RIP Jacqueline Scott

Jacqueline Scott, Actress in 'The Fugitive' and 'Charley Varrick,' Dies at 89

The Hollywood Reporter

By Mike Barnes

7/28/2020

She also appeared in 'Duel,' 'The Twilight Zone,' 'Gunsmoke' and several Quinn Martin productions.

Jacqueline Scott, who played the sister of David Janssen's man on the run in The Fugitive and the wife of Walter Matthau's bank robber in Charley Varrick, has died. She was 89.

Scott died Thursday of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles, her son, Andrew, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Scott's characters also were married to small-town sheriff Jimmy Stewart in Firecreek (1968) and Dennis Weaver's salesman in Steven Spielberg's Duel (1971), and on the 1963 Twilight Zone episode "The Parallel," she was the wife of an astronaut (Steve Forrest) who finds things amiss after he returns home after orbiting the Earth.

In addition to Charley Varrick (1973), the down-to-earth actress appeared in three other films for director Don Siegel — Death of a Gunfighter (1969), starring Richard Widmark and Lena Horne; Telefon (1977), starring Charles Bronson and Lee Remick; and Bette Midler's Jinxed! (1982), his last movie.

Scott showed up as Richard Kimble's (Janssen) married sister, Donna, on five episodes of ABC's The Fugitive, including the 1967 series finale, "The Judgment: Part II," watched by a then-record 78 million viewers.

The Fugitive was a Quinn Martin production, and Scott also appeared in other dramas for the company, including The F.B.I., The Streets of San Francisco, Cannon and Barnaby Jones.

She also worked on eight episodes of Gunsmoke, five of Have Gun — Will Travel and three of the original Perry Mason.

Born on June 25, 1931, in Sikeston, Missouri, Scott appeared in tap-dance competitions starting when she was 3. She came to New York and appeared in the original 1955-57 Broadway production of the courtroom drama Inherit the Wind, then worked for William Castle in Macabre (1958).

Scott's résumé also included the films House of Women (1962) and Empire of the Ants (1977) and the TV shows 77 Sunset Strip, Bat Masterson, Route 66, The Virginian, The Untouchables, The Outer Limits, Mission: Impossible, Police Woman and Cold Case.

"I wanted to play all different characters. And I got to do that," she said in a 2016 interview. "Once I'd be the good girl and once I'd be the bad girl. … One director, Leo Penn — who is Sean Penn's father — would call me for anything. We had worked together when we were kids in New York, and he was fabulous.

"Sometimes, there would be a part that people didn't think I could do. And Leo would say, 'Well, it's the last minute and I don't have time to mess around meeting actors I don't know. I want Jacqueline.' He'd push me for the part — and the producers would be happy he did."

Her husband, former TV writer and press agent Gene Lesser — they met on the set of Macabre and married in 1958 — died a few weeks ago. In addition to their son, survivors include granddaughters Arianna and Valerie and daughter-in-law Sue.

SCOTT, Jacqueline (Jacqueline Sue Scott)

Born: 6/25/1931, Sikeston, Missouri, U.S.A.

Died: 7/23/2020, Los Angles, California, U.S.A.

Jacqueline Scott’s westerns – actress:

Have Gun – Will Travel (TV) – 1958, 1959, 1960, 1963 (Tildy Buchanan, Stacy Neal, Claire LaDoux, Amanda, Nora Larson)

The Sheriff of Cochise (TV) – 1958

U.S. Marshal (TV) – 1958, 1960 (Joan, Mrs. Ben Tyler, Doris Reeves)

Bat Masterson (TV) – 1959 (Carol Otis, Teresa Renault)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1959, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972 (Abbie, Francie, Stella, Ada Stanley, Anne Madison, Abelia, Abelia Johnson, Abelia)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1959 (Jenny Carter)

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (TV) – 1961 (Beth Grover)

Bonanza (TV) – 1962, 1964, 1965 (Kathie, Willa Cord, Joy Dexter)

Laramie (TV) – 1962, 1963 (Francie, Stacey Bishop, Ellen)

Stoney Burke (TV) – 1962 (Leora Dawson)

The Virginian (TV) – 1962 (Melissa Tatum)

Wide Country (TV) – 1962 (Ella Bennett)

Temple Houston (TV) – 1963 (Kate Hagadorn)

Firecreek – 1968 (Henrietta Cobb)

Death of a Gunfighter – 1969 (Laurie Mills)

The Guns of Will Sonnett (TV) – 1969 (Emily Damon)

Here Come the Brides (TV) – 1969 (Linda) 

How the West Was Won (TV) – 1969 (Mrs. Ferguson)