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

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's na ...

Jay Scott, was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

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

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', July 31, 1993.

Early life

Scott was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

and was raised in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

as a

Seventh-Day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) 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 Sabbat ...

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

New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public university, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State U ...

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 Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', July 31, 1993. and later took acting classes at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

.Barry Hertz, "Great Scott: In The Globe’s arts pages, film critic Jay Scott changed how Canadians consumed and talked about culture. In his personal life, the twists and tragedies were worthy of Hollywood". ''

'', June 17, 2024.

Career

Moving to Canada in 1969 as a draft evader, he settled in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

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

National Newspaper Award The National Newspaper Awards () 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 until 1989. They are now given by an independent ...

in 1975 for a review of

Theatre Passe Muraille Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is on Ryerson Avenue in the Alexandra Park neighbourhood of Toronto. Brief history One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theat ...

's stage production ''The Alberta Cowboy Show'', and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

when he was hired by ''

'' in 1977. With ''The Globe and Mail'', he wrote an entertainment gossip column for his first year, before transferring to become a film reviewer. 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 has also been credited as the catalyst for a major shift in the newspaper's own arts reporting style in his era, from a staid, strictly repertorial style toward more distinctive, colourful writing. He was also the host of ''Jay Scott's Film International'', a film series on

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

, 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 John Christopher Pratt (December 9, 1935 – June 5, 2022) was one of Canada's most prominent painters and printmakers.

''. 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. He was diagnosed HIV+ in 1986.

Death

He died of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-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 (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

. 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 and 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 ...

's '' Breathless''.

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

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 (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

sent an unsolicited $5,000 donation to Toronto's Casey House AIDS hospice in Scott's memory. At the 1993 Toronto International Film Festival, filmmaker

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

dedicated his Special Jury Citation for '' Zero Patience'' to Scott's memory.

Legacy

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 (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', 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 Toro ...

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. He is the subject of an essay, written by current ''Globe and Mail'' film critic Barry Hertz, in the 2024 book ''A Nation’s Paper: The Globe and Mail in the Life of Canada''.

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 LGBTQ broadcasters 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people