The Fugitive Actress Jacqueline Scott Dies At 89

Jacqueline Scott, a longtime television acting veteran, has died. A new report from THR says the Twilight Store alumnus died of natural causes last week. She was 89.

Scott rose to prominence in the 1960s as the sister of David Janssen’s titular character in The Fugitive. Around the same time, she also appeared alongside Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick. Her earliest credit came in Armstrong Circle theatre (1956) while one of her first major roles fell in the original of Perry Mason in the late 1950s.

“I wanted to play all different characters. And I got to do that,” the actress said of her career in an interview in 2016. “Once I’d be the good girl and once I’d be the bad girl. … 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.

She added, “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.”

In same interview, Scott spoke about her love about performing in the days of live television. “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.

Scott was preceded in death by her husband Gene Lesser, a former writer for television and a publicist, a matter of weeks ago. She’s survived by her son Andrew, daughter-in-law Sue, and granddaughters Arianna and Valerie.