Where the %#@#$ have you been Axel?
Posted on 03/01/2016 7:34:47 AM PST by Borges
Gil Hill, a former Detroit City Council president who rose to national fame as a police inspector in comedian Eddie Murphy’s “Beverly Hills Cop” films, has died.
The longtime city official died Monday at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, spokeswoman Bree Glenn said.
A cause of death and other details were not released. He was 84, according to public records.
Hill had been in critical condition at the hospital earlier this month.
For decades before his big screen appearances, he was a civic leader.
Director Martin Brest was in Detroit scouting locations for the first film when he met Hill, who was showing him around town. On a whim, he asked the cop — who then had been on the job for about 25 years — to read a few lines.
“I thought, ‘Holy smoke, there could be something here,’” Brest recalled in a January 1985 story for People magazine.
The director noted that “not only was [Hill] able to put out a lot of hot-tempered emotion but, in a subtle way, convey an underlying love, the kind a father would have for a son. That’s difficult for a professional actor, and the fact that Gil was doing it just blew my mind.”
A native of Birmingham, Ala., Hill went on to head the homicide division of the Detroit Police Department and won election as president of the city council. He ran for mayor in 2001 but lost to Kwame Kilpatrick and in total had served the city of Detroit for more than 40 years.
“Gil Hill spent more than 40 years serving our city in the Detroit Police Department and as a member of the Detroit City Council,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. “He never stopped believing in our city, and dedicated his life to making our city a better place for all. Our condolences go out to his family.”
In his 30 years on the Detroit Police Department, Hill held various leadership posts, including head of the homicide division.
“As a rookie deputy I developed a professional relationship with Gil,” Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said. “Occasionally I would deliver information from the Wayne County Jail to him regarding homicide cases. Our friendship grew as I continued my career in law enforcement and he was always encouraging and supportive of my development.”
Hill was elected to the City Council in 1989 and became its president by securing the largest number of votes in the 1997 election, according to Detroit News archives.
Among his achievements during his tenure: drafting an ordinance, the Fare Reduction and Elimination Initiative, that allowed senior citizens to ride the city buses free and students to travel at a reduced rate; and creating a task force to help the auto industry deal with a personnel shortage driven by retirements.
In 2000, Hill led a partnership between the council and then-Mayor Dennis Archer to create the Commercial Strip Revitalization Project, which helped link federal funds with community groups to spur business development in neighborhoods.
Hill, who in addition to his council duties sat on the board of the city’s Policeman and Fireman Retirement System, also was known for regular visits to neighborhood churches and fielding phone calls from residents.
“He was a person who had a deep commitment to the people of the city,” former council member Sheila Cockrel said. “He had an understanding for the average Detroiter’s experience. He was fair. He was a quiet kind of leader in that he really allowed of the voices on council to be heard.”
In 2001, shortly before narrowly losing to Kwame Kilpatrick in the mayor’s race, Hill described to The News his personal approach.
“The only thing that’s saved me through the years is the fact that I’ve been grounded,” he said.
Though Hill enjoyed a long career in public service and had a daily radio talk show, his most prominent role was a cursing, finger-pointing Detroit police inspector in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise.
“He was clearly a very charismatic, interesting and authentic Detroit presence,” Cockrel said Monday. “I think he’ll be remembered for that.”
Hill attended Cardoza High School in Washington, D.C., and the Detroit Police Academy.
In 2003, Hill lost to former Detroit NAACP executive JoAnn Watson in an election to fill an empty seat on the City Council.
Condolences to family and friends of Gil Hill.
RIP Detective.
Sadly the citizens of Detwaa could have saved us a lotta drama if they just would have voted for the late Detective..
Rest in Peace Mr. Hill.
For those into the rule of threes:
There’s this guy, George Kennedy, and the final surviving Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz, all passing on in the last few days.
Jerry Munchkin Maren apparently isn’t dead. That was a hoax.
A hoax? Really??
This dam internet and jokesters and their hoaxes.......
Abe Vigoda is the third.
GOP Establishment is the fourth
“He ran for mayor in 2001 but lost to Kwame Kilpatrick and in total had served the city of Detroit for more than 40 years.”
Later on, Kwame lost to Kwame and is still serving...time in prison, that is.
There’s this guy, George Kennedy, and the final surviving Munchkin from the Wizard of Oz, all passing on in the last few days.
It just appears to be a coincidence. There are people who are famous to others, but not to us, and they die on various days too.
We only see rules of threes because we tend to look for them. It is human nature to look for patterns and to try to see them even when they don't actually exist.
What is more sobering is how much of the past is being removed from the present. For some reason I feel a sense of loss whenever another door closes on a past era.
Martha Reeves of The Vandellas was also on Detroit City Council.
Who in the heck would ever WANT that job??
RIP, Mr. Hill.
Yep, you are right. We look for these patterns. Somebody mentions it and then lots of people say they found the pattern of celebrity deaths in this manner. After the fact they seem to discover it.
Yes, I hear you, on the passing of eras.
Another Celebrity In Uniform:
Hill joined the United States Air Force in 1950 and was stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base near Detroit. After leaving the Air Force in 1953, he returned to the Detroit area.
Thanks for the good news, Wikipedia still has him alive.
RIP, Mr. Hill.
I loved his character. Just like the article reads, he really projected a hard-love, fatherly-figured on the screen.
Great role for Mr. Hill. RIP.
What a great role he played.
RIP, Mr. Hill, and condolences to your family and friends on their loss.
RIP.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.