Scott Wilson (actor)

Scott Wilson (born William Delano Wilson; March 29, 1942 – October 5, 2018) was an American actor. He had more than 50 film credits, including In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Great Gatsby, Dead Man Walking, Pearl Harbor, and Junebug.[2] In 1980, Wilson received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his role in William Peter Blatty's The Ninth Configuration.[3][4] He played veterinarian Hershel Greene on the AMC television series The Walking Dead (2011–2014; 2018).[5] He also had a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as casino mogul Sam Braun, as well as a lead role on the Netflix series The OA as Abel Johnson.[6]

Scott Wilson
Wilson in March 2016
Born	William Delano Wilson[1] March 29, 1942 Thomasville, Georgia, U.S.
Died	October 5, 2018 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–2018
Spouse(s)	Heavenly Wilson ​ (m. 1977)​

Life and career

Scott Wilson at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, July 2013

Wilson was born in the small Southern town of Thomasville, Georgia.[7] He made his screen debut portraying characters suspected of murder in his first three films. In his debut film, Wilson played a murder suspect in In the Heat of the Night (1967).[3] Wilson appeared in Sparta, Mississippi where (In the Heat of the Night) takes place, on March 15, 2014, to celebrate the city's 175th anniversary in reference to his debut appearance in the film.

His follow-up role, in the same year, was in the film version of In Cold Blood, based on the book of the same name by Truman Capote.[4] Wilson portrayed real-life murderer Richard Hickock, while Robert Blake played his partner, Perry Smith.

Director Richard Brooks cast Wilson and Blake in the starring roles specifically because they were unknown at the time.[4] The director passed over better-known actors, including Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, for the parts.[4] Wilson later explained Brooks' casting motivations: "Brooks hired two 'unknowns' and he wanted to keep it that way. We were treated like two killers he had somehow run across."[4]

The film earned Wilson an appearance on the cover of Life magazine, published on May 12, 1967.[4] Wilson was just 25 years old at the time.[4] The cover features Truman Capote standing between Wilson and Blake on an empty highway in Kansas.[4] The caption, Nightmare Revisited, appears with them on the cover.[4] Wilson appeared in The Great Gatsby in 1974 opposite Robert Redford.[3] He received a 1980 Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Ninth Configuration by director and friend William Peter Blatty.[3][4] He lost the Golden Globe to Timothy Hutton. In 1995 Wilson got attention for his role as a prison chaplain in Dead Man Walking, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean.[3][4]

Wilson's long filmography also includes The Gypsy Moths, The Right Stuff, A Year of the Quiet Sun, Malone, The Grass Harp, Junebug, The Host, Monster, Young Guns II, Pearl Harbor, Big Stan, Judge Dredd, the Shiloh film series and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Wilson has filmed on location in South Korea, Japan and Spain.[3] Wilson had a recurring role in several episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Sam Braun, father of crime-scene investigator Catherine Willows (portrayed by Marg Helgenberger).[8] Braun was killed off in the episode "Built to Kill, Part 2". In the fall of 2011 he also made an appearance opposite Laura Dern in the HBO series, Enlightened.

Wilson was cast as veterinarian, Hershel Greene in the second season of The Walking Dead in June 2011.[5] The role has earned him positive reviews, including a "cheer" from TV Guide, which wrote that he had contributed "subtle shades of humanity to the character of Hershel Greene."[8] Wilson was offered the opportunity to join the show while visiting his 97-year-old mother in Georgia.[3] He has described his mother as "a fan of the show."[3] Wilson left the show in December 2013 after his character was killed off in the season 4 mid-season finale "Too Far Gone".[9] However, he made two guest appearances since his character's death, and made his last[10] onscreen appearance in the fifth episode of the ninth season of The Walking Dead.

Wilson reflected on his career in a 2011 interview with Access Atlanta's Rodney Ho: "It's been up and down. It's always been. You have dry spells. At different times, you are starting over. If you love it, you stay with it. That's what I'm doing. I've accomplished more than I would have hoped to have accomplished. I don't want to be a big movie star. I can be someone who walks the streets and not get mobbed. I want to be as fine an actor as I can be. I am still striving to be as good as I can be."[3] Wilson was filming scenes for The Walking Dead in Senoia, Georgia, at the time the interview took place.[3] In 2014, Wilson was cast in a recurring role as Dr. Guyot in the Amazon original series Bosch. In 2016, he appeared in the Netflix series The OA.[11]

Personal life

He married Heavenly Koh Wilson in 1977.[12][13][14]

Death

On October 6, 2018, it was reported that Wilson had died from leukemia, aged 76.[15] He died just a few hours after NYCC (New York Comic Con).[16][17][18] The premiere episode of The Walking Dead's ninth season, "A New Beginning", which aired the next day, was dedicated to Wilson's memory which is shown in the final credits of the episode.[19]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	In the Heat of the Night	Harvey Oberst
	In Cold Blood	Richard Hickock
1969	Castle Keep	Corporal Clearboy
	The Gypsy Moths	Malcolm Webson
1971	The Grissom Gang	Slim Grissom
1972	The New Centurions	Gus
1973	Lolly-Madonna XXX	Thrush
1974	The Great Gatsby	George Wilson
1976	The Passover Plot	Judah
1979	La Ilegal	Police Officer
1980	The Ninth Configuration	Captain Billy Cutshaw	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
1983	The Right Stuff	Scott Crossfield
1984	A Year of the Quiet Sun	Norman
	Downstream	Mitch
1985	The Aviator	Jerry Stiller
1986	Blue City	Percy Kerch
1987	Malone	Paul Barlow
1989	Johnny Handsome	Mikey Chalmette
1990	Young Guns II	Governor Lew Wallace
	The Exorcist III	Dr. Temple
	La Cruz de Iberia	Johnson
1991	Femme Fatale	Dr. Beaumont
	Pure Luck	Frank Grimes
1993	Flesh and Bone	Elliot
	Geronimo: An American Legend	Redondo
1995	Tall Tale	Zeb
	Judge Dredd	Pa Angel	Uncredited
	The Grass Harp	Eugene Fenwick
	Dead Man Walking	Chaplain Farley
	Mother	Dr. Chase	Direct-to-video
1996	Shiloh	Judd Travers
1997	Our God's Brother	Albert Chmielowski
	G.I. Jane	Captain Salem
1998	Puraido: Unmei no Toki	Joseph B. Keenan
	Clay Pigeons	Sheriff Dan Mooney
1999	Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season	Judd Travers
	The Debtors
2000	South of Heaven, West of Hell	Clete Monroe
	The Way of the Gun	Hale Chidduck
2001	The Animal	Mayor
	Pearl Harbor	General George Marshall
2002	Bark!	Harold
	Coastlines	Pa Mann
	Don't Let Go	Hershel Ray Stevens
2003	Monster	Horton / Last "John"
	The Last Samurai	Ambassador Swanbeck
2005	Junebug	Eugene Johnsten
2006	Open Window	Eddie Delaney
	Come Early Morning	Lowell Fowler
	Saving Shiloh	Judd Travers
	The Host	US Doctor in Morgue
	Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon	Eugene
	The Sensation of Sight	Tucker
2007	The Heartbreak Kid	Boo
	Big Stan	Warden Gasque
2009	Saving Grace B. Jones	Reverend Potter
	Bottleworld	Murray
	For Sale by Owner	Dr. Banks
2010	Radio Free Albemuth	President Fremont
2011	Dorfman	Winston Cooke Sr.
2017	Hostiles	Cyrus Lounde

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Twilight Zone	Matthew Foreman	Episode: "Quarantine"
1988	Jesse	Sam Maloney	Television film
	The Tracker	John 'Red Jack' Stillwell	Television film
1993	Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story	Vernon Presley	Television film
1995	Soul Survivors	Bradley Facemeyer	Television film
1999	The Jack Bull	Governor	Television film
2000	The X-Files	Rev. Orison	Episode: "Orison"
2001–2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Sam Braun	9 episodes
2003	Karen Sisco	Homer	Episode: "Dumb Bunnies"
2005	Law & Order	Ben Chaney	Episode: "Sport of Kings"
2011	Justified	Frank Reasoner	Episode: "Blaze of Glory"
	Enlightened	Marv	Episode: "Someone Else's Life"
2011–2014; 2018	The Walking Dead	Hershel Greene	33 episodes
2011	Five	Old Bill	Television film
2014–2015	Bosch	Paul Guyot	3 episodes
2016	Damien	John Lyons	5 episodes
2016–2019	The OA	Abel Johnson	7 episodes
2017	Robot Chicken	Hershel Greene	Voice, Episode: "The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking"

Other awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result
2007	Ralph Morgan Award[20]	Won

References

1. Barnes, Mike (October 6, 2018). "Scott Wilson, Actor in 'The Walking Dead' and 'In Cold Blood,' Dies at 76". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
2. "Scott Wilson". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
3. Ho, Rodney (October 25, 2011). "A talk with Atlanta native Scott Wilson, who plays Hershel on 'The Walking Dead'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
4. Lovell, Glenn (March 17, 1996). "Actor Anonymous: Scott Wilson hopes 'Dead Man Walking' will lead to the visibility that has long eluded him in films". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
5. Ayres, Tom (June 26, 2011). "'The Walking Dead' cast expands by two". Digital Spy. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
6. Pedersen, Erik (December 12, 2016). "'The OA' Trailer: Netflix Releases First Look & Sets Premiere Date For Drama". Deadline. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
7. EndPlay (October 7, 2018). "Georgia-born 'The Walking Dead' actor dead at 76". WSBTV. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
8. Fretts, Bruce (November 28, 2011). "Cheers & Jeers: The Walking Dead's Great Scott Wilson". TV Guide. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
9. "Off With Their Heads". Syfy. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
10. Davis, Brandon (October 6, 2018). "'The Walking Dead' Star Scott Wilson Has Died". comicbook.com. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
11. Pedersen, Erik (December 12, 2016). "'The OA' Trailer: Netflix Releases First Look & Sets Premiere Date For Drama". Deadline. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
12. "The Walking Dead actor dies aged 76". BBC News. October 7, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
13. "Full Biography for Heavenly Wilson". smartvoter.org. March 6, 2007.
14. "Scott Wilson Cause of Death: How Did 'The Walking Dead' Hershel Actor Die?". heavy.com. October 6, 2018.
15. Slotnik, Daniel E. (October 8, 2018). "Scott Wilson, 76, 'Walking Dead' and 'In Cold Blood' Actor, Dies". NY Times. The New York Times Company. p. B12. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
16. "The Walking Dead actor dies aged 76 In Loving Memory of Scott Wilson". BBC News. October 7, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
17. "Full Biography for Heavenly Wilson". smartvoter.org. March 6, 2007.
18. "Scott Wilson Cause of Death: How Did 'The Walking Dead' Hershel Actor Die?". heavy.com. October 6, 2018.
19. Patten, Dominic; Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 7, 2018). "'The Walking Dead' Airs Scott Wilson Tribute After Tonight's Season Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
20. McNary, Dave (April 2, 2007). "SAG honors Wilson". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2018.

External links

• Scott Wilson at IMDb
• Scott Wilson (Aveleyman)
• Scott Wilson at Find a Grave