Hollywood mourns the loss of Pippa Scott
Hollywood just said goodbye to a true classic.
Pippa Scott, the red-haired beauty who made her unforgettable film debut as Lucy, the niece of John Wayne’s character in The Searchers, has passed away at the age of 90.
According to her daughter Miranda Tollman, Pippa died peacefully of congenital heart failure on May 22 at her home in Santa Monica.
Scott’s death marks the end of a remarkable life in Hollywood — one defined not just by her performances alongside icons like Rosalind Russell and Dick Van Dyke, but also by her decades of activism that would come to define the second act of her life.
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Born in Beverly Hills on November 10, 1934, Pippa Scott was Hollywood royalty from the start. Her given name was Philippa, but as a child, she kept mispronouncing it as “Pippa”— and before long, the nickname stuck while her full name faded into the background.
Her father, Allan Scott, was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers classics like Top Hat and Swing Time. Her mother, Laura Straub, was also part of the entertainment world — a stage actress who helped spark Pippa’s passion for performing from a young age.
Truth about her name
And her uncle, Adrian Scott, was one of the blacklisted Hollywood Ten — an early signal of the values that would shape her later activism.
As you can tell, talent ran in the family — so it was no surprise that Pippa would eventually find her place in the spotlight and build a career on the silver screen.
By the time she reached high school, Pippa was already performing in summer theater. With her vibrant red hair, green eyes, freckles, and infectious energy, she stood out both onstage and off.
She burst onto the screen in 1956’s The Searchers, playing Lucy Edwards alongside the legendary John Wayne. The John Ford-directed Western is still hailed as one of the genre’s greatest, and Pippa’s performance helped launch her into the spotlight.
She followed up with standout roles in Auntie Mame, As Young As We Are, My Six Loves, and Cold Turkey — where she starred opposite Dick Van Dyke as Natalie, the put-upon wife of a pastor trying to lead a small town through a no-smoking challenge.She also appeared in Richard Lester’s Petulia and the chilling made-for-TV horror film Bad Ronald. Some fans may also remember her as a murder victim in the Columbo episode “Requiem for a Falling Star,” where she played Jean Davis, whose fate was sealed in a staged car crash.
From Twilight Zone to The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Pippa Scott was no stranger to the small screen. She racked up an impressive list of credits: Perry Mason, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, Family Affair, Mission: Impossible, The Waltons, Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Remington Steele, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
After hearing about her death, one user wrote, ”I’m so sorry to hear this. Look, even if you don’t know her from her film career, if you were born in the 60s and grew up in the 70s, she was everywhere.”
Another chimed in, “Very sad about Pippa Scott… from AUNTIE MAME to Perry Mason episodes, and a wonderful DVD episode, she was a joy. Heaven better batten down those hatches because here comes trouble!””
FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
In one especially memorable appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show — the 1966 episode titled “Buddy Sorrell: Man and Boy” — Pippa played Dorothy, the mysterious wife of a rabbi helping Morey Amsterdam’s character prepare for a long-overdue bar mitzvah.
Van Dyke and Pippa would reunite five years later for the 1971 Norman Lear satire Cold Turkey, cementing her place as a staple of ‘60s and ‘70s American entertainment.
A fierce advocate beyond the spotlight
While her acting credits were many, Scott’s legacy stretches far beyond Hollywood soundstages. In 1993, drawing from her own family’s experience with political persecution, she founded the International Monitor Institute. The nonprofit gathered crucial evidence for the prosecution of war crimes in places like Rwanda, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia.
Pippa was deeply committed to exposing global injustice. Her documentary work included producing The World’s Most Wanted Man for PBS Frontline in 1998, chronicling the manhunt for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. In 2006, she produced King Leopold’s Ghost, a haunting exposé of Belgian colonial abuses in the Congo.
She also established Linden Productions to shine a light on human rights violations, working alongside major organizations like the United Nations and Human Rights Watch. Today, the IMI’s work continues through the Human Rights department at Duke University.
A quiet return
Though she stepped away from acting in the late 1970s, Pippa returned for a few final appearances — including the 2009 indie film Footprints and the 2013 neo-noir Automobile.
In a 2005 interview with PBS American Masters, she reflected on her iconic Hollywood journey with humility and warmth.
Amanda Edwards/FilmMagic
In 1964, she tied the knot with Lee Rich, one of the founding partners of Lorimar Productions. The couple had two children before parting ways in 1983. However, they found their way back to each other in 1996 and remained close until Rich passed away in 2012.
Pippa Scott is survived by her daughters, Miranda and Jessica, and five grandchildren.
Pippa Scott’s legacy is one of talent, passion, and purpose. From classic Hollywood roles to groundbreaking human rights work, she lived a life full of impact—on screen and beyond. We thank her for her remarkable contributions, both to the arts and to humanity. RIP, Pippa!