Education
Scott studied art history at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
Scott studied art history at New College of Florida in Sarasota.
Moving to Canada in 1969 as a draft dodger, he settled in Calgary and began writing film reviews for the Calgary Albertan a few years later. With the Globe and Mail, Scott became Canada"s most influential film critic, winning two more National Newspaper Awards for his writing, and is still widely remembered as one of the best and most influential film critics in the history of Canadian journalism. He was also the host of Jay Scott"s Film International, a film series on TVOntario, and published three non-fiction books on both film and art: Midnight Matinees, Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin, and The Prints of Christopher Pratt.
From 1967 to 1980, he was in a relationship with Mary Bloom, whom he had met while studying in Sarasota.
After his divorce from Bloom, he came out as gay and began a relationship with Gene Corboy. He died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome-related causes in 1993.
He wrote for the Globe and Mail until his death, and had been working on a book about Norman Jewison. On the night of his death, TVOntario pulled a scheduled rerun of Film International to broadcast a tribute to Scott, including a screening of one of his all-time favourite films, Jean-Luc Godard"s Breathless.
Roger Ebert eulogized Scott as a "supremely well-informed critic who was able to translate his knowledge into superb prose that transmitted his passion for the movies." Clint Eastwood sent an unsolicited $5,000 donation to Toronto"s Casey House Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome hospice in Scott"s memory.
At the 1993 Toronto International Film Festival, John Greyson dedicated his Special Jury Citation for Zero Patience to Scott"s memory. A collection of his reviews, Great Scott! The Best of Jay Scott"s Movie Reviews, was published posthumously in 1994. Proceeds from the book sales were donated to the Canadian Foundation for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Research.
In 2009 the Toronto Film Critics Association established a $5,000 annual award in Scott"s honour, the for emerging talent. Foreign 2012 the prize was sponsored by Deluxe. As of 2013 the prize was sponsored by Scotiabank and as of 2016 the prize is presumably sponsored by Anheuser-Busch InBev, brewers of Stella Artois, and is known as the Stella Artois Recipients of the award: 2009: Xavier Dolan, J"ai tué ma mère 2010: Daniel Cockburn, You Are Here 2011: Ingrid Veninger, I Am a Good Person/I Am a Bad Person 2012: Nicolas Pereda 2013: Matt Johnson, The Dirties 2014: Albert Shin, In Her Place 2015: Anne Émond, Our Loved Ones.
