Randolph Scott's Biography !
Welcome to Randolph Scotts Biography page.
Below is a brief biography on Randolph Scott from information I have gathered from various books and articles about this great star, also I have placed in the biographry, some of the movie titles and the year the movie was released that Mr. Scott played in.
I also have some stills taken from some of the scenes in his movies, and a brief description as to what that paticular movie was about. Also on this page, you will find some trivia on Mr. Scott and some information on his two marriages. I hope you enjoy what I have placed here, and if, you see an error with some of this information please, let me know so, I can correct the information. Thanks, Dudley.
Randolph Scotts Biography
Randolph Scott was a producer and handsome leading man who developed into one of Hollywood's greatest and most popular Western stars.
Born George Randolph Crane, on 23 January 1898, Orange County, Virginia, to George and Lucy 'Scott' Crane, while the couple were on a visit to Virginia, and was raised by them in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After a tour of duty in the military service during World War I, Scott returned home, and attended Georgia Tech, but after being injured playing football, he transferred to the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated with a degree in textile engineering and manufacturing.
While in College, Scott discovered acting and developed a love for the stage that took him to California, in 1928, with best friend Jack Heath, and a letter of introduction to millionaire filmmaker Howard Hughes from his father. Scott met Hughes, and Hughes helped Scott enter films as a bit player, and got him an introduction at Fox, where he made his debut in "The Far Call" 1929. After getting a bit part from Hughes and coming to the attention of Cecile B. DeMille, who sent him to the Pasadena Playhouse for two years to get acting experience, Scott then tested for the lead in 'Cecil B. DeMille's' "Dynamite" 1929, a role which instead went to Joel McCrea, with whom he made his last picture with.
He was then hired as Gary Cooper's dialogue coach and also, played a small un-credited role in the 1929 film "The Virginian".
Paramount scouts saw him in a play and offered him a contract. Scott's mellow voice, Southern accent and all, was well suited to talkies, and he took supporting roles in "Women Men Marry", "Sky Bride" both 1931, and "A Successful Calamity" 1932.
Before signing with Paramount. He played easygoing romantic leads in such programmers as "Hot Saturday", "Hello Everybody"! both 1932, "Murders in the Zoo", "Supernatural", "Cocktail Hour" and "Broken Dreams" all 1933, and assumed starring roles in the studio's extensive series of B Westerns based on Zane Grey novels. Scott went through the familiar horse-opera paces in "Wild Horse Mesa" 1932, "Heritage of the Desert", "To the Last Man", "Man of the Forest", "The Thundering Herd", "Sunset Pass" all 1933, "Wagon Wheels", "The Last Roundup" both 1934, "Home on the Range" and "Rocky Mountain Mystery" both 1935.
In the mid '30s he began landing better roles, both as a romantic lead and as a co-star. Also, during the Thirties, Scott was roommates with Cary Grant in a beach house known jokinly as Bachelor Hall. The close friendship between Scott and Grant, as well as the steady stream of women into and out of Bachelor Hall, have fed rumor mills for years.
His break came when he starred as Hawkeye in "The Last of the Mohicans" in 1936 and he gained stardom in 1941 in the film "Western Union"
At RKO, he costarred with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Roberta" 1935 and "Follow the Fleet" 1936, uttering the word "swell" more times than anyone could count, and played intrepid adventurer Leo Vincey in Merian C. Cooper's lavish remake of "She" 1935, the H. Rider Haggard adventure classic.
These appearances, as well as his starring as Hawkeye in Edward Small's production of The Last of the Mohicans also 1936, took Scott out of B Westerns and elevated him to real stardom.
Scott worked opposite Mae West in "Go West, Young Man" also 1936, Irene Dunne in "High, Wide and Handsome" 1937, and Shirley Temple in "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" 1938 and "Susannah of the Mounties" 1939. He supported Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda in "Jesse James" 1939, and starred in the seldom-revived "Frontier Marshal" also 1939 as Wyatt Earp. Still he was most popular in Westerns, albeit more spectacular ones-such as "Virginia City", When the "Daltons Rode" both 1940, "Western Union" and "Belle Starr" both 1941. Scott also played military men in "Coast Guard" 1939, "To the Shores of Tripoli" 1942, "Bombardier", "Corvette K-225" and "Gung Ho"! all 1943. He was amusingly cast as a stolid hunk with Irene Dunne in "My Favorite Wife" 1940, then teamed with John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich for two 1942 action dramas, "The Spoilers" and "Pittsburgh". He played a heel in the first and a nice guy in the second-but didn't get Dietrich in either.
Even with Scott rapidly moving into leading roles at Paramount, his easy-going charm was not enough to suggest the success that would come 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 Forties that he reached his greatest stardom.
After an ill-advised stint in a lame swashbuckler, "Captain Kidd" 1945, and his turn in a delightful comedy-mystery, "Home, Sweet Homicide" 1946, Scott returned to the range for the remainder of his career, starring almost exclusively in big-budgeted color Westerns, while riding his beautiful palomino horse, Stardust. Some of these were "Abilene Town", "Badman's Territory" both 1946, "Trail Street", "Gunfighters" both 1947, "Albuquerque", "Coroner Creek", "Return of the Badmen" all 1948, "The Walking Hills", "Canadian Pacific", "The Doolins of Oklahoma" all 1949, "The Nevadan", "Colt .45", "Cariboo Trail" all 1950, "Sugarfoot", "Santa Fe" and "Fort Worth" all 1951.
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 Thirties.
He became one of the top ten box-office stars of the Fifties in Westerns directed by Budd Boetticher for Ranown Productions, which he owned, and produced several films, beginning with "Man in the Saddle" 1951.
Scott worked almost exclusively in Westerns produced by his own company, Ranown, in which he was partnered with veteran producer Harry Joe Brown. Throughout the 1950s, this team produced many of the finest medium-budgeted Westerns ever made. Scott was still in top physical condition, but his face had become weary and weatherbeaten; this physical aspect, combined with his deliberate characterizations of soft-spoken, fatalistic, yet supremely self-reliant "Western Though Guy", brought a new dimension to Scott's performances that, sadly, has been much ignored until recent years.
Displaying this thoughness in such films as "Carson City", "Hangman's Knot" both 1952, "Man Behind the Gun", "The Stranger Wore a Gun", "Thunder Over the Plains" all 1953, "Riding Shotgun", "The Bounty Hunter" both 1954, "Ten Wanted Men", "Rage at Dawn", "Tall Man Riding", "A Lawless Street" all 1955, "Seven Men From Now", "Seventh Cavalry" both 1956, "The Tall T", "Shootout at Medicine Bend", "Decision at Sundown" all 1957, "Buchanan Rides Alone" 1958, "Ride Lonesome", "Westbound" both 1959, and "Comanche Station" 1960. These films were consistent in quality, more "adult" than most Westerns but still up to par in the action expected by the all his devotees. The best of these films were written by Burt Kennedy and directed by Budd Boetticher. Altogether, he made 41 movies.
Scott's last movie was, arguably, one of his greatest: "Ride the High Country" 1962, directed by Sam (Bloody Sam)Peckinpah and teamed with an old friend and fellow horse-opera favorite Joel McCrea in a touching, elegant tale of aged gunfighters, now on opposite sides of the law, reunited in one last adventure. For Scott, it was an altogether fitting vehicle with which to end his screen career, starring as an over-the-hill former lawman.
Scott retired from films in 1962. Being born in a middle-class family, he built up his personal worth to several hundred million dollars as a result of superb investments, Scott spent his remaining years playing golf and avoiding film industry affairs and died a very rich man.
He died on March 2, 1987, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, survived by his second wife, Patricia, and his two children, Christopher and Sandra. He is buried in Charlotte, North Carolina.
I also have some stills taken from some of the scenes in his movies, and a brief description as to what that paticular movie was about. Also on this page, you will find some trivia on Mr. Scott and some information on his two marriages. I hope you enjoy what I have placed here, and if, you see an error with some of this information please, let me know so, I can correct the information. Thanks, Dudley.
Tribute to Randolph Scott.
Born George Randolph Crane, on 23 January 1898, Orange County, Virginia, to George and Lucy 'Scott' Crane, while the couple were on a visit to Virginia, and was raised by them in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After a tour of duty in the military service during World War I, Scott returned home, and attended Georgia Tech, but after being injured playing football, he transferred to the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated with a degree in textile engineering and manufacturing.
While in College, Scott discovered acting and developed a love for the stage that took him to California, in 1928, with best friend Jack Heath, and a letter of introduction to millionaire filmmaker Howard Hughes from his father. Scott met Hughes, and Hughes helped Scott enter films as a bit player, and got him an introduction at Fox, where he made his debut in "The Far Call" 1929. After getting a bit part from Hughes and coming to the attention of Cecile B. DeMille, who sent him to the Pasadena Playhouse for two years to get acting experience, Scott then tested for the lead in 'Cecil B. DeMille's' "Dynamite" 1929, a role which instead went to Joel McCrea, with whom he made his last picture with.
He was then hired as Gary Cooper's dialogue coach and also, played a small un-credited role in the 1929 film "The Virginian".
Paramount scouts saw him in a play and offered him a contract. Scott's mellow voice, Southern accent and all, was well suited to talkies, and he took supporting roles in "Women Men Marry", "Sky Bride" both 1931, and "A Successful Calamity" 1932.
Before signing with Paramount. He played easygoing romantic leads in such programmers as "Hot Saturday", "Hello Everybody"! both 1932, "Murders in the Zoo", "Supernatural", "Cocktail Hour" and "Broken Dreams" all 1933, and assumed starring roles in the studio's extensive series of B Westerns based on Zane Grey novels. Scott went through the familiar horse-opera paces in "Wild Horse Mesa" 1932, "Heritage of the Desert", "To the Last Man", "Man of the Forest", "The Thundering Herd", "Sunset Pass" all 1933, "Wagon Wheels", "The Last Roundup" both 1934, "Home on the Range" and "Rocky Mountain Mystery" both 1935.
In the mid '30s he began landing better roles, both as a romantic lead and as a co-star. Also, during the Thirties, Scott was roommates with Cary Grant in a beach house known jokinly as Bachelor Hall. The close friendship between Scott and Grant, as well as the steady stream of women into and out of Bachelor Hall, have fed rumor mills for years.
His break came when he starred as Hawkeye in "The Last of the Mohicans" in 1936 and he gained stardom in 1941 in the film "Western Union"
At RKO, he costarred with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Roberta" 1935 and "Follow the Fleet" 1936, uttering the word "swell" more times than anyone could count, and played intrepid adventurer Leo Vincey in Merian C. Cooper's lavish remake of "She" 1935, the H. Rider Haggard adventure classic.
These appearances, as well as his starring as Hawkeye in Edward Small's production of The Last of the Mohicans also 1936, took Scott out of B Westerns and elevated him to real stardom.
Scott worked opposite Mae West in "Go West, Young Man" also 1936, Irene Dunne in "High, Wide and Handsome" 1937, and Shirley Temple in "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" 1938 and "Susannah of the Mounties" 1939. He supported Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda in "Jesse James" 1939, and starred in the seldom-revived "Frontier Marshal" also 1939 as Wyatt Earp. Still he was most popular in Westerns, albeit more spectacular ones-such as "Virginia City", When the "Daltons Rode" both 1940, "Western Union" and "Belle Starr" both 1941. Scott also played military men in "Coast Guard" 1939, "To the Shores of Tripoli" 1942, "Bombardier", "Corvette K-225" and "Gung Ho"! all 1943. He was amusingly cast as a stolid hunk with Irene Dunne in "My Favorite Wife" 1940, then teamed with John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich for two 1942 action dramas, "The Spoilers" and "Pittsburgh". He played a heel in the first and a nice guy in the second-but didn't get Dietrich in either.
Even with Scott rapidly moving into leading roles at Paramount, his easy-going charm was not enough to suggest the success that would come 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 Forties that he reached his greatest stardom.
After an ill-advised stint in a lame swashbuckler, "Captain Kidd" 1945, and his turn in a delightful comedy-mystery, "Home, Sweet Homicide" 1946, Scott returned to the range for the remainder of his career, starring almost exclusively in big-budgeted color Westerns, while riding his beautiful palomino horse, Stardust. Some of these were "Abilene Town", "Badman's Territory" both 1946, "Trail Street", "Gunfighters" both 1947, "Albuquerque", "Coroner Creek", "Return of the Badmen" all 1948, "The Walking Hills", "Canadian Pacific", "The Doolins of Oklahoma" all 1949, "The Nevadan", "Colt .45", "Cariboo Trail" all 1950, "Sugarfoot", "Santa Fe" and "Fort Worth" all 1951.
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 Thirties.
He became one of the top ten box-office stars of the Fifties in Westerns directed by Budd Boetticher for Ranown Productions, which he owned, and produced several films, beginning with "Man in the Saddle" 1951.
Scott worked almost exclusively in Westerns produced by his own company, Ranown, in which he was partnered with veteran producer Harry Joe Brown. Throughout the 1950s, this team produced many of the finest medium-budgeted Westerns ever made. Scott was still in top physical condition, but his face had become weary and weatherbeaten; this physical aspect, combined with his deliberate characterizations of soft-spoken, fatalistic, yet supremely self-reliant "Western Though Guy", brought a new dimension to Scott's performances that, sadly, has been much ignored until recent years.
Displaying this thoughness in such films as "Carson City", "Hangman's Knot" both 1952, "Man Behind the Gun", "The Stranger Wore a Gun", "Thunder Over the Plains" all 1953, "Riding Shotgun", "The Bounty Hunter" both 1954, "Ten Wanted Men", "Rage at Dawn", "Tall Man Riding", "A Lawless Street" all 1955, "Seven Men From Now", "Seventh Cavalry" both 1956, "The Tall T", "Shootout at Medicine Bend", "Decision at Sundown" all 1957, "Buchanan Rides Alone" 1958, "Ride Lonesome", "Westbound" both 1959, and "Comanche Station" 1960. These films were consistent in quality, more "adult" than most Westerns but still up to par in the action expected by the all his devotees. The best of these films were written by Burt Kennedy and directed by Budd Boetticher. Altogether, he made 41 movies.
Scott's last movie was, arguably, one of his greatest: "Ride the High Country" 1962, directed by Sam (Bloody Sam)Peckinpah and teamed with an old friend and fellow horse-opera favorite Joel McCrea in a touching, elegant tale of aged gunfighters, now on opposite sides of the law, reunited in one last adventure. For Scott, it was an altogether fitting vehicle with which to end his screen career, starring as an over-the-hill former lawman.
Scott retired from films in 1962. Being born in a middle-class family, he built up his personal worth to several hundred million dollars as a result of superb investments, Scott spent his remaining years playing golf and avoiding film industry affairs and died a very rich man.
He died on March 2, 1987, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, survived by his second wife, Patricia, and his two children, Christopher and Sandra. He is buried in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A Versital Actor, from Musicals to Combat films, to Westerns, Randolph Scott was talented enough to do them all.
The Tall T
1957
-- Director --
Budd Boetticher
-- Starring --
Maureen O'Sullivan, Randolph Scott, and Richard Boone
The plot of The Tall T 1957 is as clear and pure as a mountain stream. While in town on an errand, affable rancher Pat Brennan (Randolph Scott) loses his horse in an unwise bet and resigns himself to a long walk back to his remote homestead. While hiking on the trail, Pat is picked up by a stage driven by his old friend Rintoon (Arthur Hunnicutt). Inside the stage are Willard and Doretta Mims (John Hubbard and Maureen O'Sullivan), newlyweds who have hired Rintoon to transport them on the first leg of their honeymoon. The stage travels to a rest stop, where it is ambushed by three bandits, Frank (Richard Boone), Billy Jack (Skip Homeier), and Chink (Henry Silva), who believe they are robbing the regularly-scheduled stage for its bank money. The bandits shoot Rintoon dead and take Pat, Willard, and Doretta hostage. Doretta is led into the station to make dinner for the bandits; while she is gone, Willard cravenly tells head bandit Frank that he attacked the wrong stage but that his wife is the daughter of a millionaire copper baron more than capable of paying a fat ransom for her safe return. The rest of the film plays out like an elaborate chess match, with Willard negotiating for his own safety, the bandits negotiating for the ransom, and Pat and Doretta waiting for a chance to escape.
-- Director --
Budd Boetticher
-- Starring --
Maureen O'Sullivan, Randolph Scott, and Richard Boone
The plot of The Tall T 1957 is as clear and pure as a mountain stream. While in town on an errand, affable rancher Pat Brennan (Randolph Scott) loses his horse in an unwise bet and resigns himself to a long walk back to his remote homestead. While hiking on the trail, Pat is picked up by a stage driven by his old friend Rintoon (Arthur Hunnicutt). Inside the stage are Willard and Doretta Mims (John Hubbard and Maureen O'Sullivan), newlyweds who have hired Rintoon to transport them on the first leg of their honeymoon. The stage travels to a rest stop, where it is ambushed by three bandits, Frank (Richard Boone), Billy Jack (Skip Homeier), and Chink (Henry Silva), who believe they are robbing the regularly-scheduled stage for its bank money. The bandits shoot Rintoon dead and take Pat, Willard, and Doretta hostage. Doretta is led into the station to make dinner for the bandits; while she is gone, Willard cravenly tells head bandit Frank that he attacked the wrong stage but that his wife is the daughter of a millionaire copper baron more than capable of paying a fat ransom for her safe return. The rest of the film plays out like an elaborate chess match, with Willard negotiating for his own safety, the bandits negotiating for the ransom, and Pat and Doretta waiting for a chance to escape.
Trivia About Mr. Scott
1. During the Thirties, Scott was roommates with Cary Grant in a beach house known jokinly as Bachelor Hall. The close friendship between Scott and Grant, as well as the steady stream of women into and out of Bachelor Hall, have fed rumor mills for years.
2. Rode a beautiful palomino horse named Stardust in his Westerns.
3. Best friends were Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and the Reverend Billy Graham.
4. Formed Ranown Productions with producer Harry Joe Brown, and produced several films.
5. Interred at Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
6. Was the inspiration for the popular 1973 song "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?," a top-20 country hit for the Statler Brothers.
2. Rode a beautiful palomino horse named Stardust in his Westerns.
3. Best friends were Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, and the Reverend Billy Graham.
4. Formed Ranown Productions with producer Harry Joe Brown, and produced several films.
5. Interred at Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
6. Was the inspiration for the popular 1973 song "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?," a top-20 country hit for the Statler Brothers.
Randolph Scott's Marriages
Marie Patricia Stillman 1944 till his death in 1987
Randolph Scott's filmography
rated according to the films popularity.
Island of Lost Souls -1933
My Favorite Wife -1940
Last of the Mohicans, -1936
Tall T, The -1957
Follow the Fleet -1936
Jesse James -1939
Buchanan Rides Alone -1958
Ride Lonesome -1959
Desperadoes, The -1943
Comanche Station -1960
Spoilers, The -1942
Corvette K-225-1943
Virginian, The -1929
Western Union -1941
She -1935
Murders in the Zoo -1933
Abilene Town -1946
Roberta -1935
Seven Men from Now -1956
Westbound -1958
Coroner Creek -1948
Supernatural -1933
Bounty Hunter, The -1954
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm -1938
Decision at Sundown -1957
Virginia City -1940
7th Cavalry -1956
Bombardier -1943
Carson City -1952
Gung Ho! -1943
Belle Starr -1942
Pittsburgh -1942
Colt .45 -1950
Return of the Bad Men -1948
To the Shores of Tripoli -1942
Rage at Dawn -1955
Stranger Wore a Gun, The -1953
Christmas Eve -1947
Captain Kidd -1945
Home, Sweet Homicide -1946
Heritage of the Desert
Sorry, no photo available.
1932
-- Director --
Henry Hathaway
-- Starring --
Randolph Scott, Sally Blane, "Big Boy" Williams
This adaptation of Zane Grey's story of an orphan girl saved by a surveyor from the clutches of a rustler, was Randolph Scott's first starring role.
Comanche Station
1960
-- Director --
Budd Boetticher
-- Starring --
Randolph Scott, Nancy Gates, Claude Akins, Skip Homeier, Richard Rust
Jefferson Cody (Randolph Scott), an ageing loner whose wife was abducted by Indians 10 years earlier, is still searching for her, in the process rescuing other female captives. Here he journeys to Lordsburg with Mrs Lowe (Nancy Gates) whom he has just rescued. He is joined by Ben Lane (Claude Akins), an older gunman, and his two delinquent offsiders Frank (Skip Homeier) and Dobic (Richard Rust). They are interested in the substantial reward offered by Mrs Lowe's husband for her return.
-- Director --
Budd Boetticher
-- Starring --
Randolph Scott, Nancy Gates, Claude Akins, Skip Homeier, Richard Rust
Jefferson Cody (Randolph Scott), an ageing loner whose wife was abducted by Indians 10 years earlier, is still searching for her, in the process rescuing other female captives. Here he journeys to Lordsburg with Mrs Lowe (Nancy Gates) whom he has just rescued. He is joined by Ben Lane (Claude Akins), an older gunman, and his two delinquent offsiders Frank (Skip Homeier) and Dobic (Richard Rust). They are interested in the substantial reward offered by Mrs Lowe's husband for her return.
Seventh Cavalry
1956
-- Director --
Joseph H. Lewis.
-- Starring --
Randolph Scott, Barbara Hale, Jay C. Flippen, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Faylen.
This is one of Randolph Scott's best two-a-year B Westerns for Columbia from the Fifties, directed by Joseph H. Lewis, a fine, low-budget filmmaker with a reputation among cineasts for some of his film noir dramas "Gun Crazy", 1949. Scott plays an Army officer who must prove he didn't desert General Custer at the Little Bighorn battle.
-- Director --
Joseph H. Lewis.
-- Starring --
Randolph Scott, Barbara Hale, Jay C. Flippen, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Faylen.
This is one of Randolph Scott's best two-a-year B Westerns for Columbia from the Fifties, directed by Joseph H. Lewis, a fine, low-budget filmmaker with a reputation among cineasts for some of his film noir dramas "Gun Crazy", 1949. Scott plays an Army officer who must prove he didn't desert General Custer at the Little Bighorn battle.
