Zachary Scott

Zachary Scott (February 21, 1914 – October 3, 1965) was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men".

Early life Scott was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Sallie Lee (Masterson) and Zachary Thomson Scott, a doctor.

Scott intended to follow his father into medicine, but after attending the University of Texas at Austin, he dropped out at age 19 and worked as a seaman on an England-bound freighter. There he appeared in almost two dozen repertory theatre productions in 18 months.

Career Broadway Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne met Scott and his wife Elaine Anderson in Austin, Texas, where Scott was again attending the University of Texas, and then wrote to Lawrence Langer about summer jobs for both at the Westport Playhouse in Connecticut, which led to Scott's engagements in New York. He left the university without completing his degree and made his debut in a 1941 revival of Ah, Wilderness! with a small role as a bartender. He was also in The Damask Cheek (1942), The Rock (1943), and Those Endearing Young Charms (1943).

J. Carrol Naish, Scott and Norman Lloyd in The Southerner (1945)Scott was one of the many Warners stars who had small roles in Hollywood Canteen (1944). He was loaned to United Artists to play the lead in The Southerner (1945) directed by Jean Renoir.

Back at Warners, Scott was cast in Mildred Pierce (1945) and received much acclaim for his performance as the duplicitous lover of both Joan Crawford and her daughter, and his mysterious murder forms the basis of the plot and frames the film's opening and closing. Variety noted that Scott "makes the most of his character" in "a talented performance."

Scott co-starred with Faye Emerson in Danger Signal (1945) and was with Janis Paige and Dane Clark in Her Kind of Man (1946). In 1946, exhibitors voted Scott the third most promising "star of tomorrow".

Scott supported Ann Sheridan in The Unfaithful (1947) and Ronald Reagan and Alexis Smith in Stallion Road (1947). MGM borrowed him to support Lana Turner and Spencer Tracy in Cass Timberlane (1947).

He had the lead in a noir for Eagle-Lion Films, Ruthless (1948), then returned to Warners for Whiplash (1948) with Clark. He supported Virginia Mayo in Flaxy Martin (1949) and Joel McCrea in the independent South of St. Louis (1949). He was reunited with Crawford in Flamingo Road (1949).

Warners tried Scott in One Last Fling (1949), a comedy with Alexis Smith. He starred in some films outside the studio: Guilty Bystander (1950) and Shadow on the Wall (1950). At Warners, he supported Randolph Scott in Colt .45 (1950). He did Born to Be Bad (1950) for Nicholas Ray and Pretty Baby (1950) for Warners.

After being dropped by Warners, Scott appeared on a variety of television series such as Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950) and Pulitzer Prize Playhouse (1951). He did Lightning Strikes Twice (1951) for King Vidor and The Secret of Convict Lake (1951).

Leaving Warners Scott's first film after he left Warners was Stronghold (1951) with Veronica Lake. He followed it with Let's Make It Legal (1951). He was on TV in Tales of Tomorrow (1951) and Betty Crocker Star Matinee (1952) and went to England to make Wings of Danger (1952).

In Hollywood, he was in Studio One in Hollywood (1953), and Medallion Theatre (1953) on TV, and Appointment in Honduras (1953), directed by Jacques Tourneur. He was in The Revlon Mirror Theater (1953), Chevron Theatre (1953), Suspense (1954), Schlitz Playhouse (1954), The Motorola Television Hour (1954), Campbell Summer Soundstage (1954), The United States Steel Hour (1954), Omnibus (1954), Climax! (1955), General Electric Theater (1955), Robert Montgomery Presents (1956, playing Philip Marlowe in a version of The Big Sleep), Science Fiction Theatre (1955), The Star and the Story (1956), Celebrity Playhouse (1956), Theatre Night (1957) and Pursuit (1958).

He made the occasional film such as Treasure of Ruby Hills (1955), Shotgun (1955), Flame of the Islands (1956), The Counterfeit Plan (1957), and Man in the Shadow (1957); the last two were shot in Britain.

Scott returned to Broadway with Requiem for a Nun (1959).

Later roles Scott was in The Young One (1960) directed by Luis Buñuel. He guest starred on The Chevy Mystery Show (1960), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) and Diagnosis: Unknown (1960). In 1961, he portrayed White Eyes, a Native American Chief, in the Rawhide episode "Incident Before Black Pass".

He was in the film Natchez Trace (1960) and had roles in The DuPont Show of the Month (1961), Play of the Week (1961), The New Breed (1961), The Defenders (1961) and The DuPont Show of the Week (1962).

Scott's last roles included It's Only Money (1962) with Jerry Lewis, the TV movie The Expendables (1962), and episodes of The Doctors and the Nurses (1962) and The Rogues (1965). He returned to Broadway for A Rainy Day in Newark (1963) by Howard Teichmann. He then moved back to Austin.

Personal life

During his time at Warner's, Scott and his first wife Elaine socialized regularly with Angela Lansbury and her husband Richard Cromwell. Elaine Scott had met Zachary Scott 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.

In 1950, Scott was involved in a rafting accident. Also during that year, he and Elaine divorced; she later married writer John Steinbeck. Possibly as a result of these developments or due to a box-office slump, Scott succumbed to depression, which affected his acting for Warners.

Scott married his second wife, actress Ruth Ford, in 1952. Scott adopted her daughter from Ford's previous marriage to Peter van Eyck.

Legacy Scott has a star at 6349 Hollywood Boulevard in the Motion Pictures section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.

In 1968, Austin renamed its civic center Zachary Scott Theatre Center in memory of the city's native son. Two streets in the Austin area are named in his memory: at the old airport Mueller Redevelopment and in unincorporated southeast Travis County.

Scott's family endowed two chairs at the University of Texas's theatre department in his name.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1944 The Mask of Dimitrios Dimitrios Makropoulos 1944 Hollywood Canteen Himself 1945 The Southerner Sam Tucker 1945 Mildred Pierce Monte Beragon 1945 Danger Signal Ronnie Mason 1946 Her Kind of Man Steve Maddux 1947 Stallion Road Stephen Purcell 1947 The Unfaithful Bob Hunter 1947 Cass Timberlane Bradd Criley 1948 Ruthless Horace Woodruff Vendig 1948 Whiplash Rex Durant 1949 Flaxy Martin Walter Colby 1949 South of St. Louis Charlie Burns 1949 Flamingo Road Fielding Carlisle 1949 One Last Fling Larry Pearce 1950 Guilty Bystander Max Thursday 1950 Shadow on the Wall David I. Starrling 1950 Colt .45 Jason Brett 1950 Born to Be Bad Curtis Carey 1950 Pretty Baby Barry Holmes 1951 Lightning Strikes Twice Harvey Fortescue Turner 1951 The Secret of Convict Lake Johnny Greer 1951 Stronghold Don Miguel Navarro 1951 Let's Make It Legal Victor Macfarland 1952 Wings of Danger Richard Van Ness Alternate title: Dead on Course 1953 Appointment in Honduras Harry Sheppard 1955 Treasure of Ruby Hills Ross Haney 1955 Shotgun Reb 1956 Flame of the Islands Wade Evans 1956 Bandido! Kennedy 1957 The Counterfeit Plan Max Brant 1957 Man in the Shadow John Lewis Sullivan alternate title: Violent Stranger 1960 The Young One Miller 1960 Natchez Trace John A. Morrow / John Murrell 1962 It's Only Money Gregory DeWitt

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1945 Suspense "Murder Off Key"

Television