Debralee Scott

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Debralee Scott (April 2, 1953 – April 5, 2005) was an American actress best known for her role on the soap opera spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as the title character's trampy younger and prettier sister, "Cathy Shumway." Scott was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where she was born, and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where she was a cheerleader.[1]

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[edit] Film and TV roles

Scott's first role was filmed shortly after her 18th birthday; she portrayed a corpse in 1971's Dirty Harry. At age 22, she found fame on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, playing Mary's sister, Cathy Shumway. She appeared on the first season of the sitcom Welcome Back Kotter as Rosalie "Hotzi" Totzi, and in the Donna Pescow sitcom Angie, playing Angie's younger sister, Marie Falco. She remained good friends with Kotter alum Ron Pallilo (Arnold Horshack).

Among her other credits were the 1973 feature film American Graffiti and the 1974 film Earthquake (her scenes, which were set on an airplane, were filmed specifically for an extended-length network TV premiere showing in 1976).

Scott reportedly auditioned for the role of Marty in Grease (film). It was narrowed down to her and Dinah Manoff. Although Scott was better known at the time (and closer to the age of others already cast), Manoff got the part.

Scott also appeared on the daytime TV show Match Game between 1976 and 1982. During an appearance in 1977, she and Richard Dawson revolted when their answer -- "finishing school" -- didn't match the contestant's answer of "school," according to the off-stage judge. It prompted the "Match Game 1977 School Riot". Scott also appeared with her Angie co-stars on an "All Star" edition of Family Feud where she helped win money for charity. (These All-Star episodes are available on DVD as of 12/07).

Scott continued to act, appearing in two Police Academy movies, including the first, but she later retired from acting and became an agent for a company in New York City called Empowered Artists. In 2000, Scott appeared on a panel with her former cast members of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills. Scott greeted fans and posed for photos after the Q&A.

[edit] Chronology

[edit] Television

MOVIES

[edit] Death

In 2001, her fiancé, Port Authority police officer John Dennis Levi, died during the 9/11 attacks. In March 2005, Scott moved from Brooklyn, New York to Amelia Island, Florida, to care for her ailing elder sister Carol Anne, a producer who worked on many Robert Altman films and who went by the name Scott "Scotty" Bushnell. Her other sister, Jerilynn Scott, is a talent manager in Los Angeles.

Soon after her arrival in Florida, she collapsed and lingered in a coma for several days. She woke up and when asked if she knew where she was, replied, "obviously in the hospital." Since doctors could not figure out what caused the coma, she was released two days later (on April 2, her birthday), but her spirits remained high. Three days later, on April 5, 2005, she went to take a nap and never woke up. Despite an autopsy, the cause of death remained uncertain. Scott died of natural causes and was cremated.[2] Although her death remained uncertain, many people who knew her said that she began drinking heavily after her fiancé's death and that her death was caused by her alleged alcoholism. Her sister, Scott Bushnell, died of heart failure on July 13, 2006.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bittan, Dave. "DEBRALEE SCOTT", Philadelphia Daily News, November 30, 1984. Accessed December 28, 2007.
  2. ^ via Associated Press. "DEBRALEE SCOTT, 52", The Boston Globe, April 10, 2005. Accessed December 28, 2007. "Scott died April 5 at her home in Amelia Island of natural causes, said her sister, Jeri Scott, a talent manager in Beverly Hills."

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