Overview
William John Scott (August 2, 1920 – November 29, 1985) was an American voice actor, writer and producer for animated cartoons, primarily associated with Jay Ward and UPA, as well as one of the founding members of ASIFA-Hollywood. He is probably best known as the head writer, co-producer and the voice of several characters from the popular programs Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show.
Early life
Scott was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 2, 1920. The family later moved to Trenton, New Jersey. At the age of 15, Bill developed tuberculosis. Having been told that Denver, Colorado was the best place for tuberculosis treatment, the family moved to Denver in 1936. His father worked there as a machinist, and his mother worked as a waitress at the Brown Palace Hotel. Scott graduated from South High School in Denver, and then graduated from the University of Denver in 1941. He majored in Theater and Dramatic Art, and minored in English. He was trained to be a school teacher, but after trying teaching, he decided he wanted a different career. He then worked as a freelance radio performer on several Denver radio stations.
Career
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army's First Motion Picture Unit (reporting to Lt. Ronald Reagan), where he worked with such animators as Frank Thomas. After the war, he became what was then known as a "story man" at Warner Bros., working under director Arthur Davis. After a job as a writer on Bob Clampett's Time For Beany television puppet show, he later worked at United Productions of America where he was one of the writers who adapted Dr. Seuss's original story for the 1950 Academy Award-winning short Gerald McBoing-Boing, which later became a television show, as well as adapting the 1953 Academy Award-nominated short film of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. He was later let go by UPA. Scott believed this was because UPA was under political pressure during the Red Scare of the 1950s. He believed UPA that consequently dismissed his co-writer for participating in left-wing activities, and threw out Scott as well in the process.
Scott then went on to work on animated cartoons for John Sutherland Productions. This work was mainly on behalf of business organizations, such as the United States Chamber of Commerce. While this work reflected more conservative values than his own, he stayed there for four years because the company paid its writers well.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).