Zachary Scott
Encyclopedia
Zachary Scott was an American actor, most notable for his roles as villains and "mystery men".
, he was a distant cousin of George Washington
, and his grandfather had been a very successful cattle rancher.
Scott intended to be a doctor like his father, Zachary Scott Sr. (1880-1964), but after attending the University of Texas
for a while, he decided to switch to acting. He signed on as a cabin boy
on a freighter which took him to England
, where he acted in repertory theatre for a while, before he returned to Austin, and began acting in local theater.
Alfred Lunt
discovered Scott in Texas and convinced him to move to New York City
, where he appeared on Broadway
. Jack Warner
saw him in a performance, and signed him to appear in a movie, The Mask of Dimitrios
, in 1944.
He appeared the next year in Mildred Pierce
to much acclaim. In the film, Scott was Joan Crawford
's somewhat sleazy love interest, whose mysterious murder formed the basis of the plot. (The character was equally sleazy but was not killed in the novel on which the movie was based.) During this period, Scott and his first wife Elaine socialized regularly with Angela Lansbury
and her first husband, Richard Cromwell
. Elaine Scott had met Zachary Scott back in Austin and she made a name for herself behind the scenes on Broadway
as stage manager for the original production of Oklahoma!
. The Scotts had one child together, Waverly Scott.
Zachary Scott enjoyed playing scoundrels and the public enjoyed those portrayals, too. Scott went on to star in such movies as The Southerner
, The Unfaithful
, Cass Timberlane
, Flamingo Road, Flaxy Martin
, Guilty Bystander
, Wings of Danger
, and Shadow on the Wall
, opposite Nancy Davis Reagan and Ann Sothern
. He later starred in Luis Buñuel
's The Young One
(La Joven, 1960), Buñuel's second English language movie (the first being Adventures of Robinson Crusoe).
In 1950, Scott was involved in a raft
ing accident. Also during that year, he divorced his first wife, Elaine, who subsequently married writer John Steinbeck
. Possibly as a result of these developments or due to a box-office slump, Scott succumbed to a depression
which in turn limited his acting. Since Warner Bros.
did not continue to promote his films, he turned back to the stage, and also appeared on television
. During this period Scott remarried and he and his second wife, actress Ruth Ford
, had a child together as well (he adopted her daughter from a previous marriage). He moved back to Austin, where he died from a brain tumor
at the age of 51.
A theatre center in Austin bears his name. His family has endowed two chairs at the University of Texas's theatre department in his name.
Scott has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
A street at the old airport Mueller Redevelopment in Austin is named in his honor.
Life and career
Born in Austin, TexasAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, he was a distant cousin of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, and his grandfather had been a very successful cattle rancher.
Scott intended to be a doctor like his father, Zachary Scott Sr. (1880-1964), but after attending the University of Texas
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
for a while, he decided to switch to acting. He signed on as a cabin boy
Cabin boy
A Cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain....
on a freighter which took him to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he acted in repertory theatre for a while, before he returned to Austin, and began acting in local theater.
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, often identified for a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne...
discovered Scott in Texas and convinced him to move to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
saw him in a performance, and signed him to appear in a movie, The Mask of Dimitrios
The Mask of Dimitrios
The Mask of Dimitrios is an American film noir directed by Jean Negulesco and written by Frank Gruber, based on the 1939 novel of the same name written by Eric Ambler . Ambler is known as a major influence on writers and an inventor of the modern thriller genre...
, in 1944.
He appeared the next year in Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce (film)
Mildred Pierce is a 1945 American drama film starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, and Eve Arden in a film noir about a long-suffering mother and her ungrateful daughter. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, William Faulkner, and Catherine Turney was based upon the 1941...
to much acclaim. In the film, Scott was Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
's somewhat sleazy love interest, whose mysterious murder formed the basis of the plot. (The character was equally sleazy but was not killed in the novel on which the movie was based.) During this period, Scott and his first wife Elaine socialized regularly with Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
and her first husband, Richard Cromwell
Richard Cromwell (actor)
Richard Cromwell, born LeRoy Melvin Radabaugh , was an American actor. His family and friends called him Roy, though he was also professionally known and signed autographs as Dick Cromwell. Cromwell's career was at its pinnacle with his work in Jezebel with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda and again...
. Elaine Scott had met Zachary Scott back in Austin and she made a name for herself behind the scenes on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
as stage manager for the original production of Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
. The Scotts had one child together, Waverly Scott.
Zachary Scott enjoyed playing scoundrels and the public enjoyed those portrayals, too. Scott went on to star in such movies as The Southerner
The Southerner (1945 film)
The Southerner is a 1945 American film directed by Jean Renoir, based on the novel Hold Autumn in Your Hand by George Sessions Perry. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Director, Original Music Score and Sound. Renoir was named Best Director by the National Board of Review, which also...
, The Unfaithful
The Unfaithful
The Unfaithful is a 1947 film noir based on the W. Somerset Maugham penned 1940 Bette Davis movie The Letter. The film was directed by Vincent Sherman.-Plot:Chris Hunter stabs a man in her home one night while her husband Bob is out of town...
, Cass Timberlane
Cass Timberlane
Cass Timberlane is a novel written by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1945. It is Sinclair Lewis' nineteenth novel and one of his last.It was made into a romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner, directed by George Sidney, and released in 1947.Timberlane is a minor character in...
, Flamingo Road, Flaxy Martin
Flaxy Martin
Flaxy Martin is a film noir directed by Richard L. Bare. The crime thriller features Virginia Mayo, Zachary Scott, Dorothy Malone, among others...
, Guilty Bystander
Guilty Bystander
Guilty Bystander is a 1950 independent film production, considered film noir, starring Zachary Scott and Faye Emerson. The film was the last film appearance for character actor Mary Boland.-Reaction:...
, Wings of Danger
Wings of Danger
Wings of Danger is a 1952 drama film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Zachary Scott and Robert Beatty.-Cast:*Zachary Scott as Richard Van Ness*Robert Beatty as Nick Talbot*Naomi Chance as Avril Talbot*Kay Kendall as Alexia LaRoche...
, and Shadow on the Wall
Shadow on the Wall (film)
Shadow on the Wall is a 1950 psychological thriller film starring Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau and Nancy Davis. It is based on the novel Death in the Doll's House by Lawrence P. Bachmann and Hannah Lees.-Plot:...
, opposite Nancy Davis Reagan and Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
. He later starred in Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's The Young One
The Young One
La joven is a 1960 film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel. Produced in Mexico and shot in English with American actors, La Joven is Buñuel's second and last American film...
(La Joven, 1960), Buñuel's second English language movie (the first being Adventures of Robinson Crusoe).
In 1950, Scott was involved in a raft
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
ing accident. Also during that year, he divorced his first wife, Elaine, who subsequently married writer John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
. Possibly as a result of these developments or due to a box-office slump, Scott succumbed to a depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
which in turn limited his acting. Since Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
did not continue to promote his films, he turned back to the stage, and also appeared on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. During this period Scott remarried and he and his second wife, actress Ruth Ford
Ruth Ford (actress)
Ruth Ford was an American model and stage and film actress. Her brother was the bohemian surrealist Charles Henri Ford. Their parents managed the Tennessee Hotel in Clarksville, Tennessee.-Life and career:As a model she posed for Harper's, Town and Country and Mademoiselle...
, had a child together as well (he adopted her daughter from a previous marriage). He moved back to Austin, where he died from a brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
at the age of 51.
A theatre center in Austin bears his name. His family has endowed two chairs at the University of Texas's theatre department in his name.
Scott has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.
A street at the old airport Mueller Redevelopment in Austin is named in his honor.