The staff and board of Melbourne Theatre Company were saddened to hear of the death of actor Alex Scott, who was the leading man in our inaugural season in 1953. For the Union Theatre Repertory Company, as MTC was then, he performed in ‘two-week rep’, learning a new role every two weeks, performing the current show in the evenings and rehearsing the next show during the day. In his two seasons in the ensemble he performed leading roles in The Lady’s Not for Burning, Pygmalion, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Voice of the Turtle, Arms and the Man, The Heiress, Blithe Spirit, Private Lives, Colombe, and Twelfth Night. Under the direction of MTC founder John Sumner and often matched with ingénue Zoe Caldwell, he helped set the high standard of acting in the Company that ensured its success.
He moved to England in the 1950s and became a successful stage, television and film actor. Coming back to Australia in the early eighties, he took lead roles at MTC in The Perfectionist, Godsend, The Winter’s Tale, and Man and Superman. Since then, he appeared in numerous Australian films (including Romper Stomper in 1992) and television series, and his voice gave weight to many documentaries, audio books and TV advertisements. In 2003, he returned to the Company in our fiftieth anniversary production of The Visit, once again playing the lead role opposite Zoe Caldwell.
Everyone in the MTC family offers their condolences to Alex’s partner Barbara Ady and their family.
Published on 30 June 2015