Fred Scott

Biography

Fred Leedon Scott (February 14, 1902 - December 16, 1991) was an American actor best known as a singing cowboy star in Westerns during the 1930s and 1940s. Scott was born on February 14, 1902 in Fresno, California, United States. He took voice lessons as a child and started acting in community theater at sixteen followed by working with a traveling troupe. Scott's family moved to Llano del Rio. He found work as acowboy on a cattle ranch and tried to parlay the skills into film roles on horseback. He spent three years at Pathé as Helen Twelvetrees leading man. He broke into Westerns with a singing part in a Harry Carey film. For a while, Scott did opera and stage performances before returning to Hollywood and becoming a leading man in many musical Westerns produced by Spectrum Pictures earning him the nickname "The Silvery-Voiced Buckaroo." He made nearly two dozen films with comedy sidekick Al St. John, and some of his films were produced by Stan Laurel. Scott retired from film in the late 1940s and managed his own rental properties. He died on December 16, 1991 in Riverside, California.