Edwin Bruce Hill, III

Edwin Bruce Hill III passed away peacefully on Sept 14th, 2020 at Shadyside Hospital after a long struggle with Type 2 diabetes. He was born in Pittsburgh on December 4, 1940 to his parents Alexander Dempster Hill and Elinor Cowdrey Hill (Rust) and grew up in the Highland Park neighborhood with his brother and sister, Thomas Alexander Hill and Margot Hill Ball.  Bruce attended Shadyside Academy and graduated in the class of 1959 where he was class President for two years. He went on to attend and graduate from Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut) in the class of 1963 with a B.A. in History. After graduation, Bruce enlisted in the Navy with his brother where they both served as officers overseas during the Vietnam War. When his service ended, he decided to pursue a career in politics and worked as an advance man for John Tabor’s mayoral campaign.  He then moved to Washington D.C. where he was a speech writer for Elliot Richardson, Secretary of Commerce, as part of Nixon’s administration from 1972- 74. Bruce ultimately decided to make a career change and follow his real passion for acting and the performing arts. He moved back to Pittsburgh where he developed his performance skills and became embedded in the local theater community. He started Patina Productions, a dinner theater company, with a group of acting friends in the 80’s and which had a number of successful seasons. He eventually was also instrumental in the founding of Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater (PICT) and Kinetic Theatre with his good friend Andrew Paul. With the PICT company, he performed as an actor and served as board president, and some of his most notable roles included Jimmy Jack in Translations, Joxer Daly in Juno & the Paycock and one half of the duo Nagg and Nell in Endgame. He also really enjoyed teaching undergraduates at the University of Pittsburgh as an Artist in Residence. He instructed introductory acting classes for several years and performed in productions with the students.  He had fun participating in the university’s education outreach program Shakespeare in the Schools (SITS), performing in shortened Shakespeare plays for public and private school students. Bruce was an adored father, son, and brother who spent most of his life in Pittsburgh. He always appreciated the community of friends and colleagues that he had there. He was particularly beloved in the theater community and will be missed by those people. He was also a member of the St. Andrews Episcopal Church where he read scriptures for the congregation every week. He is survived by his two children Ryder Cummings Hill and Nicola Coudray Solomon and his sister Margot. There will be a memorial service for him next year which will be for friends and family (the event date t.b.d.)