Lizabeth Scott dead at 92: Film noir star of the '40s and '50s
Lizabeth Scott, a Paramount star in the 1940s usually cast as film noir heroines, died of congestive heart failure on Jan. 31, 2015, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Scott, born (as Emma Matzo) on Sept. 29, 1922, was 92. (See also: Lizabeth Scott photo at recent The Strange Love of Martha Ivers screening.)
Among the two dozen film featuring Lizabeth Scott – whose hair-style and husky line delivery were clearly inspired by Paramount's own Veronica Lake (along with Warner Bros.' Lauren Bacall) – were the following:
- John Farrow's You Came Along (1945), with Robert Cummings.
- Lewis Milestone's The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), with Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, and Kirk Douglas.
- Desert Fury (1947), with Burt Lancaster.
- Dead Reckoning (1947), with Humphrey Bogart.
- Pitfall (1948), with Dick Powell.
- Dark City (1950), with Charlton Heston.
- The Racket (1951), with Robert Ryan and Robert Mitchum.
- The Company She Keeps (1951), with Jane Greer.
- Bad for Each Other (1954), also with Charlton Heston.
A couple of uncharacteristic Lizabeth Scott movies:
- Scared Stiff (1953), a remake of the Bob Hope-Paulette Goddard suspense-comedy The Ghost Breakers (1940), co-starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (and with Betty Hutton in a cameo).
- The Elvis Presley star vehicle Loving You (1957), also featuring Wendell Corey.
Also of note, Lizabeth Scott was involved in a scandal when Confidential magazine, the 1950s precursor of today's tabloid rags, published a front-page story in its September 1954 issue. The magazine asserted that Scott was a lesbian whose name was found in “the little black books kept by Hollywood prostitutes.”
Scott sued Confidential, but lost due to a technicality.
Lizabeth Scott never married. Her last movie was the 1972 film noir spoof Pulp, with Michael Caine and Mickey Rooney.
This Lizabeth Scott obit is being revised / expanded.
Source for the Lizabeth Scott's death notice: Los Angeles Times.
Yes she was one of the grates of the silver screen. And the true last of an era , There will never a gen be some one like her, to fill the void , know left . I am sad that she has left us to the grate beyond . Rest in peace Lizabeth Scoot . your fan for ever .
Alouis SkrjanC Jr,
I loved all her movies. I think she was way under-rated as an actress. As I understand it, she was very responsive to her fans who wrote or sent cards to her up to the end. So, although she had a long life, she will be missed but will live on through her films. Rest In Peace.
by strange coincidence, my mom died 6 years ago on january 31 2009 and she was also 92.