Joan Scott, the founder and president of the talent and literary agency Writers and Artists, died August 4 of natural causes at her home in New York City. She was 98.
Scott was instrumental in starting the careers of many award-winning actors, including Harrison Ford, Danny Glover, Roy Scheider, James Woods, Henry Winkler, Elizabeth McGovern, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy and James Gandolfini, among others. She also worked with screenwriters including George Wing, David Henry Hwang, Robert Schenkkan, David Magee and Jonathan Larson, and directors Joe Mantello and Philip Noyce.
She also helped start the careers of many literary and talent agents who later moved on to run studios or become partners at bigger agencies.
Nellie Bellflower, an Academy Award nominee and producer of Finding Neverland, praised Scott’s loyalty. “Once you became her client, you also became her family,” she said.
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Born on June 14, 1924 in New Jersey, Scott started her career in New York as a secretary at Ashley Famous Agency, which later became MCA. She left Ashley Famous to start her own agency in the 1950s, then moved to Los Angeles to open a second office there. She remained in Los Angeles for three decades before ultimately returning to New York.
In 2004, Writers and Artists was acquired by Paradigm, allowing Scott to start up a new, more agile company, Joan Scott Management, which focused on hybrid clients, such as actor-directors. She maintained that company and continued to seek out and champion new talent until health issues intervened.
Scott is survived by a niece.
