An auteur in every sense of the word, director Walter Hill took the baton passed him by Sam Peckinpah and became a specialist in the archetypal male action movie, reveling in the artifice of the genre, while at the same time, straining against its constraints. Strongly influenced by John Ford and Howard Hawks – he once claimed every film he had ever made was a Western – he allowed action to define character, believing "there is nothing more absurd than properly motivated characters," and concentrated on creating stunning visual spectacle through experiments in lighting, montage, composition
Suffered from asthma as a child (condition would exempt him from military service); earliest ambition was to draw comic books
Worked in construction and oil drilling
Happened into films when a friend who was a subcontractor at Brittanica Films asked him to do research on historical re-enactments
1968
First professional credit as a 2nd assistant director on Norman Jewison's "The Thomas Crown Affair"; also uncredited 2nd assistant director on Peter Yates' "Bullitt"; both films starred Steve McQueen
1969
Was 2nd assistant director on Woody Allen's "Take the Money and Run"
