George C. Scott Biography

George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 " September 22, 1999) was an American stage and film actor, director, and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, and as Ebenezer Scrooge in Clive Donner's adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

Early life

George Campbell Scott was born in Wise, Virginia, the son of Helena Agnes (née Slemp; 1904"1935) and George Dewey Scott (1902"1988). His mother died just before his eighth birthday, and he was raised by his father, an executive with Buick. Scott's original ambition was to be a writer like his favorite author, F. Scott Fitzgerald; while attending Redford High School in Detroit, he wrote many short stories, none of which were ever published. As an adult, he tried on many occasions to write a novel, but was never able to complete one to his satisfaction.

Scott joined the US Marines, serving from 1945"49. He was assigned to 8th and I Barracks in Washington, D.C., in which capacity he taught English literature and radio speaking/writing at the Marine Corps Institute. His primary duty, however, was as an honor guard for military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. He later claimed his duties at Arlington led to his drinking. After his military service, Scott enrolled in the University of Missouri, where he majored in journalism and then became interested in drama; he graduated from the university in 1953.

Broadway and film career

Scott first rose to prominence for his work with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. In 1958, he won an Obie Award for his performances in Children of Darkness (in which he made the first of many appearances opposite his future wife, actress Colleen Dewhurst), for As You Like It, and for playing the title character in William Shakespeare's Richard III (a performance one critic said was the "angriest" Richard III of all time). He was on Broadway the following year, winning critical acclaim for his portrayal of the prosecutor in The Andersonville Trial by Saul Levitt. This was based on the military trial of the commandant of the infamous Civil War prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia. His performance earned him a mention in Time magazine. In 1970, Scott directed a highly acclaimed television version of this same play. It starred William Shatner, Richard Basehart, and Jack Cassidy, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance as the defense lawyer in this production.

Scott continued to appear in and sometimes direct Broadway productions throughout the 1960s. The most commercially successful show in which he worked was Neil Simon's Plaza Suite (1968). The show is composed of three separate one-act plays all utilizing the same set, with Scott portraying a different lead character in each act, and ran for 1,097 performances.

He made many television appearances, including an episode of NBC's The Virginian, in the episode "The Brazen Bell", in which he recites Oscar Wilde's poem "The Ballad Of Reading Gaol". That same year, he appeared in NBC's medical drama The Eleventh Hour, in the episode "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House". He appeared opposite Laurence Olivier and Julie Harris in Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory in a 1961 television production.

In 1963, Scott was top billed in the CBS hour-long drama series East Side, West Side; he and co-star Cicely Tyson played urban social workers. The show lasted only one season. In 1965 he was cast, under the direction of John Huston, as Abraham with, among others, co-star Ava Gardner cast as Sarah in the Dino de Laurentiis film: The Bible: In the Beginning which was released by 20th Century Fox in 1966. In 1966, Scott appeared as Jud Barker in the NBC western The Road West, starring Barry Sullivan, Kathryn Hays, Andrew Prine, and Glenn Corbett. Scott won wide public recognition in the film Anatomy of a Murder, in which he played a wily prosecutor opposite James Stewart as the defense attorney. Scott was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Scott's most famous early role was in Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, in which he played General "Buck" Turgidson. It is revealed on the DVD documentary that after having shot many takes of any given scene, Stanley Kubrick would frequently ask Scott to redo it in an "over the top" fashion. Kubrick proceeded to use this version in the final cut, which Scott supposedly resented.

Scott portrayed George S. Patton in the 1970 film Patton and researched extensively for the role, studying films of the general and talking to those who knew him. Scott refused the Oscar nomination for Patton, just as he had done for his 1962 nomination for The Hustler, but won the award anyway.

In a letter to the Motion Picture Academy he stated that he didn't feel himself to be in competition with other actors. However, regarding this second rejection of the Academy Award, Scott famously said elsewhere, "The whole thing is a goddamn meat parade. I don't want any part of it." Sixteen years later, in 1986, Scott reprised his role in a made-for-television sequel, The Last Days of Patton. The movie was based on Patton's final weeks after being mortally injured in a car accident, with flashbacks of Patton's life. At the time the sequel was aired, Scott mentioned in a TV Guide interview that he told the Academy to donate his Oscar to the Patton Museum but since the instructions were never put in writing, it was never delivered.

The Oscar is currently displayed at the Virginia Military Institute museum in Lexington, Virginia, the same institution that generations of Pattons have attended. Scott did not turn down the New York Film Critics Award for his performance (of which his then wife Colleen Dewhurst said, "George thinks this is the only film award worth having").

He continued to do stage work throughout the rest of his career, receiving Tony Award nominations for his performance as Astrov in a revival of Uncle Vanya (1973), his Willy Loman in a revival of Death of a Salesman (1975), and his performance as Henry Drummond in a revival of Inherit the Wind (1996). In the latter play, he had to miss an unusually large number of performances due to illness, with his role being taken over by National Actors Theatre artistic director Tony Randall. In 1996, he received an honorary Drama Desk Award for a lifetime devotion to theatre.

Scott also starred in well-received productions of Larry Gelbart's Sly Fox (1976) (based on Ben Jonson's Volpone), which ran 495 performances, and a revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter (1982). He frequently directed on Broadway as well, including productions of All God's Chillun Got Wings (1975) and Design for Living (1985), as well as being an actor/director (Death of a Salesman, Present Laughter, and On Borrowed Time (1991)).

In 1971, Scott gave two more critically acclaimed performances, as a de facto Sherlock Holmes in They Might Be Giants and as an alcoholic doctor in the black comedy The Hospital. Despite his repeated snubbing of the Academy, Scott was again nominated for Best Actor for the latter role. Scott excelled on television that year as well, appearing in an adaptation of Arthur Miller's The Price, an installment of the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology. He was nominated for, and won, an Emmy Award for his role, which he accepted.

Scott also starred in the popular 1980 horror film The Changeling, with Melvyn Douglas. He received the Canadian Genie Award for Best Foreign Film Actor for his performance. In 1981, Scott appeared alongside Timothy Hutton and rising stars Sean Penn and Tom Cruise in the coming-of-age film Taps. In 1982, he was cast as Fagin in the CBS made-for-TV adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. In 1984, Scott portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in a television adaptation of A Christmas Carol. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for the role.

In 1989, Scott starred in the television movie The Ryan White Story, as Charles Vaughan, the lawyer defending Ryan White from discrimination. In 1990, he voiced "Smoke", the villain in the television special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, and he also voiced the villainous Percival McLeach in Disney's The Rescuers Down Under that same year. He was featured in The Exorcist III the same year. In 1997, Scott portrayed Juror #3 in the TV-movie 12 Angry Men, for which he would win another Emmy Award. He hosted the TV series Weapons At War on A&E TV but was replaced after one season by Gerald McRaney. Weapons At War moved to The History Channel with Scott still credited as host for the first season. Scott was replaced by Robert Conrad after his death in 1999. In 1999, he made his last film, the TV-movie Inherit the Wind, portraying William Jennings Bryan (ironically the opposite role he had played on stage) with Jack Lemmon as Henry Drummond, who he had also worked with in 12 Angry Men.

Scott had a reputation for being moody and mercurial while on the set. "There is no question you get pumped up by the recognition," he once said, "Then a self-loathing sets in when you realize you're enjoying it." A famous anecdote relates that one of his stage costars, Maureen Stapleton, told the director of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite, "I don't know what to do"?I'm scared of him." The director, Mike Nichols, replied, "My dear, everyone is scared of George C. Scott."

Politics

In 1982, Scott appeared in a campaign commercial for Republican U.S. Senator Lowell P. Weicker of Connecticut. Like Weicker, Scott was at that time a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Personal life and death

Scott was married five times:

1. Carolyn Hughes (1951"1955) (one daughter, Victoria, born December 19, 1952)
2. Patricia Reed (1955"1960) (two children: Matthew " born May 27, 1957, and actress Devon Scott " born November 29, 1958).
3. The Canadian-born actress Colleen Dewhurst (1960"1965), by whom he had two sons, writer Alexander Scott (born August 1960), and actor Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961). Dewhurst nicknamed her husband "G.C."
4. He remarried Colleen Dewhurst on July 4, 1967, but they divorced for a second time on February 2, 1972.
5. American actress Trish Van Devere on September 4, 1972, with whom he starred in several films, including the supernatural thriller The Changeling (1980). Scott adopted Trish's nephew, George D. Scott and resided in Malibu. They remained married until his death in 1999.

He had a daughter, Michelle (born August 21, 1954) with Karen Truesdell.

While he was divorced from Colleen Dewhurst, he developed a stormy relationship with actress Ava Gardner fueling their bouts with alcohol; continuing an age-old problem dating back to his military service. Scott died on September 22, 1999, aged 71, of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. His remains were buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California, in an unmarked grave.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	The DuPont Show of the Month	Jacques	Episode: "A Tale of Two Cities"
1959	The Hanging Tree	George Grubb
1959	The United States Steel Hour	Marshal Gulliver	Episode: "Trap for a Stranger"
1959	Anatomy of a Murder	Claude Dancer	Nominated"?Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1961	The Hustler	Bert Gordon	Nominated"?Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year " Actor
1961	The Power and the Glory	Police lieutenant	TV movie
1963	The List of Adrian Messenger	Anthony Gethyrn
1963-1964	East Side/West Side	Neil Brocker	26 episodes Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1964	Dr. Strangelove	General Buck Turgidson
1964	The Yellow Rolls-Royce	Paolo Maltese
1966	The Bible: In the Beginning	Abraham
1966	Not with My Wife, You Don't!	"Tank" Martin
1967	The Flim-Flam Man	Mordecai
1968	Petulia	Dr. Archie Bollen	New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor (2nd place)
1969	This Savage Land	Jud Barker	TV movie
1970	Patton	General George S. Patton, Jr.	Academy Award for Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Motion Picture Drama Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Laurel Award for Best Dramatic Performance, Male National Board of Review Award for Best Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Nominated"?BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1970	Jane Eyre	Edward Rochester	Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1971	They Might Be Giants	Justin Playfair	Nominated"?BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1971	The Last Run	Harry Garmes
1971	The Hospital	Dr. Herbert Bock	Nominated"?Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated"?BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Motion Picture Drama
1972	The New Centurions	Kilvinski
1972	Rage	Dan Logan	also director
1973	Oklahoma Crude	Noble Mason
1973	The Day of the Dolphin	Dr. Jake Terrell
1974	The Savage is Loose	John	also director
1974	Bank Shot	Walter Upjohn Ballentine
1975	The Hindenburg	Ritter
1976	Beauty and the Beast	The Beast	TV movie
1977	Islands in the Stream	Thomas Hudson
1977	Crossed Swords	Ruffler
1978	Movie Movie	Gloves Malloy/Spats Baxter	Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1979	Hardcore	Jake VanDorn
1980	The Changeling	John Russell	Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor
1980	The Formula	Lt. Barney Caine
1981	Taps	General Harlane Bache
1982	Oliver Twist	Fagin	TV movie
1984	A Christmas Carol	Ebenezer Scrooge	TV movie Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1984	Firestarter	John Rainbird
1985	Mussolini: The Untold Story	Benito Mussolini	TV movie
1986	The Murders in the Rue Morgue	Auguste Dupin
1986	The Last Days of Patton	General George S. Patton, Jr.	TV movie
1987-1988	Mr. President	President Samuel Arthur Tresch	24 episodes
1989	The Ryan White Story	Charles Vaughan, Sr.
1990	Descending Angel	Florian Stroia
1990	The Exorcist III	Kinderman	Nominated"?Razzie Award for Worst Actor
1990	The Rescuers Down Under	McLeach
1990	Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue	Smoke
1993	Malice	Dr. Martin Kessler
1994	Traps	Joe Trapcheck	5 episodes
1995	Angus	Grandpa Ivan
1995	The Whipping Boy	Blind George	TV movie
1995	Tyson	Cus	TV movie
1996	Titanic	Captain Edward J. Smith	TV movie
1997	12 Angry Men	Juror #3	TV movie Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Series, Miniseries or Television Film Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1997	Country Justice	Clayton Hayes	TV movie
1999	Gloria	Ruby
1999	Rocky Marciano	Pierino Marchegiano	TV movie
1999	Inherit the Wind	Matthew Harrison Brady	TV movie Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie