Hill was born Mario Girotti, his screen name until 1967. A blond hero of Italian action films and spaghetti Westerns, he was the hottest, highest-paid star of Italian films for a while. A decade after marrying an American woman, he moved to the U.S. and began appearing in Hollywood films. His first English-speaking (undubbed) role was in Mr. Billion (1977), though he has appeared onscreen since 1960.