Career Highlights: Johnny Guitar, The China Syndrome, $ (Dollars)
First Major Screen Credit: He Walked by Night (1948)
Biography
A onetime lumberjack, Scott Brady distinguished himself as a Navy boxing champion during the war. After VJ Day, Brady took drama classes, appearing in his first film, Canon City, in 1948. Usually assigned rough-and-tumble roles (many villainous in nature), Brady exhibited a normally untapped comic prowess in the 1952 film The Model and the Marriage Broker. He continued taking lead roles in cheap westerns, horror films and science-fiction pictures into the 1960s, occasionally surfacing in "A" films like Marooned (1969) and Gremlins (1985, his last film). In 1959, Brady starred in a syndicated western series, Shotgun Slade, which allowed him the opportunity to act opposite several of his non-showbiz idols, including war hero Pappy Boyington and athlete Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch; he also had a recurring role in the 1970s anthology Police Story. Scott Brady is the younger brother of Lawrence Tierney, an actor best known for his gangster portrayals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Born Gerard Kenneth Tierney in Brooklyn, New York, he was the younger brother to a fellow actor, Lawrence Tierney, Brady began his film career after taking drama classes after World War II (where he was a Navy boxing champ). The actor specialized in tough-guy roles in films like He Walked by Night, Canon City and Johnny Guitar. He appeared regularly on the 1970s cop show, Police Story. He played lead to Clint Eastwood's third billing in Ambush at Cimarron Pass which Eastwood is quoted as saying was "probably the lousiest western ever made." His last film role was in the 1984 movie Gremlins. He is often confused with his brother, Lawrence Tierney, whom he resembles. Brady was a lumberjack early in life before taking up acting.
He was originally offered the role of Archie Bunker in All in the Family in 1971 and turned it down[citation needed], though he subsequently appeared on the series in the episode "Edith's Night Out." He played Shirley Feeney's father Jack Feeney in episode 32 of Laverne & Shirley which aired 2/15/1977. He also starred in the offbeat western Shotgun Slade from 1959-61. Brady died from pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 60. Other sources have the cause as emphysema.