Background

George Campbell Scott was born October 18, 1927, in Wise, Virginia, the son of Helena Agnes (née Slemp) and George Dewey Scott. His mother died just before his eighth birthday, and he was raised by his father, an executive at Buick.

Education

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 was ever published. When he was old enough to enlist, Scott quit high school and joined the United States Marine Corps, serving from 1945 to 1949. He was assigned to 8th and I Barracks in Washington, DC, 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 said 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. His first public appearance on stage was as the barrister in a university production of Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy, directed by H. Donovan Rhynsburger. During rehearsals for that show, he made his first stage appearance—in a student production of Noël Coward's Hands Across the Sea, directed by Jerry V. Tobias. He graduated from the university in 1953 with degrees in English and theater.

Career

George C. Scott worked for one year in construction before auditioning for a semi-professional repertory theater in 1954. By 1956, Scott moved to New York City. He appeared in roles on such 1950s television programs as Hallmark Hall of Fame, Kraft Theatre, Omnibus, and Playhouse 90. In 1957, he won the title role in William Shakespeare's Richard III in Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. His performance earned him a critical appraisal as "the meanest Richard III ever seen by human eyes," as well as an Obie Award. In 1958, he made his first Broadway appearance in Comes a Day.

In 1959, Scott was offered a supporting role as the drunk preacher Dr. George Grubb in the Gary Cooper western film The Hanging Tree. His next film role earned him a reputation as an actor's actor. Playing a hotshot big-city prosecuting attorney in Anatomy of a Murder, Scott was the nemesis of James Stewart's small-town defense attorney. Directed by Otto Preminger and featuring a musical score composed and performed by Duke Ellington, the film earned Scott his first Academy Award nomination.

In 1961, Scott returned to film with a critically heralded performance as promoter Bert Gordon in Robert Rossen's adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel about pool players, The Hustler. Once again, Scott was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Although Scott refused the nomination, his name remained on the ballot.

Before returning to Hollywood, Scott won another Obie Award for Eugene O'Neill's Desire under the Elms. Scott made his debut as a Hollywood leading man in John Huston's 1963 film The List of Adrian Messenger. During the 1963-64 television season, Scott starred in the weekly series East Side, West Side with Cicely Tyson.

In 1964, Scott appeared as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's satire of the Cold War, Dr. Strangelove, a role that allowed him to portray comically the anger that he usually repressed on screen.

His next big role was quite different. Starring as Abraham opposite Ava Gardner in the 1966 film The Bible, Scott's personal and professional life collided. Then he was fired from How to Steal a Million when he arrived on the film's set five hours late. His next film projects were The Flim-Flam Man in 1967 and Petulia with Julie Christie in 1968.

The film role for which he became best known was as the cantankerous but brilliant World War II military figure General George Patton in the 1970 film Patton. The film was given the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1970 and Scott was nominated and won the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor. Dismissing the awards as a "self-serving meat parade," Scott stayed home to watch a hockey game rather than attend the Oscar ceremonies. Scott reprised his characterization of Patton in 1986 for a television drama The Last Days of Patton. He also refused his 1971 Emmy Award for his performance in Arthur Miller's The Price.

Stating that he loved acting more than stardom, Scott continued to act in both films and television. He portrayed a doctor disgusted with the political and financial aspects of the medical profession in The Hospital. The performance earned him another Academy Award nomination. His other notable films of the 1970s include They Might Be Giants, Islands in the Stream, Movie Movie, Hardcore, and The Changeling. While he continued to make films until his death, the best work in his later career came in television films such as A Christmas Carol, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Last Days of Patton, 12 Angry Men, and Inherit the Wind. For the last, he won an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award. Scott died on September 22, 1999, in Westlake Village, California.

Achievements

• 

  George C. Scott, a theater and screen actor, dazzled audiences with his challenging roles, which earned him widespread recognition in the film fraternity and around the world. He is best known for his role as General George S. Patton in 'Patton' and Ebenezer Scrooge in 'A Christmas Carol'.
  
  Scott was awarded an Academy Award for Best Actor for 'Patton' in 1970, but he did not accept the award. He also won a Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor for 'The Changeling', in 1980 and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor-Series, Miniseries or Television Film for '12 Angry Men', in 1997.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • The Yellow Rolls-Royce

    (The adventures of a Rolls-Royce roll purchased by the Mar...)

    1964
  • Anatomy of a Murder

    (When his flirtatious young wife claims she was raped, an ...)

    1959
  • Prince Brat and the Whipping Boy

    (Prince Horace is the spoiled and arrogant heir to the thr...)

    1994
  • The Formula

    (While investigating the murder of a friend, a cop discove...)

    1980
  • Descending Angel

    (When Michael meets his beautiful fiancée's father in thei...)

    1990
  • Tyson

    (The life of Mike Tyson who rocketed to the top of the box...)

    1995
  • The Hustler

    (Brassy pool shark Paul Newman travels the small-town circ...)

    1961
  • A Christmas Carol

    (An old miser who makes excuses for his uncaring nature le...)

    1984
  • Jane Eyre

    (Jane Eyre, an orphan sent to Lowood school, eventually be...)

    1970
  • Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

    (Wickedly dark comedy features Peter Sellers (in three rol...)

    1964
  • The Hindenburg

    (This film is a compendium of the facts and fiction of the...)

    1975
  • Hardcore

    (A deeply religious man's daughter leaves with a church gr...)

    1979
  • Patton

    (Patton is a riveting portrait of one of the 20th century'...)

    1970
  • Angus

    (Angus is fat, dorky and smart, a kid with an uncool pal a...)

    1995
  • They Might Be Giants

    (A wealthy New York judge who believes he is Sherlock Holm...)

    1971
  • Rocky Marciano

    (The life of boxer Rocky Marciano, the only undefeated hea...)

    1999
  • Crossed Swords

    (Prince Edward and a look-alike beggar trade places in Tud...)

    1977
  • The Last Days of Patton

    (Following the close of World War II, General George S. Pa...)

    1986
  • The Changeling

    (Scott delivers one of the best performances ever. As a Ma...)

    1980
  • The Last Run

    (Academy Award winner George C. Scott stars as a retired C...)

    1971
  • 12 Angry Men

    (Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott lead an all-star cast in ...)

    1997
  • Curacao

    (George C. Scott and William Petersen are expatriates livi...)

    1993
  • Islands in The Stream

    (War. Freedom. Loyalty. Love. Manhood. Ernest Hemingway's ...)

    1977

Politics

Scott identified politically as a moderate conservative and supported the death penalty. In 1982, Scott appeared in a campaign commercial for Republican U.S. Senator Lowell P. Weicker of Connecticut.

Views

George C. Scott was the first actor to refuse the Academy Award for Best Actor (for Patton in 1970), having warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences months in advance that he would do so on philosophical grounds if he won. Scott believed that every dramatic performance was unique and could not be compared to others.

Quotations: "The (Academy Award) ceremonies are a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons."

"If I were ever stranded on a desert island, there would be 3 things I’d need: food, shelter, and a grip."

"Truth is not always a pleasant thing."

"All this stuff you heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans, traditionally, love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle... Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost - and will never lose - a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans."

"I think you have to be schizoid three different ways to be an actor ... You have to be a human being. Then you have to be the character you're playing. And on top of that you've got to be the guy sitting out there in Row 10, watching yourself and judging yourself. That's why most of us are crazy to start with, or go nuts once we get into it."

"I became an actor to escape my own personality. Acting is the most therapeutic thing in the world. You see, through acting you come full circle in your personality and, oh, what a grand time you can have along the way being wonderful people through your characters...I think all the courage that I may lack personally I have as an actor."

"But when it became an international hoopla where careers lived and died on whether or not you did or didn't get an Oscar, then it got out of hand."

"There is no question you get pumped up by the recognition. Then a self-loathing sets in when you realise you're enjoying it."

"Acting is characterization, the process of two entities merging-the actor and the role."

"There were times when I got frightened. Things weren't going right, so I just went out and got smashed. That's me. Something goes wrong, I find a bottle. I don't like it about myself but I've done it before and I'll do it again. But I never vanished for days or held up shooting or quit the picture."

"Acting on the stage is a luxury for me. I lose money. I make movies for financial reasons and this allows me the luxury of acting on Broadway. Hollywood, unfortunately, exploits actors for their own reasons, which are usually financial. So we might as well exploit Hollywood as much as it exploits us."

"I think of myself as a fairly decent human being and it gives me great pain to be considered for all the mean S.O.B.s that come along. I've played bird decapitators, puppy stranglers, woman beaters, wife poisoners, child molesters - every goddamn thing you can think of. It was quite scene there for a while. But I think the image is changing...I hope to God the old image is fading from people's minds."

Personality

George C. Scott suffered from frequent bouts of alcoholism and is believed to have been an extremely short-tempered man on the sets and even in his personal relationships.

In childhood, Scott wanted to be a writer like his favorite author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. As an adult, he tried on many occasions to write a novel, but was never able to complete one to his satisfaction.

Physical Characteristics: Featuring rugged facial characteristics, including a nose frequently broken in bar fights, and a gruff voice, Scott was a prodigious drinker until the early 1980s.

Quotes from others about the person

• Michael Sragow: "Scott brought something novel to the screen: an electric wariness. No actor was better at portraying the point where thought and instinct fuse—and he did it best in The Hustler (racking up another supporting-actor nomination). If you saw it as a teenager, his image embodied everything murky and menacing in city life. He was the nightmare image of the man in the back room. … Studying the play of the game, Scott's craggy face oozes alertness from its pores, and his trim, energetic body (Scott grew massive later on) keeps him from seeming sedentary.

Interests

• Writers

  F. Scott Fitzgerald

Connections

George C. Scott married Carolyn Hughes in 1951 and divorced her four years later. They had one daughter together. He then married Patricia Reed in 1955 and divorced her in 1960. He had two children with her - Mathew and Devon Scott. The year he divorced Reed, he married Colleen Dewhurst, with whom he had two more sons. The couple divorced in 1965. He remarried Colleen Dewhurst on July 4, 1967, but they divorced for a second time on February 2, 1972. His final marriage was to American actress, Trish Van Devere the same year, with whom he has also acted in a number of films.

Scott had an illegitimate daughter, Michelle, with Karen Truesdell and was also involved in an affair with an actress, Ava Gardner.

Father:

George Dewey Scott

(1902–1987)

Mother:

Helena Agnes Scott

(1904–1935)

Sister:

Helen Hettie Scott Hamilton

(1925–1994)

ex-spouse:

Carolyn Hughes

(m. 1951–1955)

ex-spouse:

Patricia Reed

(b. April 29, 1939, Talladega, Alabama, United States)

ex-spouse:

Colleen Rose Dewhurst

(June 3, 1924 – August 22, 1991)

(m. 1960; div. 1965)

(m. 1967; div. 1972)

Colleen Rose Dewhurst was a Canadian-American actress. She is known most for theatre roles, and for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway".

late wife:

Trish Van Devere

(b. March 9, 1941)

Trish Van Devere is an American actress.

Son:

Campbell Scott

(b. July 19, 1961)

Campbell Scott is an American actor, director, producer, and voice artist.

Daughter:

Devon Patricia Scott Elstob

(b. November 29, 1958)

Devon Patricia Scott Elstob is a former American actress and daughter of George C. Scott, her younger half-brother is actor Campbell Scott. She starred in The Tony Randall Show, which ran from 1976 to 1978.

Son:

Alexander R. Scott

(b. August 1960)

Daughter:

Victoria Scott

(b. December 19, 1952)

Son:

Matthew Scott

(b. May 27, 1957)

Daughter:

Michelle Scott

(b. August 21, 1954)

Partner:

Ava Gardner

(December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990)

Ava Gardner was an American actress and singer.

References

• Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott George C. Scott (1927-1999) born in Wise, Virginia, created some of the 20th century's most memorable performances on stage and screen – the cunning prosecutor in Anatomy of a Murder, the manipulative gambler in The Hustler, the buffoonishly warmongering chief of staff in Dr. Strangelove, and, of course, the brilliant and rebellious Patton. He also played Willy Loman, Richard III, Mussolini, Scrooge, Fagin, and countless others. But his offstage life was as filled with drama and controversy as any of the lives he portrayed with such intensity.
  2008
• Love and Madness: My Private Years with George C. Scott Film and theater audiences were attracted to George C. Scott's powerful stage presence and charisma, as was Karen Truesdell, a Stephens College theatre student. After performing with him on stage, a long term love relationship developed. Following her graduation, Karen and George moved to New York City together, where George's problems with booze and joblessness sent him into frequent rages. Broke, pregnant and ruling out an abortion, Karen entered a home for unwed mothers. Her liaison with Scott spanned 30 years as his hidden mistress and mother of his child. Truesdell Riehl's honesty and willingness to expose her own blindness to Scott's Jekyll and Hyde persona creates a compelling page-turner that reveals a compassionate understanding of young women trapped in the hypocrisy of the 1950's.
  2003
• Action: The Directors Guild of America
  1973