Fans are mourning the passing of longtime television actress Jacqueline Scott, who amassed many enviable credits over the years, including the recurring role of Ruth Wilson in the first season of CBS' The Bold and the Beautiful. The actress' son, Andrew, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that the 89-year-old died of lung cancer in her home following the passing of her husband, Gene Lesser, who died at the age of 94 just a few weeks ago.
A native of Missouri, Scott broke into show business early by winning a tap-dancing contest when she was just three years old. Though she once self-deprecatingly described herself as "the worst child tap dancer ever to haunt an audience," she managed to transform her career as a juvenile performer in tent shows to that of an accomplished leading and character actress with over 102 roles to her name.
Scott began acting professionally at the age of 17 at a small community theatre company in St. Louis. She then moved to New York, graduated from New York's Hunter College, did some administrative work for David Sarnoff at RCA, and eventually studied acting under Uta Hagen. She got her breakthrough when distinguished thespian Louis Calhern chose her to play the part of his granddaughter in The Wooden Dish on Broadway. Mentored by Calhern, Scott was cast that same year opposite Paul Muni in Inherit the Wind and eventually snagged roles in series likeThe Fugitive, The Twilight Zone: The Parallel, The Planet of the Apes, Charley Varrick, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke.
In 1987, William J. Bell cast Scott in his brand-new soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. She played the recurring role of Ruth Wilson, the headstrong boss of Beth Logan (then played by Judith Baldwin).
Scott was last seen on-screen in 2009, playing Irene in the B-movie crime drama Sugar Boxx. Remembering her career in a 2016 interview, the actress said she had no regrets: "I wanted to play all different characters. And I got to do that."
Scott met her husband, Gene Lesser, very early on in her career. Shortly after her breakout role in The Wooden Dish, she was brought to Hollywood by William Castle, a well-known producer of gimmicky, low-budget horror movies. Her debut big screen appearance was in 1958's Macabre, where she met Lesser, a screenwriter and photographer who also became her agent. Their marriage lasted an impressive 62 years.
Scott is survived by her son, Andrew; granddaughters Arianna and Valerie; and daughter-in-law Sue.
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