Charlie Hill

Charles Allan Hill was an OneidaMohawkCree standup comedian and actor Born in Detroit Michigan in 1951 he moved as a child with his family when they returned to their homestead on the Oneida reservation in 1962 Hill was also of Mohawk and Cree ancestry In 1969 he graduated from West De Pere High School and enrolled at University of WisconsinMadison where he majored in speech and drama He was involved in the Broom Street Theatre Group After college he moved to Hollywood to pursue his dream as a standup comedian and actor Hills first network appearance was on The Richard Pryor Show in 1977 He was then the first Native American comedian to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson He also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and made multiple appearances on Late Night with David Letterman Hill appeared on many television shows and hosted an evening of Native American comedians on a Showtime special He was the subject of the PBS documentary On and Off The Res with Charlie Hill 1999 directed by Sandra Osawa Hill was interviewed about American Indian Movement activist Dennis Banks in the documentary A Good Day to Die Hill starred in the 1984 film Harold of Orange He had four children with his wife Lenora daughter Dine Nizhoni daughter Nasbah daughter Nanabah and son Nabahe He died from lymphoma in the early morning of December 30 2013 at the Anna John Nursing Home in Oneida WI His death followed a yearlong battle against cancer While at university he was a member of the experimental Broom Street Theater Group He also toured Europe as a member of the La MaMa Experimental Theater Group which was based in New York City