Hilliard grew up in Newton, Texas, the youngest of three children.[1] His father, Delmar Shelley Hilliard, was an Air Force A-1 Skyraider fighter pilot who flew 175 missions in Vietnam,[2] and later became Newton's county attorney for 25 years. His mother, Bobbye Clifton Hilliard, was an artist, newspaper reporter, homemaker, and office manager for her husband's law office.