Obie Award-winning actor, director and producer Harold Scott has died at the age of 70. His career encompassed Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional theatre.
Scott, who was born on September 6th, 1935 in Morristown, NJ, graduated from Harvard University and made his Broadway debut acting in the 1960 play The Cool World. Other Broadway credits included After the Fall, Marco Millions, The Changeling and Incident at Vichy (all of which he performed in as part of Elia Kazan's Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center). He was also seen on Broadway in The Cuban Thing, and Off-Broadway in Edward Albee's The American Dream/The Death of Bessie Smith and The Trials of Brother Jero/The Strong Breed. He won an Obie Award for his performance in a production of Jean Genet's Deathwatch.
He produced the Broadway play The Gingham Dog in 1969. The 1978 play The Mighty Gents--featuring a Tony-nominated performance by a young Morgan Freeman--marked his Broadway debut as a director. For the Broadway stage, Scott also helmed Paul Robeson (both in 1988 and 1995, starring Avery Brooks) and Suddenly Last Summer (performed as part of Garden District, an evening of two Tennessee Williams plays).
For several years, beginning in 1972, he was the Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Playhouse; he set a precedent by becoming the first African-American to lead a major regional theatre company.
Off-Broadway directorial credits included Stop the Parade, The Spelling Bee, A Raisin in the Sun (a 25th anniversary production for the Roundabout Theatre Company), The Member of the Wedding and The Old Settler.
Regionally, he directed productions Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta, and more.
