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Who is Scott Glenn?
He has nearly 100 acting credits to his name, however, Scott Glenn is probably still known best for his role as Wes Hightower in the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy”, and also for his portrayal of Alan Shepard in the 1983 biographic drama “The Right Stuff”, based on the true story of the USA space program development.
The younger audience will perhaps recognize him as Alan Pangborn in the 2018 series “Castle Rock”, or as Dale in the 2020 movie “Greenland”. One way or another, Scott Glenn is an actor with a remarkable career, and we are here to tell you all about his journey to success.
Early life, family, and education
Born Theodore Scott Glenn under the zodiac sign of Aquarius on 26 January 1939, he’s today aged 84. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, he holds American nationality and comes from a family of Native American and Irish descent, raised by his parents Theodore and Elizabeth, alongside his siblings Bonnie and Terry.
As a child, Scott was often ill, and he even spent a year bed-ridden after being infected by scarlet fever, but he recovered through intense training programs. He wanted to become an author, so upon matriculating from high school in 1957, he enrolled at the College of William & Mary, Virginia, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English language.
Following his graduation, Scott joined the US Marine Corps, and served for three years. In 1963, he began working as a news and sports reporter for Kenosha News, Wisconsin. Scott tried to become an author, however, he realized that he couldn’t write dialogue that would satisfy readers. Subsequently, he moved to Los Angeles, California, and took acting classes, in the beginning just to learn the art of dialogue, not knowing that acting would become his profession.
Acting career- beginnings
Scott made his acting debut in the 1965 Broadway play “The Impossible Years”, then later that year he made his first TV appearance, as a Waiter in an episode of the series “The Patty Duke Show”. In the following year, he guest starred as Hal Currin in “Hawk”, followed by his role as Roddy in an episode of the series “N.Y.P.D.” in 1968.
Later that year, Scott joined The Actors Studio, a membership organization for professional actors, which helped him to be cast as Calvin Brenner in the hit crime-drama series “The Edge of Night” in 1969. In the following year, Scott made his big screen debut as Tad Jacks in the drama “The Baby Maker”, which was nominated for the Oscar – Best Music, Original Score.
The early ‘70s saw Scott in “Angels Hard as They Come” (1971), “In Pursuit of Treasure” (1972), “Hex” (1973), and “Nashville” in 1975. He spent almost a decade acting in supporting roles and doing TV stints, and it was clear that he struggled. In 1978, he left the ‘city of angels’ and moved to Ketchum, Idaho, where he worked as a mountain ranger, barman, and huntsman, occasionally performing in various stage productions. However, he didn’t stop auditioning.
Brilliant episode of @WTFpod with the one and only Scott Glenn. His stories about Francis Ford Coppola and making Apocalypse Now are just incredible. It's a must listen. pic.twitter.com/eXCOtyHUFp
— Will Gilbey (@will_gilbey) December 14, 2020
He landed a support role as Lieutenant Richard M. Colby in the 1979 mystery war drama “Apocalypse Now”, written and directed by the great Francis Ford Coppola; the movie won two Oscars – Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.
Notable movie roles
Scott’s first notable movie role came in 1980 when he was cast to play Wes Hightower in “Urban Cowboy”, a Western romantic drama, also starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, which followed the story of a young countryman who learns about life and love problems in a Houston bar. The movie was nominated for the Academy of Country Music Award for Country Movie of the Year.
Three years later, Scott was seen as Alan Shepard in “The Right Stuff”, starring opposite Sam Shepard and Ed Harris. As mentioned, it was the biographic drama about the growth of the US space program, from breaking the sound barrier through the selection of the Mercury Seven astronauts. From the Navy, Marine and Air Force test pilots, seven of them were selected to be the first Americans in space; one of them was Alan Shepard.
The movie had 16 award nominations and 11 wins, including four Oscars (Best Sound, Best Music – Original Score, Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing, and Best Film Editing).
In the following years, Scott was seen in hit movies such as “The River” (1984), “Wild Geese II” (1985), “The Verne Miller Story” (1987), and “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), among many others.
Another of Scott’s notable roles was his portrayal of Jack Crawford in the 1991 thriller crime-drama “The Silence of the Lambs”, starring Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, and Lawrence A. Bonney. This epic movie based on the novel of the same title by Thomas Harris had 120 award nominations and 70 wins, including five Oscars for Best Picture, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role (J. Foster), and Best Actor in a Leading Role (A. Hopkins).
Later in 1991, Scott was seen as H. D. in the Western drama “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”, also starring Kate Capshaw and Ben Johnson – many consider that this role was one of the most outstanding of Scott’s performances. Playing the role of a man with a difficult relationship with his father, who quit his job as a rodeo rider because of serious injury, after finding out that his father is not well, he takes the risk one more time.
Scott followed with roles in “Shadowhunter” (1993), “Night of the Running Man” (1995), “Carla’s Song” (1996), and “Firestorm” (1998), among many others.
Early 2000 saw him starring as Montgomery Wick in the action drama “Vertical Limit”, which was nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects. In the following years, Scott mostly acted in TV movies, returning to the big screen as Sinatra in the 2006 movie “Journey to the End of the Night”, in which he starred opposite Brendan Fraser.
Scott was next cast to play Ezra Kramer in the 2007 action thriller “The Bourne Ultimatum”, starring Matt Damon, which won three Oscars (Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Film Editing, and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing).
He followed with support roles in “Nights in Rodanthe” (2008), “Secretariat” (2010), “Magic Valley” (2011), and “The Paperboy” (2012). Later that year, Scott reprised his role as Ezra Kramer in “The Bourne Legacy”, and his next role came two years later when he landed the lead role as Eugene Van Wingerdt in “The Barber”. The movie had no nominations, but the audience loved this thriller with the tagline ‘A man’s appearance is everything.’
Scott’s most recent movie role was his portrayal of Dale in the 2020 action thriller “Greenland”, starring Gerard Butler, which followed the story of a family who struggles to survive a cataclysmic natural disaster.
Fans of this renowned actor will be happy to hear that he will star as Red Murf in the biographic drama about Ricky Hill, a famous baseball player, entitled “The Hill”, set to be released on 25 August 2023.
Notable TV series roles
Scott’s mostly appeared in movies, however, he made some notable appearances in hit series such as “Monk” in 2008, and he had a recurring role as Kevin Garvey Senior in “The Leftovers”, between 2014 and 2017.
Concurrently, during 2015 and 2016, Scott was seen as Stick in five episodes of the action crime-drama “Daredevil”, which earned him his only award nomination (which many consider surprising). He was nominated for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Guest Performance in a Television Series.
Scott reprised his role as Stick in the 2017 TV mini-series “The Defenders”, while most recently, he played Alan Pangborn in the 2018 series “Castle Rock”, based on the stories of Stephen King, which was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Streaming Horror & Thriller Series.
Love life and relationships
Scott is one of those actors who prefer to keep their personal life away from the public eye. He hasn’t been the subject of any affairs and controversies, but it’s widely known that since 1968 he’s been married to Carol Schwartz; for the love of his life, Scott converted to Judaism. They exchanged their vows on 10 September 1968 in a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony.
The couple has two daughters together, namely Dakota Ann and Rio Elizabeth, who both followed in their father’s footsteps.
How rich is Scott Glenn?
During his more than 55-year-long career, Scott has left an enviable mark in the entertainment industry, playing raspy-voiced men of few words, and tough characters with a militaristic background, which became his trademark. In one of his interviews, he said that there are many reasons why people take part in movies or series, but for him, there are only two reasons = one of them is his instinct, and the other is money.
If you have wondered how much money Scott’s roles have brought him, according to sources, as of June 2023, his net worth has been estimated at over $4 million.
