George C Scott

George C. Scott (George Campbell Scott), 1927-99, American actor, b. Wise, Va. Fiery and intense, Scott played his first major roles in Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and As You Like It for the New York Shakespeare Festival. Other plays included The Andersonville Trial (1959), Uncle Vanya (1973), an elderly Huckleberry Finn in The Boys in Autumn (1986), and a lawyer based on Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind (1996). He gradually began to devote more attention to film, proving to be a strong, sometimes overpowering presence. His films include Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Hospital (1972), Islands in the Stream (1977), Taps (1982), and Gloria (1999). He won an Academy Award for Patton (1970), usually considered his finest film performance, but refused it. He reprised his role as the four-star general in a 1986 television movie. Late in his career he also directed plays and films.

Scott, George C[ampbell] (1927–99), actor. Born in Wise, Virginia, and educated at the University of Missouri, he first gained prominence as an imprisoned nobleman in the Circle in the Square's 1958 revival of Children of Darkness. Among his subsequent assignments were the Judge Advocate Lt. Col. Chapman in The Andersonville Trial (1959), the tough old farmer Ephraim Cabot in Desire under the Elms (1963), Southern businessman Ben Hubbard in The Little Foxes (1967), three hassled New Yorkers in Plaza Suite (1968), Dr. Astrov in Uncle Vanya (1973), Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (1975), swindler Foxwell J. Sly in Sly Fox (1976), egotistical actor Garry Essendine in Present Laughter (1982), Gramps in On Borrowed Time (1991), and defense attorney Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind (1996). For the New York Shakespeare Festival he essayed Antony, Richard III, and Shylock. Although the hard‐faced actor was often perceived as a serious dramatic performer, and he showed great skill in such parts, much of his success came from his often overlooked abilities as a comedian. Scott also enjoyed an impressive film career.