Errol Gaston Hill, an actor, playwright and director who became the first African American to earn tenure at Dartmouth College, died on Sept. 15 of cancer. He was 82.
A native of Trinidad, Hill received his early theater training in England and obtained degrees from the University of London, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Yale University. In the early 1960s, he worked as an announcer for the BBC, and as an actor and creative arts teacher in the West Indies before moving to the U.S.
In 1968, he joined the Dartmouth faculty. During his 35 years with the school, Hill taught a portfolio of 13 different theatre courses, and ran the Summer Repertory Program for six seasons. Through his scholarly writings, Hill developed an international reputation as an expert in African American Caribbean theatre. He also wrote 11 plays and produced/directed 120 performances in the U.S., England and Nigeria.
Hill was honored in 1991 with the Presidential Medal from Dartmouth for outstanding leadership and achievement. Five years later, he received the Robert Lewis Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Theater Research from Kent State University.
September 26, 2003 by
At Yale I watched “Man Better Man” go through rehearsals and after it opened watched the play several times. I fell in love with it – the color, rythmns and a story that was exotic while dealing with the most human issues. I always expected that it would be a commercial hit since to me it had everything it needed but instead it seems to have had a steady life of its own in regional theaters where I have no doubt it was well-received.