Interview with Jacqueline Scott: The Classic TV Actress Discusses Raymond Burr, Walter Matthau, and Curly Hair

Jacqueline Scott and David Janssen in The Fugitive..

With over 100 credits, actress Jacqueline Scott has forged a remarkable career in film and television. She has worked with legendary directors such as Steven Spielberg, Don Siegel (multiple times), and William Castle. She made her biggest impact, though, with her guest appearances in many of the finest television series of the 1960s and 1970s. Here's a small sample, to include the number of episodes per series if more than one: Perry Mason (3 episodes), Have Gun--Will Travel (5), The Outer Limits (2), Bonanza (3), Gunsmoke (8), The F.B.I. (4); The Untouchables, Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible, Route 66, The Virginian, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Her most famous role may be as Donna Kimble Taft, the sister of Richard Kimble, on five episodes of The Fugitive.We spoke with the delightful Jacqueline Scott recently at the Williamsburg Film Festival.

Jacqueline Scott in 2016.

Café:  What was it like playing Richard Kimble's sister in five episodes of The Fugitive?

Jacqueline Scott:  It was fabulous. It was wonderful. I finally had a brother!

Café:  Didn't you star with David Janssen earlier as a guest star on Richard Diamond?

JS: Yes, but he didn't remember me and I didn't remind him. I don't why I didn't. David Janssen was very sweet and friendly. He probably would have been happy to know that.

In "The Case of the Daring
Decoy" on Perry Mason.

Café:  You guest-starred on Perry Mason--another terrific series--three times. Between scenes, did you spend much time with series regulars Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, or William Hopper?

JS:  Primarily Raymond. I also worked with Raymond on Ironside. He was a very special man. We shot court scenes on Perry Mason for two days. And on those days, he would have someone there to cue him the day before or else they worked at night. When he shot his scenes, he never used a script or a teleprompter. He knew his lines like the back of his hand...every single episode.

Café:  One of your first film roles was in William Castle's Macabre.

JS:  I was brought to California from New York for that role. It was my first part in film. The producers had seen me on live television. I had lived in New York for about six years. I'm originally from Missouri.

Café:  What were some of the live television series you did?

JS:  Armstrong Circle Theatre, Omnibus with Geraldine Page, and several others.

Café:  When I interviewed Piper Laurie, she said she loved live television because there was no margin for error. She thought it was exciting.

JS:  It was exciting. You had about three or four days for rehearsal. On filmed television, you rarely have any rehearsal at all. When you do the script all the way through for the first time, it's the last shot of the show. On television, they generally shoot for the weather, not the script. Anything that has to be done outside is done quickly before it rains (laughs). So, it's shot out of sequence and you have to put your scenes in context as you go along. It's a challenge. I loved the rehearsals for the live shows.

Looking concerned in Castle's Macabre.

Café:  Back to Macabre, didn't you meet your husband Gene Lesser on the set?

JS:  Yes, we met on that film and we have been married for 58 years.

Café:  Did you think he was good-looking?

JS:  Oh, yes! He has naturally curly hair and they had pumped water and mud onto the Macabre set. The water made his hair curl even more and I thought I was going to have a heart attack! (laughs) Fortunately, I lived through it. He thought I was cute, too.

Café:  You've appeared in some movies which have become very famous over the years, such as Charley Varrick and Duel. What is your favorite film role?

JS:  I've enjoyed them all, but I loved working with Walter Matthau on Charley Varrick. I had admired his work for years. Don Siegel was the director. Charley Varrick was the first time I worked for him. I think I did about three or four movies with him and then he retired. He was a wonderful director and a funny and kind man. One day, he told me: "I don't know what your husband thinks about you working with these two crazy, old men"--referring to Walter Matthau and himself. They were both just nuts (laughs), but a wonderful actor and a wonderful director.

With a disguised Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick.

Café:  You're introducing one of your films at a screening tonight: Empire of the Ants with Joan Collins and Robert Lansing. Any special memories of that film?

JS:  It was filmed in Florida, so when I was offered the role, my first response was: "I'm not getting in the water with any alligators!" The director (Bert I. Gordon) was odd. He would get us up at 5 a.m. for a casting call and then not start filming until 4 p.m. It rained during some scenes, so they had to spray us with hoses in later shots so everything would match. Of course, the real star of the movie were the giant mechanical ants.

Café:  You appeared in some of the truly great TV series of the 1960s. How would you compare television today with what it was like in the 1960s?

With Brad Dexter on Have Gun--
Will Travel.

JS:  I just think that too many people are getting their fingers into the soup these days. You see these credits with six producers and I don't think it's good for the scripts. I don't think the writers are any less good than they used to be. I think all the producers have the option of changing a couple of lines and that's not good for the script. I can remember when scripts, like for Gunsmoke, were "white." Everybody didn't get their own opinion in the script.*

Café:  Did you ever turn down a role you wished you'd taken?

JS:  No. I wanted to do The Waltons. I tested for the mother. Other than that, I never wanted to be a regular on a TV series and I don't think that was too smart.

Café:  Were you offered a series?

Cliff Robertson and Scott in "The Galaxy
Being" on The Outer Limits.

JS:  Yes, but not necessarily anything great. I wanted to play all different characters. And I got to do that. Once I'd be the good girl and once I'd be the bad girl. You wouldn't want to hear: "While she's a good actress, she isn't able to do this kind of role." One director, Leo Penn--who is Sean Penn's father--would call me for anything. We had worked together when we were kids in New York and he was fabulous. Sometimes, there would be a part that people didn't think I could do. And Leo would say: "Well, it's the last minute and I don't have time to mess around meeting actors I don't know. I want Jacqueline." He'd push me for the part--and the producers would be happy he did.

Café:  What did you think of the young Steven Spielberg when he was directing Duel?

JS:  He was a youngster. He looked like he weighed about 150 pounds dripping wet. (laughs) But he sure knew what he was doing.

Café:  Thanks so much for taking time to do this interview.

JS:  It was terrific talking with you, Rick.


* It's a common practice in film production to use color pages to indicate new pages added to scripts. Hence, a "white script" is one with no changes.

"Charley Varrick" and Don Siegel: The Last of the Independents

Why hasn't Don Siegel received his due recognition as an important American filmmaker? He certainly directed his share of influential films (e.g., Dirty Harry) and socially significant ones (e.g., Invasion of the Body Snatchers). And yet, although acclaimed in Europe, he lacks the auteur status bestowed on contemporaries such as Sam Peckinpah. It's a puzzling question, made even more perplexing when one considers Siegel's underrated gem Charley Varrick.

Made in 1973, Charley Varrick stars Walter Matthau as the title character, a crop duster who makes ends meet by robbing small-town banks. When a patrolman recognizes a stolen license plate, one of Charley's robberies goes horribly awry, resulting in three fatalities. Charley and his lone surviving gang member, the dim-witted Harman (Andrew Robinson), discover their bank haul amounts to $765,000. Harman is thrilled; Charley is not. He realizes immediately that they robbed a bank used by the mob. It's not long before the police, the FBI, and a mob hit man start looking for Charley and Harman. Their challenge, though, is that they underestimate the resourceful Charley, who methodically anticipates their every move.

Joe Don Baker as hit man Mr. Molly.

Charley Varrick is a prototypical Siegel anti-hero. He's a criminal, though his motives are driven by a poor economy. He never kills anyone, although he indirectly leads the hit man to Harman when he realizes the latter has become a liability. He is morally dubious, but "better" than the ruthless hit man and corrupt bank officials. In a sense, Charley is not dissimilar from Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry--who bends the law mightily to enforce it. Another similarity is that both men work outside the system, a point emphasized by the slogan on Charley's business signs: "The last of the independents" (which was the original title of the film). However, there remains a key difference between Charley and Harry--they are on opposite sides of the law.

Matthau in disguise for the robbery.

With an anti-hero at the heart of the film, it's essential to cast an actor with some degree of audience appeal. The gruff, likable Matthau fits the bill perfectly, somehow coming across as curmudgeonly and cold. The bottom line is that, despite his significant moral flaws, it's easy to root for Charley because we admire his ingenuity--and because he's played by Walter Matthau.

Siegel directs Charley Varrick with remarkable efficiency. The title credits roll over the same New Mexico town where the robbery occurs: farm workers whistling at a pretty girl; kids playing in a sprinkler; a patrol car cruising down a lonely highway. By the time Siegel's directing credit appears, we already have a feel for the locale, its residents, and the economy. Another example of Siegel's visual brevity is when he shows a close-up of Charley's hand as he slides a wedding band off the body of the female driver of the getaway car. He places the ring on his pinkie, next to a matching band. In one short sequence, Siegel has conveyed that Charley was married, he loved his wife, and must now cope with her death in addition to his self-created mess.

Despite its craftsmanship, Charley Varrick is occasionally sloppy around the edges. In a minor miscue, the plot has Charley sleep with the bank boss's pretty assistant. It makes no sense for either character. She's going to make love with a stranger that stalked her and broke into her apartment? He just lost his wife, but is ready for a one-night stand?

To fully appreciate Charley Varrick, though, one must accept such sporadic missteps. Overall, it's a first-rate action film with a well-cast, interesting protagonist. It makes a strong case for re-evaluating Don Siegel's filmography and recognizing him as a creative force in American cinema from the 1950s through the 1970s.