Scott McKay (born Carl Gose, May 28, 1915 – March 16, 1987) was an American film, television and theatre actor.

Life and career

McKay was born in

Pleasantville, Iowa Pleasantville is a city in Marion County in Iowa, United States. The population was 1,676 at the time of the 2020 census. Pleasantville is most famous for being the corporate headquarters of Smokey Row Coffee and the hometown of softball player ...

as Carl Gose. He attended the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, specializing in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. He first worked in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

as a

straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...

for a magician. McKay also was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of English literature. He then performed in Broadway plays in 1939, first appearing in '' The American Way'', being credited as the ensemble. Later in his career, McKay appeared in numerous Broadway plays. He played Captain Fisby in '' The Teahouse of the August Moon'' replacing

John Forsythe John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety s ...

. McKay also played David Larabee in ''

Sabrina Fair ''Sabrina Fair'' (subtitled "''A Woman of the World''") is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor and produced by the Playwrights' Company. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the National Theatre on November 11 ...

''. He played

Jeff Douglas Jeffrey Lloyd Douglas (born June 8, 1971) is a Canadian actor and broadcaster, best known as the cohost of CBC Radio One's daily news program ''As It Happens'' from 2011 to 2019. He has hosted the mainland Nova Scotia afternoon show "Mainstreet" s ...

in ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song " Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a ...

'' (1967). His final theatre credit was as Ronald in ''

Absurd Person Singular ''Absurd Person Singular'' is a 1972 play by Alan Ayckbourn. Divided into three acts, it documents the changing fortunes of three married couples. Each act takes place at a Christmas celebration at one of the couples' homes on successive Christma ...

'' (1974). McKay began his film and television career in 1944, playing Dr. Dan Proctor in the film ''

Guest in the House ''Guest in the House'' (re-release title ''Satan in Skirts'') is a 1944 American film noir directed by John Brahm starring Anne Baxter and Ralph Bellamy. Lewis Milestone began directing the film in April 1944, but was stricken with appendiciti ...

''. He then starred in the film ''

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, A ...

'' as Captain David M. Jones. McKay played Private Jimmy Earhart in the 1945 film '' Kiss and Tell''. He also played Sid in the 1946 film '' Duel in the Sun''. In 1954, McKay starred with actress

Celeste Holm Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in ''Come to th ...

in the new

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

television series '' Honestly, Celeste!'' as Bob Wallace and Holm played Celeste Anders. He played Mr. Gilling in the 1979 film ''

The Bell Jar ''The Bell Jar'' is the only novel written by the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath. Originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963, the novel is semi-autobiographical with the names of places and people changed. The book ...

''. His final credit was from the 1980 film '' Christmas Evil'', in which McKay played Mr. Fletcher.

Death

McKay died in March 1987 of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

at the

Cabrini Medical Center Cabrini Medical Center of New York City was created in 1973 by a merger of two Manhattan hospitals. It closed in 2008 due to financial difficulties cited by the Berger Commission, followed by a bankruptcy filing. In January 2010, the five build ...

in New York, at the age of 71.

References

External links

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Rotten Tomatoes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Scott 1915 births 1987 deaths People from Iowa Male actors from Iowa American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors University of Colorado alumni