Randolph Scott

Randolph Scott

Active - 1928 - 1962  |   Born - Jan 23, 1898 in Orange County, Virginia, United States  |   Died - Mar 2, 1987   |   Genres - Western, Drama, Romance

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Biography by AllMovie

Born Randolph Crane, this virile, weathered, prototypical cowboy star with a gallant manner and slight Southern accent enlisted for service in the U.S. Army during World War I at age 19. After returning home he got a degree in engineering, then joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse. While golfing, Scott met millionaire filmmaker Howard Hughes, who helped him enter films as a bit player. In the mid '30s he began landing better roles, both as a romantic lead and as a costar. Later he became a Western star, and from the late '40s to the '50s he starred exclusively in big-budget color Westerns (39 altogether). From 1950-53 he was one of the top ten box-office attractions. Later in the '50s he played the aging cowboy hero in a series of B-Westerns directed by Budd Boetticher for Ranown, an independent production company. He retired from the screen in the early '60s. Having invested in oil wells, real estate, and securities, he was worth between $50-$100 million.

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Factsheet

  • Served in the U.S. Army during World War I.
  • Aspired to play football professionally, but a back injury during his time at Georgia Institute of Technology prevented him from following that dream.
  • Starred in his final film, Ride the High Country, in 1962, playing an aging lawman; didn't take another acting role the last 25 years of his life.
  • In 1973, was the inspiration for the Statler Brothers hit song "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?," which asked what many Americans were thinking after his departure from movies.
  • Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in 1975 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla.
  • Was 21 years older than his second wife, Patricia Stillman; they were married 43 years before his death in 1987.