Hill is of Italian and German descent who began as a child actor and went on to multiple starring roles in action and other Italian films, many with longtime film partner and friend Bud Spencer. During the height of his popularity Hill was among Italy's highest paid actors, Hill's most widely seen films include comic and standard Westerns all´Italiana ("Italian style Westerns," colloquially, "spaghetti westerns"), some based on popular novels by German author Karl May about the American West. Of these, the most famous are Lo chiamavano Trinità (They Call Me Trinity, 1971) and Il mio nome è Nessuno (My Name Is Nobody, 1973), co-starring Henry Fonda. His film Django, Prepare a Coffin, shot in 1968 by director Ferdinando Baldi, and co-starring Horst Frank and George Eastman, was featured at the 64a La Biennale di Venezia (64th Venice Film Festival) in 2007. Hill, whose stage name was the product of a publicity stunt by film producers, also went on to a successful television career in Italy, including the long running lead and title role of Don Matteo (2000-), about an inspirational parish priest who assists the Carabinieri in solving crimes local to his community, a role for which Hill received an international "Outstanding Actor of the Year" award at the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo 42e (42nd Monte Carlo Television Festival).

Biography

Hill was married to Lori Hill née Zwicklbauer. Hill had an adoptive son, Ross, who was killed in an accident in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1990 while the actor was preparing to film Lucky Luke on the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe.

Best films