Cool News
George C Scott has passed away...
You know. Sometimes I hate being me. I know that just moments ago this hit the wire service. If I were a regular 'joe' I would have had an extra 4 hours where George C Scott would be alive... But no... No... I had to get Moriarty's letter which informed me that Bert Gordon passed away. That was the first thought I had when I saw Moriarty's subject line "GEORGE C SCOTT...dead". The character of Bert Gordon in THE HUSTLER. Perhaps my favorite character and film to contain the amazing talents of George C Scott. But for now... Now I will listen to the snare drums of PATTON and the score of Jerry Goldsmith... while one of the most cinematic images of the 20th century plays out in my mind...
Hey, Head Geek...
"Moriarty" here.
I know everyone has their own memories of actors, of
certain roles, certain moments, and as George C. Scott
shuffles off this mortal coil, film fans the world
over are no doubt remembering any of a dozen indelible
film images involving that great, blusterly force of
nature. For me, I flash on the searing brilliance of
that classic, iconic addressing of the troops in
PATTON, but I also flash just as quickly on his
hysterically, endearingly, howlingly awful EXORCIST 3
work. I loved George C. Scott for both ends of the
extreme. I never once held a FIRESTARTER against him.
How could I? He was magnificent when surrounded by
mediocrity.
There is one character, though, that will always live
largest in my heart when I think of Scott. I love him
beyond words in his portrayal of Gen. Buck Turgidson
in DR. STRANGELOVE. When I hit "send" on this e-mail,
I plan to walk into the viewing chamber of The Labs,
put in my DVD of STRANGELOVE, and bask in a full
handful of the finest comedic performances ever
committed to film. Scott stands tall opposite Peter
Sellers at his absolute finest, and even Sterling
Hayden and Slim Pickens can't blow Scott off the
screen. It's something no one could do.
George C. Scott was 71.
"Moriarty" out.
-
+ Expand All
-
There's a scene in Islands in the Stream, with his back innocently turned to his visiting ex-wife, when he places his hand slowly on the back of his neck and guesses that their son is dead, and she has come to tell him. That moment endeared me to George C. Scott. It was one of those few moments that actors, even great ones, get in their careers--and that magnificent bastard made the most of it.
God Bless his surly soul. -
I was watching Dr Strangelove yesterday, and loved George C Scott. I don't think I've seen many other of his films, but dammit he was perfect in that film. His constant paranoia about the Russian ambassador seeing "the big board", or his constant insulting attacks on those commies - a very great talent. RIP ***** www.homestead.com/vertigofilms/
-
Shallow, shallow milo. Today I logged on, fully intending to send Harry a rant about how there where no scifi movie to talk about and how shallowly pissed I was that I couldn't loose myself in fantasy.
Then this. George C. Scott is dead. I hope I can get
Dr. Strangelove tonight.
Screw "Friends".
Then is just over the radio. An 8 year old little girls brother lured her into an abandoned building where he directed a gang rape of her. I'm practicaly crying as I write this. I hope they toss the little pirce of trash off a high building, and his garbage "friends" too. I have two little girls. If that happend to one of them, I don't care HOW YOUNG THE LITTLE FUCKERS ARE...
*sigh* sometime everything just falls into perspective...
-- Milo -
I too think I'll remember him most fondly as the general in Dr Strangelove. He had a truly great career.
-
George C. Scott has
stated for quite a
while that he thought
Kubrick chose his
most outrageous takes
as Turgidson in DR.
STRANGELOVE. He may
have been upset by
this, but for the
rest of us, it's pure
comic gold. Just his
expression when he
realizes that, yes
indeed, our boys sure
as hell can fly under
Russia's radar and
drop the big one... I
believe it's worth
the price of the
film, even more so
than Sellers chewing
on his hand. -
There are so few truly special actors left, that every time one leaves us I am left with a terrible feeling of gloom. Where are the new George C. Scott
-
He loved to involve himself in theatre, as well. We are all the the better for being able to see his film performances again and again, (in particular, Strangelove, Patton, and three guilty pleasures: Movie Movie, Exorcist III, and Angus), but I envy those who saw him in the stage performances he'd put forth every few years. I was lucky enough to see him in two shows in N.Y.: Inherit The Wind, and On Borrowed Time, which also starred a younger Nathan Lane. I won't forget them. God Bless, you cranky S.O.B.
-
All my heroes are dying. Along with many others, it seems, tonight is a "Strangelove" night. Wow. And he was going to have a cameo in my first film! I had it all planned out. Anyway, as anyone else seen that movie where it's a bunch of movies strung together... I can't think of the name, but the last skit is with George as a benefactor to an old playhouse, and he dies at the end??? I've never seen the whole thing, but it looked great. Man, this just hasn't sunk in yet. Will it ever? George C. Scott will always be alive as far as I'm concerned. God damn you all to Hell!
-
I have never been a huge fan, but nevertheless this shocked me. R.I.P George. Goodbye.
-
You know an actor has range and class when he can do drama AND comedy, and give both genres the same respect and effort. My favorite G.C. Scott line? "Aargh!! My groin!" from Man Gets Hit By Football. The simple fact that he would lend his voice to the Simpsons for a 2 second clip puts George in my good books forever.
-
he will always be my scrooge -- meaner
-
I remember looking up information on General Patton after seeing the movie. I looked at the black and white photo of the man, thinking that George will always look more like Patton than Patton himself.
-
You know, the 1984 TV-movie version with good ol' George C. Great performance, and a damn fine adaptation which sometimes gets overlooked. I saw it when it first aired and it's stayed with me ever since. (Also, doesn't it always bring you down when all the principals of a great movie have passed on? From now on, DR. STRANGELOVE with always have a bittersweet tinge to it. Hopefully, somewhere, Kubrick and Scott are having an intense chess match together while Peter Sellers is trying to crack them up.)
-
...that a fight broke out in the War Room tonight. Another truly great loss... this has not been a good year.
-
O.k..... so, I'm up writing into the early hours of the morning last night. I decide I'm finished at around two, but find myself wide awake; so, I decide to throw in a movie. On a whim, I choose PATTON. Imagine my surprise when I wake up and hear this bit of sad news. Hit me like a ton of bricks, I tell ya. George C. Scott was a towering performer. Since everybody's mentioned STRANGELOVE and my beloved PATTON, I'll throw HARDCORE into the mix. Scott's anguished performance in Paul Schrader's flick is etched indelibly in my memory (especially since I saw it at the tender age of eight. Don't ask.) In any event, another of the greats is gone.
-
. . . you will be missed. Peace, MadBoy.
-
"turn it off!!!...turn it off!!!"
-
He will be missed! Thank you, narf, for including a forgotten George C. Scott moment on the Simpsons in a scene that was funnier than even Lee Ermey's cameo as General Hapablat ("Sweet Enola Gay, son!"). But he will be remembered as being one of the greatest actors of all time!
-
In the book "CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye," there is an anecdote about George C. Scott's meeting with CBS suit James Aubrey about Scott's series, "East Side, West Side." Aubrey, known as "the smiling cobra," wanted the series to be more upscale -- rich people have problems, too, and he wanted more glamour and less grit. The book describes how Scott, who was trying to kick tobacco and constantly munching apples, listened to the suit's spiel, then took out an apple and a switchblade. He popped open the blade, cut a slice of apple, chewed it slowly -- all the time not speaking. Finally, he looked straight at the suit and informed him the show would remain as it was. Aubrey cancelled the show, but Scott understood that maintaining one's artistic dignity overshadowed such things.
George C. Scott was probably the first great actor I recognized as such, just as Stanley Kubrick was the first great director I recognized as such. One of my strongest memories is seeing him play Willy Loman at the Circle in the Square. I was in the front row, staring straight up into Scott's face as he entered the scene. "Death of a Salesman" has never made sense to me as a tragedy, a character study or an expose of the American Dream, but Scott made me believe it for three hours. His Loman was a bull battering at the confines of his life.
I was a kid when "Patton" came out, but I knew I wanted to see it. I didn't understand half of what the movie was about, but I understood Scott was doing something exceedingly rare -- creating art with nothing more than his body and his voice. That opening monologue was an instant legend, and is justifiably an iconic movie moment.
Scott's sense of artistic dignity was so powerful that it undermined his career. Would accepting an Oscar have been so degrading? Scott thought so. Was it any less degrading to spend the rest of his career being the only good thing in a slew of ghastly movies? He tried to break out of Hollywood completely by financing his own movie, "The Savage is Loose," and four-walling the distribution. It was not a good movie, and it tanked. That and his dissing of the Oscars ensured that his great work was behind him -- from then on, his job would be to inject moments of craft and integrity into work that was far beneath him. But Scott understood that gambles fail, and if the dice didn't fall your way you didn't whine -- you simply continued on with your head high. I wonder what would have happened if, back in the '60s, Scott had seen he was starting down a road that would end with movies like "Firestarter." Would he have done things any differently? Maybe I'll change my mind about this later, but I think he would have behaved exactly the same way -- thorny, stubborn and, above all, supremely talented. -
There is no doubt that the passing of this fine actor is a very sad loss to the film world, however how can Moriarty say that 'EXORCIST 3' is awful? Surely he must have watched the wrong film?? This is one of the scariest films of recent years, AND George C Scott was superb! Wash your mouth out Moriarty....
-
Today, when we think of General George S. Patton we think of a tough, tall, gruff voiced character. Our image is not of the real Patton but of the timeless George C. Scott portrayal. During a biographical documentary tapes of the 'real' Patton showed the general to sound more like a tough irish tenor than a sand paper voiced baritone. Many historic chracter portrayals have been more imitative (eg. Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Harry Truman) than original. Patton's place has been cemented in American history by one of the great acting performances of the 20th century.
-
Who can forget DAY OF THE DOLPHIN -- the movie about the talking dolphins that the government wanted to use as weapons delivery systems?
I loved that movie. I cried buckets at the end. Dolphin: "Fah *loves* Pah." George C. Scott: "No! Fah loves Bee!"
Also loved him in THE HINDENBERG.
Goodbye George. -
For ten years I'd been yammering on about my dreamcast for the film adaptation of Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land".
George C. Scott is the only actor who could've flawlessly pulled off the role of Jubal Harshaw, one of the main characters from that book.
Every time I read "Stranger.." it's Scott's face I see, and his gravelly voice I hear, in my mind.
It saddens me that none of the "geniuses" in Hollywood saw how Scott was born for the role of Jubal and no one thought to push the project forward on that basis alone.
Now it's too late. -
The CBS radio news keeps recycling their report on Scott's death
(as they do with everything they run), and then prominantly mention
Scott's Oscar for "Patton", which he "refused to accept".
But of course they do not answer the obvious question - WHY didn't he accept it? He thought the Oscars were a sham on principle? He thought someone else had delivered a better performance that year? *What*?
Mad at CBS for being coy, but perhaps I should thank them for
making me curious enough to ask. -
The last movie I saw Scott in was Inherit the Wind. It was on Showtime a while back and he played Matthew Brady like no other I've ever seen. He brought life and dimension to a character that could easily have been played as a one-sided Christian bible-thumper.
It's sad to think of all these great actors and actresses who are gone or soon will be. It makes me even more depressed to think the films they made will not be as cherished in years to come by the next generations. I wish they would show more of these older, black and white films or the technicolor greats on general television so as to give the next generation a glimpse at true greatness. Bless you, George C. Scott and the others before you for what you have done for cinema. -
i have to agree with the previous post about his performance in a christmas carol. i've always thought that it was amazing for a tv movie and was the definitive version of dickens' story.
-
No more than a week ago, some friends of mine and I were having the then-popular 'why the Blair Witch Project is/isn't scary' conversation. I'm not a big fan of that film, and I said that one of the scariest films of my recollection was 'The Changeling' with George C Scott. I was met with blank expressions. No one in the room had seen it. The following night a few of us watched it. Not a gorey film, not a malicious film...just a great ghost story that places the nervous fear of spectres and the afterlife firmly in one's cranium. The Changeling is one of my favorite George C. Scott films.
Another of George's masterworks that is often overlooked is his role as the villian 'McLeash' in Disney's 'The Rescuers Down Under'. His performance in this film rivals the work of Hans Conreid as 'Captain Hook'in Peter Pan. Yes... it's that good. What a voice.
An incredible talent has left us today, but what an abundance he has left with us.
Rest in peace, George C. Scott. -
Every performance George C. Scott gave showed us a fully-realized character. As others have noted, his Patton is more real to us than the actual man could ever be. And Scott pulled off what I thought to be the impossible: he made Ebeneezer Scrooge a human being. He'll be sorely missed. Goodbye, George.
-
Sep 23, 1999 10:39:42 AM CDT
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the war room!
by bobby bowfinger
As I recall, George was involved in the scuffle that that led to another classic line from "Dr. Strangelove". That movie along with "Patton", "A Christmas Carol", and "Man Gets Hit in Groin by Football" are some highlights from a great career. RIP
-
That 'Simpsons' groin gag is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the show. Me and a friend of mine are constantly doing the "Arrgh! My groin!" bit, replacing "groin" with other words. I always thought that was one of the voice actors on the show who did the GC Scott part, because Scott isn't listed in the closing credits. The things you learn on the Internet...
-
This is very sad. The great actors and actresses of the 20th century keep dropping off one by one. Scott was an original, that's for sure. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I'll never forget him in "Patton" and "Dr. Strangelove." Enough said.
-
Maybe it was a big screen film, or maybe a made-for-TV movie, TV being where I first saw this masterpiece of film-making know as They Might Be Giants. Scott, in this humble little story became a grandfather to me, a friend, a companion. Doea anyone else remember?
I'll miss you, Mr. Scott. -
i couldn't belive it when I came across this news article, then i read the talkbacks and a tear came to my eye, tis a crying shame that this great actor has moved on to a better place...tis a sad sad sad day indeed...I was debating earlier today to watch Strangelove or Taxi Driver tonight when I got off work I guess my decison has been made for me...George C Scott, one of the greats a man to whom the world of filmmakers and actors will never forget and I hope the rest of the world doesn't forget him either. To echo the words of a fellow talkbacker tis a shame that today's youth will never know the mastery of GCS work, or the beauty of true filmmaking, they'd rather go see some hyped of MTV movie starring Melissa Joan hart, Freddie Prinze JR and Jennifer Love hewitt running from a a monster that is a rip off of Mike Myers or Jason Voorhies or Freddy Kruger then watch the simple horror of watching George C Scott face the demon in Exocisrt 3, or face his own fate with the ghost of christmas future in A Christmas Carol, they would rather cheer Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan(not to disparge on TH's performance in that movie) then to watch the brutally human Patton, they would rather laugh at cheap dick and fart jokes from the Farrleys then roll on the floor at the deap pan seriousness of Scott's General in Strangelove, they would rather watch Matt Damon in The Rainmaker thumping the moral bible of insurance frued then watch George C Scott thump the real Bible and make a char. a real human being rather then a cartirtue in Inherit the Wind...they would rather laugh an dcheer Jim Carreyy at the MTV movie awards when he says that there is lot of fine pussy in this room rather then applud George C Scott take the moral high road and refuse an Oscar...they would rather hear Brittany Spears and laugh at her jokes on the Simpsons then they would bother even finding out who George C Scott was and why the "Ahhh my groin" joke was so funny on the Simpsons...kids today, just don't understand...George be well fight well Rest in peace
-
I seem to be alone, but for me, the Exorcist III is his best role. There's this one scene where he's describing a fish that his mother-in-law is keeping in the bathtub, and he does it with this grave mania no one else could manage. There's two characters talking calmly, serenely, and I watched the whole thing laughing my head off. It was the funniest moment in the scariest horror film ever made. His final confrontation was amazing, defiant and contemptful to the end. It was a great performance.
-
For mentioning the Changeling. You beat me to it, but I have to add that it is one of the scariest movies ever, far superior to The Omen even, but you're right, not a lot of people know about it, even here in Canada where it won a whole gaggle of awards in our version of the Oscars (it was filmed in Vancouver I think). Mr. Scott made the movie even that much better, and when my Dad told me today that he had died, I didn't think of Patton or Dr. Strangelove (Two great films, don't get me wrong), I thought of The Changeling
-
Just saw and ad for this on the TV and thought some of you might be interested.
-
First of all, I would just want to say that this is a very sad thing. I love George C. Scott, especially in "Patton" and "Dr. Strangelove." I first discovered him in "The Flim Flam Man" when I was about eight, and although I didn't really understand the film (and I don't recall it being that good) I remember loving George in it. Second of all, I think some of the people on this site should be careful (i'm talking to you, Everett Robert) when saying how kids these days have no taste, etc. I'm 13 (which means I saw all these movies, and many, many more, in the past few years). Given that I haven't seen every great movie ever made (I have quite a list I am working on corssing off). But I don't like it when people stereotype kids into these stupid people who don't like good movies. Be careful from now on. People of all ages and nationalities come to AICN.
-
Bilbo, you've restored my faith in kid-kind. There's nothing wrong with watching the films of today as long as you also watch the films of yesterday.
Long live Buck Turgidson... -
Shit - this news has me...speechless. How often I would think it was high time some young and cool director cast George in a great, 'rediscovery' kinda role, the kind that he deserved. The kind that would make the critics sit up and say 'fuck the Academy - this guy's a genius!'. How stupefyingly sad that rejecting an Oscar takes nearly thirty years of possibly great work from you. Even so, though, George injected his slightly pissed and rumpled humanity into all of his subsequent roles. He was a Class A Legend, goddamit, and I will miss the living bejesus out of him. As for RIP - I don't think so, there was too much fire there to ever do anything peacefully and for that I am truly thankful.
-
Sep 23, 1999 4:49:08 PM CDT
And the Oscar goes too, George C. Scott for "Man getting hit wit
by tall_boy
"Argh, my groin!" I love that bit. Simpsons rock. Anyway, Dr. Strangelove kicked ass too: "We can't let him in here, he'll see the big board!"
-
Another great actor gone forever.
-
Bye, General Buck. You will be missed!........."Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, TOPS...depending on the breaks." WE'LL MEET AGAIN, DON'T KNOW WHERE, DON'T KNOW WHEN, BUT I KNOW WE'LL MEET AGAIN SOME SUNNY DAY! To steal a comedy right out from under Peter Sellers is a remarkable accomplishment. Oh, and yes, bhwrite, I too remember "They Might Be Giants" very fondly. Great movie. Why it's not available on video, I just don't know.
-
Two of my favorite films were "The Boy and the Pirates" and "The Magic Sword". What Bert lacked in money, he used in creativity in the special effects and something that is sorely missed in today's world...STORY!!!! Here's a little trvia too...listen to the sound that the dragon makes in "Magic Sword". Its the tie fighter engine from "Star Wars". I kid you not!
-
I will never forget his Scrooge...always one of my favorite performances....
-
On the Simpsons episode where George C. Scott gets hit by a football, it wasnt him, it was Maurice LaMarche, most famous for his role as the Brain in "Pinky and the Brain."
-
Sep 23, 1999 8:33:55 PM CDT
"I don't say we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no mo
by oberon
Sad day. But George left us with a hell of a body of work and apersonal legend to remember him by.
-
I always loved George. Last year I had the part of juror number #2, the role scott played. I watched him over and over. I loved him.
-
I wonder if he and Colleen Dewherst are drinking and fighting and laughing right about now...
-
Nathan Lane told a funny story about Scott on Tom Snyder (still missin' him). They were working together on the stage version of "On Borrowed Time" on Broadway. Lane fell out of a tree on stage and was knocked unconscious as the second act was ending. Scott (with his sure sense of drama no doubt) came to the front of the stage and said, "There's been a accident, is there a doctor in the house? A man stepped forward. "You're a doctor?" Scott asked. "Well, actually I'm a psychiatrist." "The man just fell out of a God-damned tree, he doesn't want to talk about his parents!" Scott barked. Loved him as the smug attorney in ANATOMY OF A MURDER. Always hoped he had one more great role in him.
-
Man, that story cracked me up when I read it. I can just picture him standing at the edge of the stage talking to the psychiatrist.
Last night, I saw Dr. Strangelove again. Another great scene of George's was when the President asks General Turgidson if the lone bomber can get through the Soviet defenses. Looking rather excited and proud, Turgidson says "Can it get through? Damn right it can get through!" and then proceeds to imitate and describe how the bomber will fly. -
Well, what can you say? He was a major daddy, a big beefy man with a wad of charisma and a wallop of presence. He's one of those guys that just can't be ignored once he enteres the frame. Luckily I haven't caught all of his appearances yet, so in spite his passing I know I will admire him anew in the future...
-
I agree wit all the
comments posting
Scott. To me he will
always be Scrooge,
first and foremost,
and then Patton, and
then Buck T. But next,
I think I'll remember
him in an apparently
forgotten cameo.
Shortly after Lester's
Three and Four
Musketeers there was a
similar attempt made
at The Prince and the
Pauper, with many of
the same actors -
Oliver Reed, Heston,
Raquel Welch = plus
David Hemmings, Ernest
Borgnine, Rex
Harrison, and Mark
Lester in the dual
roles. And in the
middle, in one short
scene, George C. Scott
as a defrocked priest
turned bandit king
called the Ruffler.
And in about five
minutes, he stole that
movie. He was
incredible! He lived
life to the fullest,
and he worked hard in
small parts and big
ones. As Dickens said
os Scrooge, may that
be said of every one
of us. Rest in peace,
Ebeneezer. -
Not even a month ago I made a Top Ten Scariest Movies List that I circulated amongst friends and relatives, mostly as a response to everyone telling me how scary they thought Blair Witch was. Anyway, I put "The Changeling" on my list and everyone was like, "Huh?" Please rent it if you can; George C. Scott gives a subdued performance so different from "Patton" and "Strangelove" but still excellent nonetheless. Farewell George!
-
George will always be Patton over SCrooge, it was a tv film after all. And he won the oscar which he didnt accept for Patton. Moriarty-Excorcist 3 was great! I remember seeing it in theatres and being creeped out. The scene near the end where the nurse is being chased from behind by the flying ghost, or whatever with the giant sheers still gives me goosebumps thinking of it.
-
I can't believe this incredible actor is gone. What a talent. I will never forget George C Scott's brilliant roles for two films of Franklin J. Schaffner. Patton and Islands in the Stream are two of the greatest movies and George really was incredible. Frank Schaffner and George are now gone. I am shocked. When Jerry Goldsmith passes on it will truely be the end of an era.
-
One of the best moments in film history...
"Alright now you sons of bitches, you know how I feel. Oh, I will be proud... to lead you wonderful guys into battle, anytime...anywhere.
That's all."
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- G.I. JOE: RETALIATION Delayed Nine Months...Thanks To A Force More Sinister Than Cobra!! -- 214 total posts 213 posts
- THE DARK KNIGHT RISES TV Spot Has New Footage And Dialogue! UPDATED To Add Second Spot! -- 160 total posts 160 posts
- Who Is The Voice Of Batman In WB's Animated Two Part THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS? -- 154 total posts 154 posts
- Cats Beware!! An ALF Movie May Soon Come Our Way... -- 148 total posts 147 posts
- UPDATED!!! A Six-Pack Of New Character Posters For THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Forecast A Lot Of Gotham Rain And Snow!! -- 269 total posts 80 posts
- Gary Oldman Joins The ROBOCOP Remake! -- 76 total posts 76 posts
- AICN COMICS REVIEWS: INCREDIBLE HULK! DANGER CLUB! CLiNT 2.1! JAMES BOND! BATMAN INC.! AND MORE!!! -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Baz's THE GREAT GATSBY explodes with one helluva dazzling trailer! -- 187 total posts 63 posts
- The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day… the horror… the horror… -- 49 total posts 49 posts
- Zach Galifianakis Is Ignatius J. Reilly? -- 84 total posts 49 posts