Bonnie Scott

Bonnie Scott is a retired American actress and singer born on February 20, 1941, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The younger of two children born to Albert and Blanche Paul, she grew up alongside her elder brother Jordan. She began performing professionally in singing and dancing at the age of two, and at age eight made her first television appearance on the weekly ABC series Soapbox Theatre, where she performed for two years.

At fifteen, Scott signed with RCA Records under the stage name Bonnie Scott rather than her birth name Bonnie Paul, in order to avoid confusion with singer Bunny Paul, who was under contract with Capitol Records. During her time with RCA, she recorded several singles and performed at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. She also appeared on a number of television programs during this period, including The Jerry Lewis Show, Playhouse 90, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and You Bet Your Life.

Scott's stage career began at thirteen, when she started performing in musical productions. Her early stage work included a 1954 production of Going Up, followed by appearances in Best Foot Forward and Paint Your Fingers. In 1960, she appeared in the Broadway revue Vintage '60, marking her first credit on the Great White Way.

Her most prominent Broadway role came in 1961, when she originated the part of Rosemary Pilkington in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a role she took on at the age of twenty. She also appeared on the Grammy Award-winning original cast recording of the production. Her replacement in the role, Michele Lee, later appeared in the film adaptation of the musical.

Scott's screen work spans both film and television. Her film appearances include Love Is Better Than Ever (MGM, 1952), Beware, My Lovely (RKO, 1952), Vicki (20th Century Fox, 1953), and Dondi (Allied Artists, 1961). On television, she played Judy Bessemer in a supporting capacity during the first season of ABC's That Girl in 1966, and also appeared on He & She, Bert D'Angelo/Superstar, and The Streets of San Francisco. Scott retired from acting in 2019.