Gordon Scott

[Texzilla]

(Wasn't sure if this should go here since it's more muscle than muscle growth, but the Sword and Sandal films have been talked about in this forum so....)

I?ve just found out today that Gordon Scott died on April 30th.

While Steve Reeves is the king of the peplum, Gordon Scott was always close behind, if not having to work in his shadow. Not as defined in build as Reeves but a bit of a better actor, Scott stared in some of the better, if lower budget entries into the genre. ?Goliath and the Vampires? and ?Samson and the Seven Miracles of the World? are usually considered the best of his run. But even the lesser entries like ?Conquest of Mycene? and even ?Mask of the Musketeers? where he plays Zorro, allow him to show his stuff. Scott even starred in a pilot for a Hercules TV show that never sold, but is available on DVD and VHS as ?Hercules and the Princess of Troy.? Watching it only hints to how cool a series might have been.

But it?s Scott?s portrayal of Tarzan that he should really be remembered for. Unfortunately what?s readily available on the market is the lower end of his run. Originally Scott was made to play Tarzan in the classic tradition, monosyllabic and na?ve to the real world. But his last two entries, under a new producer brought Tarzan as he should have been to the screen for the first time in years. ?Tarzan?s Greatest Adventure? and ?Tarzan the Magnificent? are great action movies and deserve a better place in movie lore. Great fights, great plot, really good acting. Scott?s Tarzan was intelligent, loyal and, at times, not that nice a guy. But most of all he was believable. And to be believable while wearing a leather loin clothe and running around a jungle after Sean Connery and John Carradine, well, not too many actors could pull that off.

I heard from someone working a movie collectables show years ago where Scott was signing autographs who commented, ?Scott would be living in his car?.if he had one.? From the reports he was estranged from most of his family and died of complication from heart surgery in Baltimore. He hadn?t appeared in a film since the late 60?s.

Which is a shame. Because he might not have been the super star and maybe didn?t inspire other to take up the weights like Reeves and Park, but for about 10 years there, Gordon Scott was flexing and fighting with the best of them. Kind of rambled on more than I thought I would. But I thought he should be remembered.