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George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor, whose Hollywood career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in dramas, comedies, musicals, adventures, war, horror and fantasy films, and Westerns. Out of his more than 100 film appearances, more than 60 of them were Westerns. At 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), lanky and muscular, Scott displayed a Southern drawl that offset his limitations. During the early 1950s, Scott was a consistent box-office draw. In the annual Motion Picture Herald Top Ten Polls, his name appeared on the list for four consecutive years, from 1950 to 1953. Scott also appeared in Quigley's Top Ten Money Makers Poll, from 1950 to 1953. Early years Scott was born January 23, 1898, in Orange County, Virginia, and reared in Charlotte, North Carolina, the second of six children born to parents of Scottish descent. His father was George Grant Scott, born in Franklin, Virginia, the first person licensed as a certified public accountant (CPA) in North Carolina. His mother was Lucille Crane Scott, born in Luray, Virginia, a member of a wealthy North Carolina family. Because of his family's financial status, Randolph was able to attend private schools, such as Woodberry Forest School. From an early age, Scott developed and displayed his athleticism, excelling in football, baseball, horse racing, and swimming. World War I In April 1917, the United States entered World War I. In July, Scott joined a unit of the North Carolina National Guard. He was trained as an artillery observer and earned promotion to corporal in October 1917 and sergeant in February 1918. In May 1918, Scott entered active duty at Fort Monroe, Virginia, as a member of the 2nd Trench Mortar Battalion. The battalion arrived in France in June 1918, and took part in combat with the U.S. IV Corps in the Toul sector and Thiaucourt zone. After the Armistice of November 11, 1918, ended the war, the 2nd TM Battalion took part in the post-war occupation of Germany as part of U.S. VI Corps. Following the armistice, Scott enrolled in the artillery Officer Candidate School, which was located in Saumur. He received his commission as a second lieutenant of Field Artillery in May 1919 and departed for the United States soon afterwards. He arrived in New York City on June 6 and reported to Camp Mills, where he received his honorable discharge on June 13. Scott made use of his wartime experience in his acting career, including his training in horsemanship and the use of firearms. After World War I With his military career over Scott continued his education at Georgia Tech, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order and set his sights on becoming an all-American football player. However a back injury prevented him from achieving this goal. Scott then transferred to the University of North Carolina, where he majored in textile engineering and manufacturing. He eventually dropped out and went to work as an accountant in the textile firm where his father, a CPA, was employed. Career Stage and early film appearances Early films Around 1927, Scott developed an interest in acting and decided to make his way to Los Angeles and seek a career in the motion picture industry. Fortunately, Scott's father had become acquainted with Howard Hughes and provided a letter of introduction for his son to present to the eccentric millionaire film maker. Hughes responded by getting Scott a small part in a George O'Brien film called Sharp Shooters (1928). A print of the film survives in the UCLA Film and Television Archive. In the next few years, Scott continued working as an extra and bit player in several films, including Weary River (1929) with Richard Barthelmess, The Far Call (1929), The Black Watch (1929) (directed by John Ford with John Wayne also uncredited) and uncredited as the Rider in The Virginian (1929) with Gary Cooper. Reputedly, Scott also served as Cooper's dialect coach in this latter film. Scott was also uncredited on Dynamite (1929) directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and Ford's Born Reckless (1930). Stage On the advice of Cecil B. DeMille, Scott gained much-needed acting experience by performing in stage plays with the Pasadena Playhouse. His stage roles during this period include: A minister in Gentlemen Be Seated A butler in Nellie, the Beautiful Model Metellus Cimber in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Hector Malone in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman Scott appeared in the play Under a Virginia Moon at the Vine Street Theatre in Hollywood in 1932. His performance garnered several screen test offers from the major movie studios. Scott eventually signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures at a salary of US$400 per week (equivalent to $8,900 in 2023). Movie debut In between his Pasadena Playhouse days and Vine Street Theatre performance Scott made his film debut. In 1931 Scott played his first leading role (with Sally Blane) in Women Men Marry (1931), a film, now apparently lost, made by a Poverty Row studio called Headline Pictures. A silent film by the same name from 1922, directed by Edward Dillon, has apparently been preserved, however, at Filmmuseum Amsterdam. He followed that movie with a supporting part in a Warner Bros. production starring George Arliss, A Successful Calamity (1932). Paramount Zane Grey apprenticeship Scott's first role under his new Paramount contract was a small supporting part in a comedy called Sky Bride (1932) starring Richard Arlen and Jack Oakie. Following that, however, Paramount cast him as the lead in Heritage of the Desert (1932), his first significant starring role and also the one that established him as a Western hero. As with Women Men Marry, Sally Blane was his leading lady. Henry Hathaway made his directorial debut with Heritage of the Desert. The film was popular and Scott would go on to make ten "B" Western films loosely based on the novels of Zane Grey. Many of these Grey adaptations were remakes of earlier silent films or even retitled versions of more recent movies. In an effort to save on production costs, Paramount utilized stock footage from the silent version and even hired some of the same actors, such as Raymond Hatton and Noah Beery, to repeat their roles, meaning that sometimes their ages would vary eight or more years during the same scene. For the 1933 films The Thundering Herd and Man of the Forest, Scott's hair was darkened and he sported a trim moustache so that he could easily be matched to footage of Jack Holt, the star of the silent versions. In between his work in the Zane Grey Western series, Paramount cast Scott in several non-Western roles, such as "the other man" in Hot Saturday (1932), with Nancy Carroll and Cary Grant. Scott returned to Zane Grey Westerns with Wild Horse Mesa (1932), then was the romantic male lead in Hello, Everybody! (1933). The Thundering Herd (1933) was another Zane Grey Western wi.... Discover the River K Scott popular books. Find the top 100 most popular River K Scott books.