Mark Scott

Samuel Marks Scott Solomon

• School University of Illinois
• High School Hyde Park Academy High School

• Born February 21, 1915 in Chicago, IL USA
• Died July 13, 1960 in Burbank, CA USA

Biographical Information

Mark Scott was an American actor. He is best remembered by baseball fans as the host of Home Run Derby, of which he was also the producer. Scott also appeared in movies and on television, most notably on the program Dragnet.

Home Run Derby was not his only connection with baseball, as he was also a television broadcaster for the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1956 and as a radio broadcaster for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League from 1952 to 1955 and in 1957. Before that, he had done radio re-creations of New York Yankees games and broadcast games of the Norfolk Tars as well as college football and boxing matches.

He died in his sleep of a heart attack while still only 45. A third season of Home Run Derby was set to begin production only a few weeks later, but plans were shelved given the death of the program's popular host.

Further Reading

• Don Zminda: "Home Run Derby: A Tale of Baseball and Hollywood", in Jean Hastings Ardell and Andy McCue, ed.: Endless Seasons: Baseball in Southern California, The National Pastime, SABR, Number 41, 2011, pp. 69-73.

Related Sites

• Mark Scott at the SABR Bio Project