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When actor George C. Scott](http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/george-c-scott/1870351/main?icid=movsmartsearch) passed away back in September of 1999, Hollywood lost one of its greatest talents. The actor’s passing left a void in the industry that has never been completely filled. When a role called for a gruff and rugged actor who could intimidate with a glance or a growl, Scott was the man for the job. While he didn’t possess your stereotypical leading man looks, he had more than enough presence to keep an audience captivated whenever he was in a scene. Movie execs like to talk about “the it factor” – and whatever “it” is, Scott had it in abundance.
You could see that firsthand in many of his roles. Patton](Amazon.com: Patton [Blu-ray] : George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong, Carey Loftin, Albert Dumortier, Frank Latimore, Morgan Paull, Karl Michael Vogler, Bill Hickman, Pat Zurica, James Edwards, Franklin J. Schaffner, Edmund H. North, Francis Ford Coppola, Ladislas Farago, Omar N. Bradley: Movies & TV) is the obvious example – where Scott was so intense and perfectly cast as the General, that it’s hard to remember anything other than him from the film. The actor was no stranger to playing military men by that point, and his portrayal of Gen. Buck Turgidson in Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove](Amazon.com: Dr. Strangelove (45th Anniversary Edition) : Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, Tracy Reed, James Jones, Stanley Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick, Hawk Films Ltd/Polaris Prod.: Movies & TV) certainly gave him some background experience before tackling the role that would essentially define his career.