[2] A graduate of Drake College,[3] he worked as a newspaper reporter and an actor in vaudeville and stock theater.

Often associated with producer Thomas H. Ince, Hillyer expanded into romantic melodramas and crime films in the 1920s.

He directed the first screen depiction of Batman, a 15-part serial produced in 1943[4] that was re-released as a theatrical feature in 1965.

Hillyer finished his career directing low-budget dramas and Westerns for Monogram Pictures.

[4] In the early days of television, Hillyer also directed episodes of the syndicated Western, The Cisco Kid.