Dick Hill narrated over 1,000 audiobooks across a stunning career, taking on numerous genres but finding himself a go-to voice for propulsive thriller novels that needed a natural tough guy edge. He died in late 2022 at the age of 74 in Lansing, Michigan, where he was a longtime member of the local theater scene. I know I’ll eventually run out of Jack Reacher books read by Dick Hill, and I hope to like the newest readers. But I also know that I plan to dive into the work of Dick Hill beyond the Reacher books. Maybe by next audiobook gym binge will be Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch books, which Hill also read.
I think it says something about Hill as an actor, not just a reader, that I plan to follow his work just as much as I plan to follow the writers whose work he brought to life. Audiobook readers are, by design, intended to be invisible. Their work brings another artist to life. The writer is supposed to be the star. But the work of Dick Hill proves that audiobook narration is an art form, a full-on performance, and that the talented folks working in this corner of the industry deserve the same respect we give actors who appear on the big and small screens.
I spoke about this on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:
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The Best Jack Reacher Actor Isn’t Tom Cruise Or Alan Ritchson
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