Scott Marlowe (born Ronald Richard DeLeo; June 24, 1932 – January 6, 2001)Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. Social Security Administration. was an American actor. He had starring roles in the teen exploitation film The Cool and the Crazy (1958, alongside Dick Bakalyan) and the May-December independent film, A Cold Wind in August (1961, opposite Lola Albright). He was a founding member of Theatre West."Obituaries; Scott Marlowe; Actor Had Roles as Young Delinquent: [Home Edition]". Los Angeles Times. January 29, 2001. p. B4. ProQuest 421570096.
Career Film Marlowe, born Ronald Richard DeLeo, the son of Emile and Concetta DeLeo, made his film debut with an uncredited role in Attila (1955). Over the next few years, he began accruing supporting parts in several films, co-starring opposite Leslie Caron in Gaby (1956); in Michael Curtiz’s film noir, The Scarlet Hour (1956); with Russ Tamblyn in The Young Guns (1956); opposite the Robert Ryan-led ensemble cast of Men in War (1957); and a young Anne Bancroft in The Restless Breed (1957).
However, in 1958, he garnered a pair of lead roles in teen exploitation films dealing with juvenile delinquency: Young and Wild and The Cool and the Crazy — the latter of which not only co-starred another rising star in the subgenre, Richard Bakalyan, but proved to be Marlowe's breakthrough role. He followed this up with Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959) and The Subterraneans (1960). The latter featured an all-star cast and was adapted from Jack Kerouac's novel, albeit severely diluted from its original beatnik content.
In 1961, he starred opposite Lola Albright in the May-December independent romantic drama, A Cold Wind in August. Despite only being eight years younger than her, Marlowe portrayed a character half of Albright's age who was seduced and fell in love, but complications arose when her burlesque stripper past interfered with his idealized perception. Subsequently, concentrating on television, his film roles dissipated after that. After Lonnie (1963), Marlowe would not appear in another feature film until Journey into Fear (1975), followed by Circle of Power (1981). In the 1990s, he had roles in one more theatrical film, Chasers (1994). The last two, Lightning in a Bottle (1998) and Counter Measures (1999), both went direct-to-video on VHS.
Television
Scott Marlowe appeared in over 100 credited acting roles during his career of 44 years on American television. He was frequently billed a guest star, and appeared on many popular drama, action, sci-fi and fantasy TV shows, including: Route 66, The Wild Wild West, The Time Tunnel, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Mission: Impossible, Marcus Welby, M.D., Wonder Woman, The Rockford Files, Fame, Beauty and the Beast, thirtysomething and Matlock.
In 1951 he was first cast in the Pulitzer Prize Playhouse episode "Hostage". This was the start of several roles he would take in various anthology series on television, primarily in 50’s and early 60’s, and occasionally thereafter into the 80's. In 1955, he appeared on Star Tonight which showcased young actors in adapted contemporary literary works. The next year in the episode "In Summer Promise" on General Electric Theater, he starred with Joan Fontaine as a young man who charms an older woman into love who doesn’t know he is to marry his childhood sweetheart. On Zane Grey Theatre, he starred with Ronald and Nancy Reagan in the 1961 episode "The Long Shadow".https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/reagans/nancy-reagan/nancy-reagans-acting-career. “Nancy Reagan's Acting Career”. Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. www.reaganlibrary.gov. Retrieved August 6, 2025 He would go on to star in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, One Step Beyond, Thriller, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Police Story and Freddy's Nightmares.
As his recognition from feature film roles grew, his television career took off and Marlowe began starring in Westerns. He excelled in playing the hotheaded, mean-spirited or misguided youth with little regard for custom or law. He would star in 18 episodes on Western themed shows from 1958 to 1966, making a significant contribution to the genre as he solidified his position into a prominent television actor.
In 1958, he played the son of the title character (played by James Whitmore) in the Wagon Train episode "The Gabe Carswell Story". In 1960, he starred opposite Clint Walker playing a white man raised by Apaches, married to a once-captive Mexican woman (Lisa Montell) reintegrating into his home town in the Cheyenne episode "Apache Blood".director William J. Hole Jr, producer William W. Silver, starring Clint Walker and Scott Marlowe, "Apache Blood", Cheyenne, Warner Brothers Television, aired February 8th 1960, Web, www.plex.tv, https://watch.plex.tv/show/cheyenne-1/season/4/episode/10, accessed March 9th 2025 Also in 1960, he played a young man masquerading as Billy the Kid in "The Show Off" on Law of the Plainsman. In 1962, he guest-starred on Stoney Burke in "Point of Honor" as a troubled, would-be bull rider.director Leslie Stevens, producer Leslie Stevens, starring Jack Lord and Warren Oates, "Point of Honor", Stoney Burke, Daystar Productions, aired October 22nd 1962, Web, www.tubitv.com, https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/200023408/s01-e04-point-of-honor, accessed March 10th 2025 The following year, he starred in "Legends Don't Sleep" as an aimless youth who venerates a newly released older ex-con (William Talman) who was once an infamous outlaw,director Harry Harris, producer Norman MacDonnell, starring James Arness and Milburn Stone, "Legends Don't Sleep", Gunsmoke, CBS Productions and The Arness Production Company, aired October 12th 1963, Web, www.pluto.tv, https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/60d0c64cd2de2a001300051d/season/9/episode/60d4d9fe0de2dc001349df4f, accessed March 11th 2025 in one of his four appearances on Gunsmoke. Marlowe had three notably sympathetic roles in Have Gun – Will Travel: as an innocent man about to be hanged in "The Hanging of Roy Carter" (1958),director Andrew V. McLaglen, producer Sam Rolfe, starring Richard Boone and John Larch, "The Hanging of Roy Carter", Have Gun - Will Travel, CBS Productions and Filmaster Productions, aired October 4th 1958, Web, www.pluto.tv, https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/635317c8f2de430013c325cd/season/2/episode/63533fa4a645ea0013e08940, accessed March 11th 2025 as an earnest and seemingly naive Native American appointed sheriff in "Charley Red Dog" (1959)director Ida Lupino, producer Sam Rolfe, starring Richard Boone and Scott Marlowe, "Charley Red Dog", Have Gun - Will Travel, CBS Productions and Filmaster Productions, aired October 4th 1958, Web, www.pluto.tv, https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/635317c8f2de430013c325cd/season/3/episode/6361a65e8515d300131bf1b9, accessed March 11th 2025 and as an Austrian prince deceived by his advisor (Eduard Franz) in "Duke of Texas" (1961).director Buzz Kulik, producer Frank R. Pierson, starring Richard Boone and Scott Marlowe, "Duke of Texas", Have Gun - Will Travel, CBS Productions and Filmaster Productions, aired April 22nd 1961, Web, www.pluto.tv, https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/635317c8f2de430013c325cd/season/4/episode/639a1a6788bc20001346ff2c, accessed March 11th 2025 In 1964, he was a special guest star playing an outlaw whose gang robs the Cartwrights with the sham help of Will Cartwright (Guy Madison) in "The Roper" on Bonanza.
After the release of Lonnie in 1963, his theatrical film work became limited, and he increasingly turned to television roles. During the mid-1960s, he moved away from his earlier "bad-boy" screen image and began appearing in a wider range of television dramas, including legal, police, medical and mystery series. He was often cast in antagonist or "heavy" roles, which helped establish him as a recurring guest actor on primetime television. Over the following decades, he continued to appear in television productions, with credits extending into the 1990s.
In these dramas he was typically cast as the antagonist (usually a criminal or other unsavory character), such as: a developmentally disabled skiing murderer on Route 66 in the 1961 episode "Effigy in Snow"; on Kraft Suspense Theater in 1964 as a convicted-then-commuted murderer who kidnaps and intends to kill the judge (Ronald Reagan) who sent him to the gas chamber in "A Cruel and Unusual Night";"Ronald Reagan's Filmography". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023. in 1972 as a songwriter wrongfully suing a singer (Peggy Lee) for plagiarism on Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law in "Smiles from Yesterday" (featuring a young Mark Hamill); a counterfeiter in 1974 on Mannix in "The Green Man" and, on T.J. Hooker as the disgraced ex-partner of Hooker (William Shatner) who kidnaps his daughter in "The Ransom” (1985).director William Shatner, created/produced by Rick Husky, starring William Shatner and Heather Locklear, “The Ransom”, T.J. Hooker, Spelling-Goldberg Productions, aired September 25, 1985, Web, www.tubitv.com, https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/658395/s05-e01-the-ransom, accessed March 7th 2025
Marlowe appeared twice in the original The Outer Limits. As the starring lead in the 1963 episode "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork", he played a worried brother searching for a missing-then-dead scientist played by Michael Forest, with BarBara Luna as his girlfriend and Ed Asner as the investigating police detective.director Gerd Oswald, producer Joseph Stefano, starring Scott Marlowe and Kent Smith, "It Crawled out of the Woodwork", The Outer Limits, Daystar Productios and Villa DiStephano Productions, aired December 9th 1963, Web, www.pluto.tv, https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/6076588ef96a44001a1d47db/season/1/episode/607658aef96a44001a1d4b06, accessed March 8th 2025 In the 1964 episode "The Forms of Things Unknown" he co-starred with Vera Miles, David McCallum, and Cedric Hardwicke playing a smarmy, blackmailing playboy who won’t stay dead.director Gerd Oswald, producer Joseph Stefano, starring Vera Miles and Cedric Hardwicke, "The Forms of Things Unknown", The Outer Limits, Daystar Productios and Villa DiStephano Productions, aired May 4th 1964, Web, www.pluto.tv, https://pluto.tv/us/on-demand/series/6076588ef96a44001a1d47db/season/1/episode/609317e5c14fe70013bab023, accessed March 8th 2025 Much of the footage for this latter episode served as the basis of a reworked plot (using additionally filmed scenes and a different ending) of a pilot created for an unsold horror anthology series called The Unknown.Hipson, Rick "Interview: Dave Rash and Dominic Stefano take us to The Outer Limits", Cemetery Dance Publications, (March 26, 2021), Web, https://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/interview-dave-rash-dominic-stefano-outer-limits, accessed March 8th 2025