Campbell Scott

Campbell Scott

The son of actors George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst, Campbell Scott obviously inherited some of his parents' talent, though he bears relatively little physical resemblance to either. Somewhat ironically, Scott, who was born in New York City on July 19, 1961, and studied drama at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, spent much of his youth starring in a number of films linked with the Grim Reaper. Some highlights included the PBS AIDS-related drama Longtime Companion (1990), the Civil War-based TV movie Perfect Tribute (1991) (which climaxes on the bloody grounds of Gettysburg), and Dying Young (1992), which featured Scott as a wealthy leukemia patient. One of the most curious -- and interesting -- film assignments for the handsome, lithe Scott was as the plain and portly humorist Robert Benchley in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), a role which earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Scott also turned in a winning performance in Cameron Crowe's Singles (1992), which cast him as one of the eponymous group of friends and acquaintances looking for love in grunge-era Seattle. Scott's career entered a new phase in 1996 when the actor began serving as a co-producer on various projects. Teaming up with old friend Stanley Tucci, Scott co-produced Greg Mottola's well-received independent comedy The Daytrippers, which starred Tucci -- and then, in concert with his friend, he co-directed, co-produced, and starred in Big Night, a drama about the failing fortunes of an Italian restaurant. Originally screened at the Sundance Festival, where it enjoyed an enthusiastic reception, the film earned widespread acclaim upon its general release and landed on numerous critics' top ten lists for that year. Scott followed this triumph with a return to acting, starring in David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner (1997) and in 1998 re-teamed with Tucci to star in the slapstick-on-a-steamer vehicle The Imposters. In 2000, he set sail for rougher seas, portraying the titular alcoholic in the black comedy Lush and the unreliable confidant of a man undergoing a marital crisis in the independent drama Other Voices. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide