Ridley Scott
1 FOLLOWER • 68 CREDITS • NOV 30, 1937 • 86
Biography
Ridley Scott was born on 30th November, 1937, in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, the son of Elizabeth and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. He was raised in an Army family, meaning that for most of his early life, his father — an officer in the Royal Engineers — was absent. Ridley's older brother, Frank, joined the Merchant Navy when he was still young and the pair had little contact. During this time the family moved around, living in (among other areas) Cumbria, Wales and Germany. He has a younger brother, Tony, also a film director. After the Second World War, the Scott family moved back to their native north-east England, eventually settling in Teesside (whose industrial landscape would later inspire similar scenes in Blade Runner). He enjoyed watching films, and his favourites include Lawrence of Arabia, Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai. Scott studied in Teesside from 1954 to 1958, at Grangefield Grammar School and later in West Hartlepool College of Art, graduating with a Diploma in Design. He progressed to an M.A. in graphic design at the Royal College of Art from 1960 to 1962.
At the RCA he contributed to the college magazine, ARK and helped to establish its film department. For his final show, he made a black and white short film, Boy and Bicycle, starring his younger brother, Tony Scott, and his father. The film's main visual elements would become features of Scott's later work; it was issued on the 'Extras' section of The Duellists DVD. After graduation in 1963, he secured a job as a trainee set designer with the BBC, leading to work on the popular television police series Z-Cars and the science fiction series Out of the Unknown. Scott was an admirer of Stanley Kubrick early in his development as a director. For his entry to the BBC traineeship, Scott remade Paths of Glory as a short film.
He was assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, which would have entailed realising the famous alien creatures. However, shortly before Scott was due to start work, a schedule conflict meant that he was replaced on the serial by Raymond Cusick.
At the BBC, Scott was placed into a director training programme and, before he left the corporation, had directed episodes of Z-Cars, its spin-off, Softly, Softly, and adventure series Adam Adamant Lives!
In 1968, Ridley and Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company.Five members of the Scott family are directors, all working for RSA. Brother Tony has been a successful film director for more than two decades; sons, Jake and Luke are both acclaimed commercials directors as is his daughter, Jordan Scott. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles and Luke is based in London.
In 1995, Shepperton Studios was purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which extensively renovated the studios while also expanding and improving its grounds.
Known For
Production Credits
Raised by Wolves
World Without End
Murder on the Orient Express
The Good Fight
Black Hawk Down
Thelma & Louise
Merlin
Duelling Directors: Ridley Scott & Kevin Reynolds
Klondike
The Man in the High Castle
Choose or Die
Our Friend
AFP: American Fighter Pilot
Black Rain
Great Expectations
Boston Strangler
Body of Lies
The Last Debate
Untitled Bee Gees Biopic
Gladiator II
House of Gucci
Robin Hood
Halo: Nightfall
Still Missing Morgan
The Terror
Hannibal
Out of the Furnace
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Alien: Covenant - Prologue: Meet Walter
Alien
Child 44
Prometheus
Alien: Covenant
The A-Team
Kaleidoscope
Alien
Blade Runner
The Pillars of the Earth
Blade Runner 2049
Queen & Country
The Last Duel
Gladiator
Prime Target
Sinking Spring
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
American Gangster
Napoleon
Strange Angel
Death on the Nile
Welcome to the Punch
Earthquake Bird
Taboo
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Legend
The Martian
Alien: Romulus
The Duellists
The Last Vermeer
The Good Wife
The Grey
Stoker
Equals
Blade Runner 2099
A Haunting in Venice
G.I. Jane
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