Alan Scott Newman (September 23, 1950 – November 20, 1978) was an American film and television actor and stuntman whose most prominent roles were in ''
The Towering Inferno
''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The Towe ...
'' and '' Breakheart Pass''. He was the only son and the eldest child of
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning actor Paul Newman. After Scott Newman's death from a drug overdose in 1978, his father established the Scott Newman Center, which is dedicated to preventing drug abuse through education.
Early life
Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Paul Newman and his first wife, Jackie Witte. When Scott was still a young boy with two younger sisters, Susan and Stephanie, his father moved to California to further his career, leaving his family in New York City. By 1958, his parents had divorced and his father had married
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...
. They settled in
Westport, Connecticut
Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
History
...
, during the late 1960s, where Scott attended Staples High School briefly. Scott attended expensive private schools from some of which he was expelled for bad behavior.
Acting career
By the late 1960s, Scott had dropped out of college and started to take jobs as a stuntman in his father's films, making over five hundred parachute jumps to become a certified instructor. He also took on menial jobs and refused to ask his father for financial help. In the early 1970s, his father used his influence to initiate an acting career for his son, and arranged a part for him in ''
The Great Waldo Pepper
''The Great Waldo Pepper'' is a 1975 American drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. Set during 1926–1931, the film stars Robert Redford as a disaffected World War I veteran pilot who missed the opportunity to fly ...
'' (1975), starring Robert Redford. At the time, Scott stated, "I'm not taking any acting help from my father. I want my work to stand on its own merit." He had started to drink heavily, and was arrested for minor alcohol-related offenses. He also assaulted a police officer, kicking him in the head in a squad car after being arrested for vandalizing a school bus while drunk. Newman's father paid the resulting $1,000 fine.
Newman later played an
acrophobic
Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share both similar causes and options for ...
firefighter in ''
The Towering Inferno
''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The Towe ...
'' (1974), in which his father co-starred. Although they had no dialog together because Scott's scenes were with Steve McQueen, both Newmans can be seen in the film's finale. Paul's character is on the steps with
Faye Dunaway
Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...
, while Scott is one of the two firemen carrying a man on a stretcher down the plaza steps to California Street at the Bank of America building in San Francisco. Newman also played small parts in TV series during 1975, such as ''
Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to:
* Marcus (name), a masculine given name
* Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name
Places
* Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44
* Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...
'', ''
Harry O
''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American Detective fiction, private detective series that aired for two seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was exec ...
.,'' and ''
S.W.A.T.
In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
''. During the same year, he also appeared in the Charles Bronson film '' Breakheart Pass''.
Newman subsequently appeared in the 1977 film '' Fraternity Row'', which was to be his last appearance. His alcoholism became more severe, and by 1978 he was sleeping on friends' floors and working as a laborer. He also tried his hand at cabaret singing in small clubs, billing himself as William Scott. Around this time, he confided to family friend
A. E. Hotchner
Aaron Edward Hotchner (June 28, 1917 – February 15, 2020) was an American editor, novelist, playwright, and biographer.
Death
He suffered a motorcycle accident in the fall of 1978, and was taking painkillers to ease the discomfort of his injuries. He also accepted an offer of psychiatric help, paid for by his father. However, in Los Angeles on the night of November 19, he took a fatal dose of
valium
Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, a ...
with alcohol and other drugs. His father told Hotchner: "There's nothing you can say that will repair my guilt about Scott. It will be with me as long as I live."
Scott Newman Center
In 1980, Paul Newman established the Scott Newman Center, dedicated to helping healthcare professionals and teachers educate children about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. The organization also founded the Rowdy Ridge Gang Camp, a network of summer camps for families dealing with problems associated with drug abuse and alcoholism.