George Scott

George A. Scott, a radar and Navy communications pioneer who served as a navigator for pilot George Bush during World War II, has died. He was 82. Scott, who died Sunday at Grossmont District Hospital in La Mesa in San Diego County, joined the Navy in 1925 and quickly proved adept in electronics. The Navy loaned Scott's services to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to teach radar and associated concepts.

If as widely predicted, Woody Allen wins his fourth Academy Award on Sunday, this time for original screenplay for the romantic comedy "Midnight in Paris," an even safer bet will be that Allen won't be there to accept the Oscar. The academy has a long love affair with Allen — a record 23 Oscar nominations, including wins for writing and directing the 1977 best picture winner "Annie Hall" and for his screenplay of 1986's "Hannah and Her Sisters"; 22 of the nominations were for screenplay and directing and one was for lead actor, for "Annie Hall.

George Scott, a founding member of the Grammy-winning gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama, died Wednesday of heart failure at his home in Durham, N.C. He was 75. Known for his booming baritone voice, Scott was regarded as a master of the jubilee style of gospel singing. George Lewis Scott was born in Notasulga, Ala., on March 18, 1929. Blind from birth, he was sent by his parents to the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in Talladega, Ala.

On the eve of being honored by the American Film Institute, Mike Nichols shared memories of some of the actors he has directed. Elizabeth Taylor (Nichols directed her to the best actress Oscar in 1966's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"): She understood, since she had been doing it since she was 4 years old, what movie acting was, and she had that kind of secret deal with the lab that, overnight in the bath, what we had seen her do on the set was about three times better [on screen]

George Scott has been a shining example of community volunteerism. And his contributions during the past 25 years have been noticed. Scott recently received Fountain Valley's Citizen of the Year award. Bob Hoxsie, president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley, said that Scott, a longtime volunteer of the youth organization, is a "shining star" who over the years has consistently given to the club and the community. "He's always there and he's always smiling," Hoxsie said.

The rusty Jeep in George Scott's driveway is acting as irascible as its owner, a cantankerous old codger refusing to move at any speed but its own, sassing the world in a series of clanks, sputters and spits. Everything about the gas guzzler looks shiftless, like a shell that's left over after a hard night's carousing. For one, its steering wheel is on the wrong side.

Thank you for your article about disappointing marquee destinations ["Places . . . Overrated," Dec. 7]. I've only been to Dubai and Paris. Both were accurate, but you nailed Dubai. When I explain to people that I lived in Qatar for a year, I tell them that Dubai seems like Las Vegas and void of authenticity and culture. I think you should have suggested destinations that have similar appeal to your disappointing destinations but are very satisfying. George Scott Richmond, Va.

The reigning Mrs. America was under investigation Monday for welfare fraud by the San Diego County Department of Social Services, according to a newspaper report. Jill Scott, 32, who hastily terminated her welfare payments Friday, was being investigated for allegedly cheating the state system, according to anonymous sources cited in Monday's San Diego Tribune. Officials of the department's Welfare Fraud Division would not confirm the report.

What a poor loser George Scott turned out to be! Granted the series "Mr. President" didn't showcase Scott's talents like "Patton" and ended up trivializing the office of the presidency. But Scott took the money and only now bites the hand that fed him. He would have earned more respect for his hair-shirt complaints if he'd pulled out instead of being canceled out. But it was only after the producers and executives whom Scott maligns decided to end the poorly rated series that Scott publicly labels them as "malodorous" and displays his backbiting contempt for their values.

Four years after they met at a peace march in Barstow, Wallace Perry finally found Marylyn Scott on Thursday to tell her he had kept a promise. In a telephone call that ended a lengthy quest, Perry, 67, of Torrance, told Scott that he had found her father's grave in Belgium, just as she had asked in March, 1986. "I'm so touched," Marylyn Scott, 53, said by phone from Ukiah, in Northern California. Said Perry: "I feel like I'm floating."

Thank you for your article about disappointing marquee destinations ["Places . . . Overrated," Dec. 7]. I've only been to Dubai and Paris. Both were accurate, but you nailed Dubai. When I explain to people that I lived in Qatar for a year, I tell them that Dubai seems like Las Vegas and void of authenticity and culture. I think you should have suggested destinations that have similar appeal to your disappointing destinations but are very satisfying. George Scott Richmond, Va.

George Scott, a founding member of the Grammy-winning gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama, died Wednesday of heart failure at his home in Durham, N.C. He was 75. Known for his booming baritone voice, Scott was regarded as a master of the jubilee style of gospel singing. George Lewis Scott was born in Notasulga, Ala., on March 18, 1929. Blind from birth, he was sent by his parents to the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in Talladega, Ala.

George Harmon Scott, 87, a noted horticulturist who was the longtime "Garden Jobs" columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Born in Los Angeles, Scott grew up in Bel-Air and attended the Thacher School in Ojai before studying at Stanford University and then Yale, where he graduated with a degree in architecture. Scott gave up architecture and turned to the nursery profession after the post-World War II building boom faded.

Nobody exploded better. When George C. Scott detonated, the rafters shivered, the screen shook, the dust and feathers flew and strong men ducked for cover. No wonder he made such a wonderful general: He was a human bomb. The actor, who died Wednesday at 71 of an abdominal aneurysm, left a legacy of extraordinary performances, but it was the propulsion of his rage that drove the best of them. As Gen. George S. Patton, in "Patton," he seemed to win World War II on a private stock of dark fury.

George C. Scott, the raspy-voiced actor whose explosive performances powered such films as "Patton" and energized the apocalyptic satire "Dr. Strangelove," died Wednesday in his Westlake Village home of natural causes. He was 71. A brilliant actor but reluctant star who refused to accept the Oscar in 1971 for his portrayal of the larger-than-life Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

Mayor George B. Scott, the man who gave the city its first public fountain, will step down tonight from the City Council after 21 years in office. The familiar city figure, known for his efficient, no-nonsense style of governing, is among the longest-serving officials in Orange County. He was elected to the council in 1969 and served until 1978.

It was one grave among thousands on a gentle hillside in Belgium. On Memorial Day two years ago, Wallace Perry went to the American Cemetery in Henri-Chapelle to honor a stranger. He was there to find the grave of a soldier he had never met for a young woman he barely knew. He was there because Marylin Scott asked him to locate where her father, Pvt. George Scott, was buried in the waning days of World War II.

Academy Award-winning actor George C. Scott was released from Greenwich Hospital two days after being admitted, a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday. Scott, 63, returned to his Greenwich home Wednesday, said Mimi Grady. Grady refused to disclose the reason for Scott's hospital stay. New York Daily News gossip columnist Liz Smith reported Thursday that Scott had suffered his third heart attack. "He came in as a private patient, so we really do not give out information," Grady said.

After 21 years on the Fountain Valley City Council, Mayor George B. Scott says he will leave public service when his term ends in November. Scott, 63, came to the city 32 years ago and has been mayor five times. An insurance broker, Scott was first elected to the council in 1969, served until 1978 and was reelected in 1984. After running unsuccessfully this year for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors, Scott said he would not seek other public offices.

When voters on laid-back Catalina Island go to the polls Tuesday, they will choose between two candidates seeking election to the City Council. But the race between businessmen Scott Nelson and George Scott is anything but cutthroat. "People just discovered this week that there was a race," said Scott, a well-known figure on the island who runs for council every election. "We haven't done anything (to campaign), not either one of us."