George C. Scott

American actor and director of stage and film, whose most famous movie role was "Patton" in 1970, and who turned down the Best Actor Academy Award for it because he considered the Oscars a "meat parade." He had a total of four Oscar nominations and won three television Emmys. His other performances included roles in "Anatomy of a Murder," "The Hustler," and "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.

Scott grew up in Detroit, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1945-1949. He attended the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, changed his major to English and drama and began appearing in student shows from 1949-1953. He went on to work in stock companies in Washington, DC, and Ontario, Canada. His New York stage debut in the 1957 Shakespearean Festival earned him notice, and he was soon taking the lead roles in stage plays and movies.

Known for his portrayal of "angry men," he also did comedy, and directed two movies, "Rage," 1972, and "The Savage is Loose," 1974. He has also appeared in numerous TV roles, including a portrayal of Benito Mussolini; the role of Scrooge in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," 1984; the male lead in "Jane Eyre," and "The Last Days of Patton," in which he reprised his Oscar-winning performance as General George Patton. He was also in the 1963 series "East Side/West Side," as a social worker in the slums of New York.

Scott married five times, twice to Colleen Dewhurst, by whom he had two sons, and to actress Trish Van Devere. He had one child by his first wife, and one illegitimate child whom he later adopted. Scott was known for his hot temper. A heavy drinker, he joined AA in 1967.

Scott died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm at this home in Westlake Village, California on 22 September 1999.