Silent film biographer and researcher Donna Hill, 64, died in her San Francisco apartment on Dec. 30. Donna helped me with just about all of my books, supplying contacts, facts, and great gossip. In 2010 she wrote the gorgeous coffee-table book Rudolph Valentino the Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs, and at the time of her death was working on a Dorothy Gish bio. One online “virtual friend” wrote that Donna was “a kind, thoughtful, unfailingly generous friend, and a helpful and supportive scholar. Sharing her Valentino collection via her book was characteristic - she was the last person to leave treasures locked away and unseen.” Mutual friend Jim Craig says that Donna "was an administrative assistant for patent attorneys in San Francisco . . . She lived in a magnificent 1920s apartment building at the end of the cable car line on California Street. She used to cross the street, get on the cable car and take it to the end of the line to get to work."
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My emails got deleted, but I'd think Donna's cat-sitter would be the best person to find a home for William. I know a lot of her acquaintances, but none of them in San Francisco.
Donna would be amazed and a little embarrassed that her obit has gotten four times the views of any of my others!
Donna & I were neighbors for 25+ years. She was always upbeat & cordial. She was a guest in my home at Thanksgiving 2024. The last text I got from her was 12/20/24.
She will be missed by me & many others. RIP
Donna will be missed by the friends she never met in person. She and the feline William Powell had a beautiful story. I wish all of you mourning her peaeful hearts.
Hello - I was a friend of Donna's via social media. I'm just gutted about her passing, and her many friends online are so worried about her kitty, William. We can help with him, if needed. If you would be so kind as to pass on this message, I would very much appreciate it!