Lizabeth Virginia Scott born Emma Matzo ; September 29, or โ January 31, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] was an American actress, singer and model for the Walter Thornton Model Agency, [ 4 ] known for her "smoky voice" [ 5 ] and being "the most beautiful face of film noir during the s and s".
Of her 22 films, she was the leading lady in all but three. In addition to stage and radio, she appeared on television from the late s to early s.
The love of music influenced Scott's voice. Scott attended Marywood Seminary , a local Catholic girls' school. She later dropped the "E". In late , an year-old Scott auditioned for the national tour of Hellzapoppin. She did blackouts and other types of sketch comedy [ 37 ] [ 38 ] during her month tour of 63 cities across the US. Scott then returned to New York in , where she starred as Sadie Thompson in John Colton 's play Rain, which ran on the then equivalent of off-Broadway.
It was her first starring role, but no drama critic reviewed the play. Impressed by Scott's Sadie Thompson, he hired her as the understudy for Bankhead, despite Bankhead's protests. Bankhead had signed a contract forbidding an understudy for the Sabina role, which Myerberg breached by hiring Scott. Previously, Bankhead had controlled the production by not showing up for rehearsal. Now, Myerberg could simply put Scott in Bankhead's place.
Finally, one day, I'd had enough. I told her to say 'please,' and after that she did. The rivalry between the two actresses is cited as an alternative to the Martina Lawrence- Elisabeth Bergner origin [ 45 ] of Mary Orr 's short story, The Wisdom of Eve , [ 46 ] the basis of the film All About Eve. Broadway legend had it that Bankhead was being victimized by Scott, who supposedly was the basis for the fictional Eve Harrington. Rumors of an affair between the married Myerberg and the new understudy were rife.
