The Young and the Restless director Heather Hill has died at 85

Heather Hill, a former director of The Young and the Restless, has died. She was 85.

The Young and the Restless, Heather Hill, In Memoriam

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hill died at her home in Las Vegas on Friday, October 10. No cause of death has been announced.

Hill won six Daytime Emmys for her work as a director on Y&R. She shared three wins and one nomination with her husband, Randall Hill, a former Y&R stage manager.

Hill was born in Rye, New York, and graduated from Rye Country Day School before beginning her professional TV career. She worked as a production assistant on Love of Life, and then became an assistant director and later, a director, on the CBS soap opera.

In New York, she also directed the serials Love is a Many Splendored Thing, As the World Turns, and Search for Tomorrow. In 1985, Hill moved to Los Angeles and became a contract member of the Y&R directing team. She also directed General Hospital and Baywatch.

Hill directed numerous Y&R episodes, including the one in which Dr. Steven Lassiter (the late Rod Arrants) succumbed to injuries he sustained after a patient shot him. Ironically, Hill had also directed the Search episode in which Arrants's character, Travis Sentell, passed away.

While directors can be found behind the cameras, Hill was elected twice to appear on camera at the Daytime Emmys in 1989 and 1996. She served as spokesperson for the show's directing team after the team won the coveted statuette.

And the Daytime Emmy goes to

"First of all, I'd like to say that [Justin Gocke] stole all our moves coming up here before," Hill deadpanned at the 1989 awards, referring to the Santa Barbara actor, who played Brandon, and had won for Outstanding Juvenile Male in a Drama Series earlier in the broadcast. Gocke had leaped up to the stage with the boundless enthusiasm that only youngsters can!

"We're just as exuberant, but a little older," Hill quipped. She went on to thank Bill Bell, the show's creator and then-senior executive producer and head writer, along with other producers and "the wonderful cast, the great crew," and "the entire staff of The Young and the Restless."

Additionally, Hill served as a Supervising Producer on the short-lived syndicated soap opera, The Caitlins, which ran from 1982-85.

During Hill's tenure as a director at Y&R, the show's storylines included Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) being held captive by his derranged ex-wife, Lisa Mansfield (Lynne Harbough) in a cage, the George Rawlins murder mystery, the introduction of Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) and Drucilla (Victoria Rowell), and numerous other stories.

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In addition to her husband, Hill is survived by her sons, Tim and Chris, daughter-in-law Debbie, and grandchildren, Violet, Quinn, and Carter.

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekdays on CBS and Paramount Plus

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