Debralee Scott (April 2, 1953 â€" April 5, 2005) was an American actress best known for her roles on the sitcoms Welcome Back Kotter, Angie, Mary Hartman - Mary Hartman and Forever Fernwood. Scott was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and later lived in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania where she was a cheerleader.
Film and TV roles
At age 22, she found fame on Mary Hartman - Mary Hartman playing Mary's sister Cathy Shumway. She appeared on the first season of the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter as Rosalie "Hotzi" Totzi, guest-starred in an episode of Gibbsville in 1976 and played Angie's younger sister Marie Falco in the Donna Pescow situation comedy Angie.
Among her other credits were the 1973 feature film American Graffiti the 1974 film Earthquake and the 1984 film Police Academy. She also played the corpse of a dead girl killed by Andy Robinson in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry.
Scott was a celebrity guest several times on the daytime TV game shows Match Game between 1976 to 1982 and The $20,000 Pyramid between 1976 to 1980. Scott also appeared with her Angie co-stars on an "All Star" edition of Family Feud where she helped win money for charity.
Scott continued to act, appearing in two Police Academy movies, including the first, but she later retired from acting and became an agent for a company in New York City called Empowered Artists. In 2000, Scott appeared on a panel with her former cast members of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills. Scott greeted fans and posed for photos after the Q&A.
Death
On September 11, 2001, Scott's fiancé, Dennis Levi, was killed in the terrorist attack on New York City. In 2005 Scott decided to move to Florida to live with her sister. Soon after her arrival in Florida, Scott collapsed and lingered in a coma for several days. Three days later, on April 5, 2005, she took a nap and apparently died in her sleep. Scott's body was cremated. Her fiance's mother stated that Scott had a drinking problem that led to her developing cirrhosis, which led to her death. Her sister Jerri said, "She never did get over Dennis' death."
Chronology
Television
- Sons and Daughters (1974)
- Movin' On (1974)
- The Secrets of Isis (1975) (One Episode)
- Welcome Back, Kotter (1975â€"1977)
- Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976)
- Match Game (1976â€"1982)
- Forever Fernwood (1977)
- Shoot for the Stars (1977)
- The Love Boat (1978)
- Angie (1979)
- All-Star Family Feud (1979)
- The Donna Summer Special (1980) singing in 'Bad Girls' chorus
- Password Plus
- The $20,000 Pyramid
- The Merv Griffin Show
Movies
- Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
- Police Academy (1984)
- Pandemonium (1982)
- The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)
- Our Time (1974)
- Earthquake (TV edit)
- The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974)
- American Graffiti (1973)
- Dirty Harry (1971) (uncredited)
- The Candidate (uncredited)
References
External links
- Debralee Scott at the Internet Movie Database