Randolph Scott

Acting

Randolph Scott

Born 1898-01-23 · Orange County, Virginia, USA

George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American actor, best known for his roles in Western films. His career spanned from 1928 to 1962, during which he appeared in over 100 films, with more than 60 of them being Westerns. Scott was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a wealthy family. His father, George Grant Scott, was the first certified public accountant (CPA) in North Carolina, and his mother, Lucille Crane Scott, came from a prominent Virginia family. He attended private schools and excelled in sports, including football, baseball, horse racing, and swimming. During World War I, Scott enlisted in the North Carolina National Guard and later served in France as part of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Trench Mortar Battalion. After the war, he trained as an artillery officer before returning to the United States. Scott initially pursued a career in textile engineering, but his interest in acting led him to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He landed minor roles before securing a contract with Paramount Pictures, where he met Cary Grant on the set of Hot Saturday (1932). The two actors became close companions, sharing a home for several years, which led to speculation about their relationship. Scott and Grant lived together for over a decade, first in a Los Angeles apartment, then in a Beverly Hills home, and later in a Santa Monica beach house. Their close bond was widely discussed in Hollywood, with some believing they were romantically involved, though neither actor ever publicly confirmed this. Photos from the time show them laughing, exercising, cooking, and spending time together, fueling further speculation. Scott’s career flourished in the 1930s and 1940s, with roles in dramas, comedies, musicals, war films, and adventure movies. However, it was in the Western genre that he truly became a box-office star, particularly in the 1950s. His collaborations with director Budd Boetticher in films like Ride Lonesome (1959) and Comanche Station (1960) are considered classics of the genre. Scott was married twice: first to Marion DuPont (1936–1939) and later to Patricia Stillman (1944–1987), with whom he adopted two children. Despite his Hollywood success, he was known for his private nature, preferring to avoid industry events and publicity. After retiring in 1962, Scott focused on business investments, amassing a fortune that allowed him to live comfortably until his passing on March 2, 1987, at the age of 89. Scott remains one of Hollywood’s greatest Western stars, with his stoic, rugged persona influencing generations of actors. His films continue to be celebrated for their authentic portrayal of the American frontier.

Acting credits

Hangman's Knot poster
6.6

In 1865, a troop of Confederate soldiers led by Major Matt Stewart attack the wagon of gold escorted by Union cavalry and the soldiers are killed. The only wounded survivor tells that the war ended one month ago, and the group decides to take the gold and meet their liaison that knew that the war ended but did not inform the troop. The harsh Rolph Bainter kills the greedy man and the soldiers flee in his wagon driven by Major Stewart. When they meet a posse chasing them, Stewart gives wrong information to misguide the group; however, they have an accident with the wagon and lose the horses. They decide to stop a stagecoach and force the driver to transport them, but the posse returns and they are trapped in the station with the passenger. They realize that the men are not deputies and have no intention to bring them to justice but take the stolen gold.

Hangman's Knot

1952

Ride the High Country poster
7.1

An ex-lawman is hired to transport gold from a mining community through dangerous territory. But what he doesn't realize is that his partner and old friend is plotting to double-cross him.

Ride the High Country

1962

La Classe américaine poster
7.6

George Abitbol, the classiest man in the world, dies tragically during a cruise. The director of an American newspaper, wondering about the meaning of these intriguing final words, asks his three best investigators, Dave, Peter and Steven, to solve the mystery. (Sixteen French actors dub scenes from various Warner Bros. films to create a parody of Citizen Kane, 1941.)

La Classe américaine

1993

Home Sweet Homicide poster
4.5

Mystery writer Marian Carstairs is hard at work trying to finish her latest novel. Her three children meanwhile are entertaining themselves by trying to solve a murder in their own neighborhood. In between gathering clues, the kids play matchmaker by trying to fix up their widowed mom with the handsome detective investigating the case.

Home Sweet Homicide

1946

Half Marriage poster
5.8

A young couple marries in secret. Judy's afraid her parents won't approve of Dick and she'll lose her generous allowance. Her parents bring her home from the city where she's been studying art and encourage the attentions of Tom, a persistent suitor. Judy and her jealous husband have an argument that leads her back to the city, a drunken, amorous Tom and a tragedy.

Half Marriage

1929

Born Reckless poster
5.7

In order to use the publicity to get re-elected, a judge sentences a notorious gangster to fight in the war.

Born Reckless

1930

Ten Wanted Men poster
5.9

When his ward seeks protection with rival cattleman John Stewart, embittered, jealous rancher Wick Campbell hires ten outlaws to help him seize power in the territory.

Ten Wanted Men

1955

Ride Lonesome poster
6.7

On the way to pick up the bounty on a wanted murderer, a bounty hunter stops at a staging post where he is forced to continue his journey with two outlaws who want the murderer for their own reasons and a recently-widowed woman, with the murderer's brother and his men in hot pursuit.

Ride Lonesome

1959

The Tall T poster
7.0

An independent former ranch foreman and an heiress are kidnapped by a trio of ruthless outlaws.

The Tall T

1957

7 Men from Now poster
6.8

A former sheriff relentlessly pursuing the 7 men who murdered his wife in Arizona crosses paths with a couple heading to California.

7 Men from Now

1956

Albuquerque poster
6.8

Cole Armin comes to Albuquerque to work for his uncle, John Armin, a despotic and hard-hearted czar who operates an ore-hauling freight line, and whose goal is to eliminate a competing line run by Ted Wallace and his sister Celia. Cole tires of his uncle's heavy-handed tactics and switches over to the Wallace side. Lety Tyler, an agent hired by the uncle, also switches over by warning Cole and Ted of a trap set for them by the uncle and his henchman.

Albuquerque

1948

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender poster
5.3

A film scrapbook, images, phrases from our past, hiding their meanings behind veils. Let's lift those veils, one by one, to find how images, at one time seeming innocent, have revealed, after decades, to have homosexual overtones.

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

1997

Roberta poster
7.1

Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately. John and company visit his aunt, owner of a posh fashion house run by her assistant, Stephanie. There they meet the singer Scharwenka (alias Huck's old friend Lizzie), who gets the band a job. Meanwhile, Madame Roberta passes away and leaves the business to John and he goes into partnership with Stephanie.

Roberta

1935

My Favorite Wife poster
7.0

Years after her ship disappeared, a presumably dead woman returns home. To her shock, she finds her husband has remarried.

My Favorite Wife

1940

Trail Street poster
6.5

Bat Masterson's old friend Billy Burns convinces him to become marshal of Liberal, Kansas and help the residents fight drought and a destructive range war.

Trail Street

1947

The Spoilers poster
6.2

When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara.

The Spoilers

1942

Comanche Station poster
6.7

A white man trades with the Comanche for the release of a female stranger and the pair cross paths with three outlaws who have their eyes on the handsome reward for bringing her home and Comanche on the warpath.

Comanche Station

1960

Western Union poster
6.0

When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 2000.

Western Union

1941

The Cariboo Trail poster
6.4

A cattleman fights to establish a ranch in the middle of gold country.

The Cariboo Trail

1950

Thunder Over the Plains poster
5.6

Set in 1869, after the Civil War, Texas had not yet been readmitted to the Union and carpetbaggers, hiding behind the legal protection of the Union Army of occupation, had taken over the state. Federal Captain Porter, a Texan, has to carry out orders against his own people. He brings in the rebel leader Ben Westman whom he knows is innocent of a murder that he is accused of. In trying to prove his innocence, Porter himself becomes a wanted man.

Thunder Over the Plains

1953

The Bounty Hunter poster
6.8

A year after a violent train robbery, the Pinkerton detective agency hires a bounty hunter to find the three remaining killers. He tracks them to Twin Forks but has no clue to their identity. Tensions surface as just his presence in town acts as a catalyst.

The Bounty Hunter

1954

Virginia City poster
6.3

Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from a Confederate prison and races to intercept $5 million in gold destined for Confederate coffers. A Confederate sympathizer and a Mexican bandit, each with their own stake in the loot, stand in his way.

Virginia City

1940

Jesse James poster
6.5

After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.

Jesse James

1939

Coroner Creek poster
6.2

A man is bent on taking revenge on those responsible for his fiancée's death.

Coroner Creek

1948

Behind the camera