Biography

British writer, director and producer. A former documentary maker, he started with the GPO Film Unit in 1937 as an assistant, then served in the RAF Film Unit during World War II. Post-war, he made further documentaries as well as children's films, both feature-length (starting with The Stolen Plans (1952)) and shorts. His best known feature film was Born Free (1966), the story of the lioness Elsa, based on the work by Joy Adamson. He also directed episodes of The Saint (1962), The Avengers (1961) and The New Avengers (1976). He later produced and directed the popular cult children's series Worzel Gummidge (1979), which starred Jon Pertwee as a scarecrow, and subsequently directed Worzel Gummidge Down Under (1987). He was also attached in the 1970s to a proposed Doctor Who (1963) movie written by Tom Baker and Ian Marter called "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman", which was ultimately scuppered by copyright issues and never made.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

James showed an early aptitude for film making, when as a pupil at Belle Vue School in Bradford, he put to use a Pathescope 9.5 mm film camera he'd been given as a birthday present. With it, he made short films using his fellow pupils as stars and showed the results to them. On leaving school, he gained valuable experience with the film side of the Bradford Civic Playhouse and from there got a job in London as assistant to Paul Rotha, the producer of film documentaries. During WWII, he joined the RAF Film Unit as an assistant to the producer Paul Rotha and as a commissioned Air Observer he shot many of the wartime newsreels seen by cinema audiences. For his filming of the notable bomber raid on Eindhoven, he was awarded the DFC. After the war, he gained a reputation as a documentary film maker and went on to make several films for Rank's Children Film Foundation, the first being The Stolen Plans, followed by Clue of the Missing Ape, starring George Cole. He directed some dozen films, as well as many television episodes for series such as The Saint and The Avenger, but he is best remembered for his direction of the film Born Free, which was a big box office success and was chosen for a Royal Film Performance. His last film was The Belstone Fox. staring Bill Travers and Rachel Roberts.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

Donald Pleasence's character, Flight Lt. Colin Blythe, "The Forger" in The Great Escape (1963), was based on Hill.