Samuel Marks Solomon (February 21, 1915 – July 13, 1960), known professionally as Mark Scott, was an American actor and broadcaster. He is probably best known for hosting the ''
Home Run Derby'' television show that originally aired in 1960.
Biography
Scott was a native of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and a graduate of the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
.
[ As an actor, he had minor roles in television series such as '' Dragnet'' and '']Boston Blackie
Boston Blackie is a fictional character created by author Jack Boyle (1881–1928). Blackie, a jewel thief and safecracker in Boyle's stories, became a detective in adaptations for films, radio and television—an "enemy to those who make him an ...
'' and in movies such as ''Hell's Horizon
''Hell's Horizon'' is a 1955 American war film directed by Tom Gries. The film stars John Ireland and Marla English. ''Hell's Horizon'' recounts the story of a bomber crew in the Korean War.
Plot
During the Korean War, United States Air Force C ...
'' and ''-30-
-30- has been traditionally used by journalists in North America to indicate the end of a story or article that is submitted for editing and typesetting. It is commonly employed when writing on deadline and sending bits of the story at a time, v ...
''. He was an announcer in 1956 for the Cincinnati Redlegs
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
and in 1957 for the Hollywood Stars
The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels.
Hollywood Stars (192 ...
of the Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
,Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
.
As host of the '' Home Run Derby'' show in 1960, Scott both announced the action and interviewed each batter while the batter's opponent was hitting. His most well known line from the show was, "It's a home run or nothing here on ''Home Run Derby''." He died of a heart attack in Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
, shortly after the first season of the show aired. Rather than find a replacement for him, the producers decided to cancel the series. Scott was also developing a celebrity golf show with the working title of ''Back Nine'' at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife and three children.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Mark
1915 births
1960 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American game show hosts
American male television actors
American sports announcers
Cincinnati Reds announcers
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Male actors from Chicago
Minor League Baseball broadcasters
National Football League announcers
University of Illinois alumni