Asian-American actor-writer of stage, film, and TV who gained national attention playing the quirky outspoken grandmother (several decades her senior) on the groundbreaking sitcom "All-American Girl" (ABC, 1994-95). Hill pulled off the illusion with the assistance of her doughy but expressive features, ample physique, and a flair for vocal and physical mannerisms. Her sassy asides were often the show's comic highlights.

The daughter of a native Japanese mother and a Finnish-American serviceman father, Hill experienced a lonely childhood growing up in rural South Dakota. Traveling to Japan as a