Tony Scott

See also Tony Scott for the American clarinet jazz musician.

Pre-filmmaking years

Born in Stockton-on-Tees in the farmlands of Northern England, Tony Scott's first foray into filmmaking was not from behind the camera, but rather in front of it. At the age of sixteen, Scott appeared in Boy and Bicycle, a short film marking the directorial debut of his then-twenty-three-year-old brother Ridley. He followed in his older brother's footsteps, studying at art schools in West Hartlepool and Sunderland, the latter for a fine arts degree. He subsequently graduated from the Royal College of Art, fully intending to become a painter. It was only the success of his older brother's fledging television commercial production outfit, Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), that turned his attentions towards film. "Tony had wanted to do documentaries at first. I told him, 'Don't go to the BBC, come to me first.' I knew that he had a fondness for cars, so I told him 'Come work with me and within a year you'll have a Ferrari'. And he did".

Related Topics:
Stockton-on-Tees - England - Boy and Bicycle - Art schools - West Hartlepool - Sunderland - Degree - Royal College of Art - Ridley Scott Associates - BBC - Ferrari

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In the course of the next two decades, Scott directed literally thousands of television commercials for RSA, while also overseeing the company's operation during periods in which his brother was developing his feature film career, ultimately realized with 1977's The Duellists, and Alien in 1979. Tony also took time out in 1975 to direct an adaptation of the Henry James story The Author of Beltraffio for French television, a project he landed by virtue of a winning coin-flip against his brother. After the considerable feature film successes of fellow British commercial directors Hugh Hudson, Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne and his elder brother in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Scott was beginning to receive overtures from Hollywood himself when tragedy struck. In 1980, his older brother Frank died of cancer.

Related Topics:
The Duellists - Alien - 1979 - 1975 - Henry James - The Author of Beltraffio - Hugh Hudson - Alan Parker - Adrian Lyne

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