‘Warriors’ Actor Roger Hill, Known For Famous Line ‘Can You Dig It?’ Dies At 65

The Warriors, a cult classic movie and one of the most controversial films of the late 1970s, has lost its most memorable actor. Roger Hill is perhaps more closely identified with the 1979 Warriors film than any of its cast members though he appeared in only one scene that lasted a mere seven minutes of the 93-minute running time.

Hill, a lifelong New Yorker, died in New York City last Thursday, February 20. He was 65 years old.

While Roger Hill was a professional actor for 20 years, his career in TV and film was not prolific. He never became a star or a big success by entertainment industry standards. Outside of The Warriors, Hill was best known for a four-year stint as “Alec Lowndes” on the long-running ABC afternoon soap opera One Life To Live.

But he made a permanent mark on cinema history, and the memories of film buffs, with his portrayal of the messianic New York gang leader “Cyrus,” who delivers a speech near the beginning of The Warriors rallying the city’s rival gangs to unite and rule New York.

“Can you count, suckas?” he demands of a the colorfully attired gang member crowd, in Hill’s opening line, declaring in his unforgettable baritone, “Now, there ain’t but 20,000 police in the whole town!”

Explaining that the gangs outnumber cops by five-to-one, he rallies the assembled gangs with his signature delivery of what became the signature line in The Warriors.

“Can you dig it? CAN — YOU — DIG — IIIIITT?”

But Roger Hill was unable or unwilling to build his unforgettable performance in The Warriors into a lasting career. Though he earlier starred in the 1974 film The Education of Sonny Carson, the film and television roles were few and far between following The Warriors and One Life To Live.

In 2005, Roger Hill sued a major video game company for using his “Cyrus” speech in a Warriors game without paying him.

He worked frequently, like most New York actors of the era, in the theater, acting in numerous Off Broadway plays and touring productions, including a version of Hamlet.

Roger Hill reportedly got his part as Cyrus when an actual New York gang member who had been cast in the role met with an unknown fate and vanished.

Directed by Walter Hill (no relation to Roger), later known for directing a breakout role for Eddie Murphy in the 1982 48 Hours, shot on a low budget and cast with unknown actors, The Warriors, based on the 1965 novel by Sol Yurick, caused instant controversy when it was released on February 9, 1979.

Reports of alleged gang violence breaking out at movie theaters came in from cities around the country. The tag line from The Warriors promotional posters, drawn from the Roger Hill “Cyrus” speech — describing how the “armies of the night” outnumber police five-to-one — had to be removed.

Nonetheless, The Warriors performed well at the box office by the standards of the late 1970s, earning over $22 million on it budget of about $7 million.