Randolph Scott

Birthday: 23 January 1898, Orange County, Virginia, USA

Birth Name: George Randolph Scott

Height: 188 cm

Handsome American leading man who developed into one of Hollywood's greatest and most popular Western stars. Born to George and Lucy Crane Scott during a visit to Virginia, Scott was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina in a wealthy family. After service with the U.S. Army in France in World War I, he attended Georgia Institute of Technology but, after being injured playing football, transferred to the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated with a degree in textile engineering and manufacturing. He discovered acting and went to California, where he met Howard Hughes, who obtained an audition for him for Cecil B. DeMille's Dynamite (1929), a role which went instead to Joel McCrea. He was hired to coach Gary Cooper in a Virginia dialect for The Virginian (1929) and played a bit part in the film. Paramount scouts saw him in a play and offered him a contract. He met Cary Grant, another Paramount contract player, on the set of Hot Saturday (1932) and the pair soon moved in together. Their on-and-off living arrangement would last until 1942. Scott married and divorced wealthy heiress Marion DuPont in the late 1930's. He moved into leading roles at Paramount, although his easy-going charm was not enough to indicate the tremendous success that would come to him later. He was a pleasant figure in comedies, dramas and the occasional adventure, but it was not until he began focusing on Westerns in the late 1940s that he reached his greatest stardom. His screen persona altered into that of a stoic, craggy, and uncompromising figure, a tough, hard-bitten man seemingly unconnected to the light comedy lead he had been in the 1930s. He became one of the top box office stars of the 1950s and, in the Westerns of Budd Boetticher especially, a critically important figure in the Western as an art form. Following a critically acclaimed, less-heroic-than-usual role in one of the classics of the genre, Ride the High Country (1962), Scott retired from films. A multimillionaire as a result of canny investments, Scott spent his remaining years playing golf and avoiding film industry affairs, stating that he didn't like publicity. He died in 1987 survived by his second wife, Patricia Stillman, and his two adopted children, Christopher and Sandra. He is buried in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hide

[on his mother] She was an old-fashioned Southern lady who always contended movies were not here to Show more [on his mother] She was an old-fashioned Southern lady who always contended movies were not here to stay, My five sisters took her to see me in a film and the first time she saw me on the screen, she said, "Oh, no! That can't be Randolph. This feller's older than Randy and not so good-looking". Hide

Frankly, I don't like publicity. I always remember something that David Belasco said and had incorpo Show more Frankly, I don't like publicity. I always remember something that David Belasco said and had incorporated in the contracts of his stars. His theory was, "Never let yourself be seen in public unless they pay for it". To me, that makes sense. The most glamorous, the most fascinating star our business ever had was Garbo [Greta Garbo]. Why? Because she kept herself from the public. Each member of the audience had his own idea of what she was really like. But take the other stars of today. There is no mystery about them. The public knows what kind of toothpaste they use, whether they sleep in men's pajamas and every intimate fact of their lives. When I read publicity about them, I can tell just which press agent they employ. Hide

[in 1962] All the old movies are turning up on television, and frankly, making pictures doesn't inte Show more [in 1962] All the old movies are turning up on television, and frankly, making pictures doesn't interest me too much any more. Hide

[on his short marriage to heiress Marianna du Pont Somerville] Our separation is entirely friendly. Show more [on his short marriage to heiress Marianna du Pont Somerville] Our separation is entirely friendly. It's merely a case of being separated too much, which did not prove compatible with marriage. Hide

I had always been a fatalist about my career. What was to be was to be. At least it worked out that Show more I had always been a fatalist about my career. What was to be was to be. At least it worked out that way in my case. My retirement is both voluntary and involuntary. One reason, and this is voluntary, is the impact of television. All old movies are turning up on television, and frankly making pictures doesn't interest me anymore. Another reason is that the film industry is in a declining state. Hide

[on his father] He went to see all my films--not because he had a son starring in them, but because Show more [on his father] He went to see all my films--not because he had a son starring in them, but because he thought I looked like Wallace Reid, his favorite actor. Hide

[about Westerns] They have been the mainstay of the industry ever since its beginning. And they have Show more [about Westerns] They have been the mainstay of the industry ever since its beginning. And they have been good to me. Westerns are a type of picture which everybody can see and enjoy. Westerns always make money. And they always increase a star's fan following. Hide

Randolph Scott's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (35)

The Spoilers

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Decision at Sundown

My Favorite Wife