Steven Hill was born Solomon Krakovsky, on February 24, 1922, in Seattle, Washington, to Russian immigrants. In the 1950s, he moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He made his Broadway debut as Marlon Brando's understudy in the short-lived Ben Hecht drama A Flag is Born in 1946. He first appeared on the big screen in 1950 in A Lady Without Passport.
What would become a long career on TV for Hill began with The Bridge of San Luis Rey in 1958. He also appeared in The Sacco-Vanzetti Story in 1960. In 1965, Hill started his own production company, and from 1966 to 1967 he starred as the original lead character, Daniel Briggs, of the Mission Impossible TV series. Soon after, Hill decided to give up acting. He sold real estate and lived in a community of religious Jews in Rockland County, New York, where he studied the Bible and the psalms of David.
In 1980, he returned to film, and by 1986, he was playing Meryl Streep's father in Heartburn and Christine Lahti's father in Running on Empty in 1988. From 1990 to 2000, Hill played the pragmatic District Attorney Adam Schiff on Law & Order. Hill also played Otto Berman, math wizard and mentor to the title character in Billy Bathgate in 1991. Hill died on August 24, 2016, in Manhattan, New York, at 94 years of age. He left behind nine children, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.