by Hal Erickson
biography
A busy western actor from the 1940s onward, Riley Hill spent the better part of his career playing villains in formula "B"s. Occasionally, Hill would show up in some of Hollywood's costlier oaters, notably Howard Hawk s' Rio Bravo. His television work included several guest spots on the various series churned by Gene Autry's Flying A Productions, and the semi-regular Marshal Riley Roberts in Marshal of Gunsight Pass (1950), Hollywood's only live (as opposed to filmed) TV western. Riley Hill could later be seen in crusty character parts in films like The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979).
