The usual trend when a birthday rolls around is to celebrate what has occurred in the last year and look forward to the year ahead. I'm under the belief that such celebrations should not stop once a person has passed from the Earth. To prove my point, I offer a woman who would have been 57 years old today, had not she passed in 2005 (in three days, if you must know): Debralee Scott.
My first notice of her came from my love of game shows, the old ones from the 1970s that I watch so often. Specifically, it was Match Game. What really help me notice her was a decision to make her the mother of one of the characters in my upcoming book "Life in Hyperion" (those who have looked at my previous attempt at a blog will know who).
Making sure that this character was the best offspring to come from her, I needed to research her the best I can. This means taking note of her game show appearences and also taking a look at her acting roles. What I've learned is someone not too different from myself. I believe that the two of us would have been friends if our paths had ever crossed.
The roles to her credit show a variety not seen in today's acting world. The early roles were mainly movies, TV or film. Then, in the mid-1970s, she started to appear on television shows. She made her big break when she was casted as Rosalie 'Hosty' Totsy in an episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter", pulling a fast one on the sweathogs (fans will know how).
However, her biggest role was in one of the most iconic seventies faux-soaps: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Playing Mary's sister Cathy, known for taking a guy at the drop of a hat, she played a free-willed counterpoint to the more conserved Mary. This casting lead to the game shows appearences that mark her career.
One thing I've noticed is that she's almost always cast as a sister to a character. Fans of her work, if there are any, will take notice and wonder why that was so. It also lead to a decision not to settle her offspring with an sibling. Her career eventually ran out of steam in the 1980s, save appearences in two of the "Police Academy" films (numbers one and three).
Getting out of show business by the end of the '80s, she moved to New York City and managed a troupe called Empowered Artists. It was also during this time that she fell for an police officer for the Port Authrity, going as far as being engaged. The two never wed, however, due to his death in the tragedy of 9/11, which rocked the country.
In 2005, Debralee made her way to the Florida coast to care for one of her two siblings. Ironcally, during her stay, she took ill for several days and was discharged on her 52nd birthday. Three days later, she laid down to rest for a few and never awakened, thus ending her time on this Earth.
For those of us on Earth, left with her work, I feel that some form of award or aknowledgement is needed, for her work in top-rated sitcoms and shows and films and working with some of the great actors of times past and times future should be noted in some way. That's why I went for the parentage angle for a character. Offspring are the best way to ensure a legacy and her offspring tried their best to do so.
A.R.I.P (Always Rest in Peace) Debralee.
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