Randolph Scott
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George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987), generally known as Randolph Scott, was an American film actor whose career spanned the sound era from the late 1920s to the early 1960s. He reached the height of his popularity in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such films as Gung Ho! and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm; but he was especially famous for his numerous westerns including Virginia City (1940), Seven Men from Now (1956), The Tall T (1957) and Ride the High Country (1962). Prior to becoming a western star he attended Woodberry Forest School and Georgia Tech.
The Virginia-born actor was a veteran of World War I and by the end of his life a religious person who was close to Rev. Billy Graham. Scott shared a beach house with Cary Grant for twelve years in California , known as "Bachelor Hall" that was frequented by many female guests. It is however rumored that Scott and Grant were actually romantically involved, and that the moniker of "Bachelor Hall" and supposed parade of women were invented by the studio who wanted to keep their valuable actors away from any public scandal. In his book, Cary Grant: Grant's Secret Sixth Marriage, Marc Eliot claims Grant had a sexual relationship with Scott after they met on the set of Hot Saturday (1932) and that their physical attraction was so immediate and strong that the actors lived together for the next 12 years. In his book, Hollywood Gays, Boze Hadleigh makes various claims for Scott's homosexuality. He cites gay director George Cukor who said about the homosexual relationship between the two: "Oh, Cary won't talk about it. At most, he'll say they did some wonderful pictures together. But Randolph will admit it – to a friend." According to William J. Mann's book, Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969, photographer Jerome Zerbe spent "three gay months" (his words) in the movie colony taking many photographs of Grant and Scott, "attesting to their involvement in the gay scene." In 1944, Scott and Grant stopped living together but remained close friends throughout their lives.
Scott married twice, the first time in 1936 he became the second husband of heiress Marion Du Pont, daughter of William Du Pont, Sr. and great-granddaughter of Éleuthère Irénée Du Pont de Nemours the founder of the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. The marriage ended in divorce three years later. In 1944, Scott remarried to Patricia Stillman with whom he had two children. The marriage lasted 43 years until Scott's death in 1987. Following his father's death, son Christopher Scott wrote a book refuting rumors of his father's homosexuality.
Scott's high stature as a Western actor was spoofed in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy Blazing Saddles; after a group of townspeople refuses a request, the sheriff replies, "You'd do it for Randolph Scott." The people immediately take off their hats and whisper, "Randolph Scott!" A chorus singing "Randolph Scott" is then heard. Brooks may have been inspired to include Scott in Blazing Saddles by the Statler Brothers’ song Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?, a top Country music song from 1973.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Randolph Scott has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6243 Hollywood Blvd. In 1975, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Randolph Scott died at age 89 in Beverly Hills, California, and is interred in the Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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See also: Other notable figures in Western filmsde:Randolph Scott fr:Randolph Scott sv:Randolph Scott