Jeffrey Scott Beaven (October 4, 1949 – July 30, 1993), known professionally by his

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Jay Scott, was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...

."Critic Jay Scott, 43 among world's best". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', July 31, 1993.

Early life

Scott was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United ...

and was raised in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

as a

Seventh-Day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

, whose doctrine virtually prohibited movies. Scott studied art history at

New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1960 as a private institution known simply as New College, spent several years merged into the University of South Florida, and in 2001 became an aut ...

in Sarasota."Globe's Jay Scott dies suddenly at 43: A rare film critic respected by all". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', July 31, 1993.

Career

Moving to Canada in 1969 as a

draft evader Draft evasion is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft ev ...

, he settled in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

and began writing film reviews for the '' Calgary Albertan'' a few years later. He won a

National Newspaper Award The National Newspaper Awards (french: link=no, Concours canadien de journalisme) are prizes awarded annually for the best work in Canadian newspapers. Synopsis The awards were first given in 1949 by the Toronto Press Club, which ran the awards un ...

in 1975, and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

when he was hired by ''

'' in 1977. With the ''Globe and Mail'', Scott became Canada's most influential film critic, winning two more National Newspaper Awards for his writing, and is still widely remembered as one of the best and most influential film critics in the history of Canadian journalism. He was also the host of ''Jay Scott's Film International'', a film series on

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

, and published three non-fiction books on both film and art: ''Midnight Matinees'', ''Changing Woman: The Life and Art of Helen Hardin'', and ''The Prints of Christopher Pratt''. From 1967 to 1980, he was in a relationship with Mary Bloom, whom he had met while studying in Sarasota. After his divorce from Bloom, he came out as gay and began a relationship with Gene Corboy.

Death

He died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

-related causes in 1993. He wrote for the ''Globe and Mail'' until his death, and had been working on a book about

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best ...

. On the night of his death, TVOntario pulled a scheduled rerun of ''Film International'' to broadcast a tribute to Scott, including a screening of one of his all-time favorite films,

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...

's '' Breathless''.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

eulogized Scott as a "supremely well-informed critic who was able to translate his knowledge into superb prose that transmitted his passion for the movies."

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

sent an unsolicited $5,000 donation to Toronto's Casey House AIDS hospice in Scott's memory. At the

1993 Toronto International Film Festival The 18th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 9 and September 18, 1993. '' M. Butterfly'' by David Cronenberg was selected as the opening film. Forest Whitaker won FIPRESCI Internation ...

, filmmaker

John Greyson John Greyson (born March 13, 1960) is a Canadian director, writer, video artist, producer, and political activist, whose work frequently deals with queer characters and themes. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge in ...

dedicated his Special Jury Citation for ''

Zero Patience ''Zero Patience'' is a 1993 Canadian musical film written and directed by John Greyson. The film examines and refutes the urban legend of the alleged introduction of HIV to North America by a single individual, Gaëtan Dugas. Dugas, better known ...

'' to Scott's memory. A collection of his reviews, ''Great Scott! The Best of Jay Scott's Movie Reviews'', was published posthumously in 1994; proceeds from the book sales were donated to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research."Critic's great voice lives on in collection". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

'', October 9, 1994. In 2009, the

Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) is an organization of film critics from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is a member of the FIPRESCI. History The Toronto Film Critics Association is the official organization of Toron ...

established an annual award for emerging talent in the Canadian film industry, the Jay Scott Prize, in Scott's memory. The winner of the award receives $10,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Jay 1949 births 1993 deaths AIDS-related deaths in Canada American expatriate writers in Canada American emigrants to Canada Canadian film critics Vietnam War draft evaders Writers from Lincoln, Nebraska Canadian gay writers The Globe and Mail columnists Canadian television hosts Canadian LGBT broadcasters 20th-century LGBT people