Fred Leedom Scott (February 14, 1902 – December 16, 1991) was an American actor best known as a

singing cowboy A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western (genre), Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier. The original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, ...

star in

Westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

during the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography

Scott was born on February 14, 1902, in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, United States. He took voice lessons as a child and started acting in

community theater Community theatre refers to any Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...

at sixteen followed by working with a traveling

troupe Troupe may refer to: General *Comedy troupe, a group of comedians *Dance troupe, a group of dancers **Fire troupe, a group of fire dancers *Troupe system, a method of playing role-playing games *Theatrical troupe, a group of theatrical performers ...

. Scott's family moved to

Llano del Rio Llano del Rio was a Commune (intentional community), commune (or "colony") located in what is now Llano, California, east of Palmdale, California, Palmdale in the Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County. The colony wa ...

. He found work as a

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

on a cattle

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

and tried to parlay the skills into film roles on horseback. He spent three years at

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

Helen Twelvetrees Helen Marie Twelvetrees ( Jurgens; December 25, 1908 – February 13, 1958) was an American actress. She starred in Hollywood films in the sound film era from 1929 to 1939. Many of her roles were of "suffering women,” which reflected her tumul ...

leading man. He broke into Westerns with a singing part in a Harry Carey film.Robert W. Phillips. ''Singing Cowboy Stars''. Gibbs-Smith Publishers, Salt Lake City, 1994. For a while, Scott did

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and stage performances before returning to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and becoming a leading man in many musical Westerns produced by Spectrum Pictures earning him the nickname "The Silvery-Voiced Buckaroo." His first starring role as a singing cowboy was 1936's '' Romance Rides the Range'', and he subsequently starred in '' The Singing Buckaroo'' and '' Melody of the Plains'' (both 1937), '' Songs and Bullets'' (1938) and '' Two Gun Troubador'' (1939). He made nearly two dozen films with comedy sidekick Al St. John, and some of his films were produced by

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel ( ; born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, director and writer who was in the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 sh ...

. Scott retired from film in the late 1940s and managed his own rental properties. He died on December 16, 1991, in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

Filmography

* '' The Grand Parade'' (1930) * '' Swing High'' (1930) * ''

Beyond Victory ''Beyond Victory'' is a 1931 American pre-Code war film starring William Boyd (actor), Bill Boyd, James Gleason, Lew Cody, and ZaSu Pitts. While John S. Robertson, John Robertson received directing credit, Edward H. Griffith supposedly took exte ...

'' (1931) * '' The Last Outlaw'' (1936) * '' Romance Rides the Range'' (1936) * '' The Fighting Deputy'' (1937) * '' Make a Wish'' (1937) * '' Melody of the Plains'' (1937) * '' Moonlight on the Range'' (1937) * ''

The Roaming Cowboy ''The Roaming Cowboy'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Robert F. Hill and written by Fred Myton. The film stars Fred Scott, Al St. John, Lois January, Forrest Taylor, Roger Williams, Richard Cramer, Buddy Cox and Art Miles. The ...

'' (1937) * '' The Singing Buckaroo'' (1937) * '' Knight of the Plains'' (1938) * '' The Rangers' Round-Up'' (1938) * '' Songs and Bullets'' (1938) * '' Code of the Fearless'' (1939) * '' In Old Montana'' (1939) * '' Two Gun Troubador'' (1939) * ''

Ridin' the Trail ''Ridin' the Trail'' is a 1940 American Western (genre), Western film directed by Raymond K. Johnson and written by Phil Dunham. The film stars Fred Leedon Scott, Fred Scott, Harry Harvey Sr., John Ward, Jack Ingram (actor), Jack Ingram, Iris L ...

'' (1940) * '' Rodeo Rhythm'' (1942) * '' Thundering Hoofs'' (1942)

References

External links

* Male Western (genre) film actors 1902 births 1991 deaths American male film actors 20th-century American male actors {{authority control