SCOTT'S EARLY CAREER
NEW YORK
"I literally stepped off a plane
and into New York in 1976
and spent five long hard years
just trying to build a resume,
get an Equity card"
[One On One with John Tesh, 1991]
Scott arrived in New York not knowing anyone
"I ended up in a little transient hotel
on 8th Avenue,between 8th and 9th on
a block that's no longer there,with the
bathroom down the hallway - a forty bucks a
week kind of place.It was pretty terrible
but I didn't know any better.It was
creepy but I was able to survive it.
I had lots of ups and downs of course"
[Source:The Playful Style of Scott
Bakula
magazine article by Paula Vitaris,1995/96]
SHENANDOAH ~ non equity dinner theater tour
Three days after his arrival in New York,
Scott landed his first job
"I'm one of these fairy tale stories.
I was extremely lucky. More than anything,
the tour provided me with a bunch
of friends when I got back to
New York"
[Source: The Playful Style of Scott Bakula,
magazine article by Paula Vitaris,1995/96]
"I've been acting most of my
life but never with the idea
that it would become my profession"
[Source unknown]
Scott reprised his role as Jesus
in GODSPELL in 1980, New York
MARILYN: AN AMERICAN FABLE ~ 1983
Scott played the role of Joe Di Maggio
This was Scott's first Musical on Broadway
MARILYN: AN AMERICAN FABLE
"The rehearsals lasted longer than the
show did. I couldn't help feeling
that the show was crumbling around
me. It was sad"
[Theater Week, Sheryl Lahn]
THREE GUYS NAKED FROM THE WAIST DOWN ~ 1985
The cast of 3 Guys Naked From The Waist Down
Jerry Colker, Scott Bakula and John Kassir
Three Guys received a Drama Desk
nomination for best ensemble cast in
1985
Andy Cadiff the casting director
for Three Guys said "With this
audition I saw a whole different
side of him. And he had
us on the floor! He came
in wearing red longjohns and sat
at the piano. He had these
two little plastic ducks and he
sat them on the piano and
said "A paradox!" We were hysterical.
Then he sang and we said
"This is the guy. This is Ted"
[Quantum Quarterly, Christina Mavroudis]
"I could NOT get cast on
a soap opera, when I was
starting out in New York. Every
time I read for one, the
producers would laugh. But it was
the kiss of death for what
was supposed to be deadly serious"
[TV Guide, Glen Esterly, 1989]
Folgers Coffee Commercial circa 1984/85
Scott also did another commercial singing
and dancing the praises of Canada Dry
Canada Dry Commercial
I - MAN Disney Movie ~ 1986
A TV movie about a mysterious
gas from outerspace that makes him
indestructible.
GUNG HO ~ 1986
Scott Bakula and Gedde Watanabe starred
in this TV show based on
the film Gung Ho aka Working
Class Man.
DESIGNING WOMEN ~ 1987,
Scott appeared in four episodes
of Designing Women as Dr.Ted Shively
Mary Jo's charming but sleazy
ex husband
MATLOCK ~ 1987
Scott played the role of a
lawyer in a two part episode
Appeared in one episode only of
MY SISTER SAM ~ 1987
THE LAST FLING ~ 1987
Scott played a lawyer in this,
TV movie which starred John Ritter
INFILTRATOR ~ 1987 ~ 60 minute pilot
Scott played the role of a
brilliant inventor trying to prove his
theories on teleportation
EISENHOWER & LUTZ ~ 1988
Scott played an ambulance chasing sleazy lawyer
Delane Mathews and Patricia Richardson also starred
ROMANCE, ROMANCE ~ 1988
Scott's Tony nominated role
297 performances.Total of 5 Tony nominations
Scott was promoting his television show
Eisenhower and Lutz in New York
when Broadway beckoned. Television or theater?
Scott didn't think one was necessarily
better than the other. The television
writers strike that year left him
with more time to commit to
Broadway.
"What I decided was that I
wanted to do good work with
good people and enjoy my work
and make a living"
[New York Times, Leslie Bennetts, 1988]
The cast of Romance, Romance
Robert Hoshour,Alison Fraser, Scott Bakula,
Deborah Graham
Scott Bakula and Alison Fraser perform
at the Tony Awards in 1988
Both Scott and the play were
nominated for Tony awards. There are
actually two plays, one set in
period Vienna and the other , a
fashionable Long Island summer resort.
"It's a chance for me to
be on stage all the time,
and that's the kind of challenge
I like"
[Newark Star Ledger, William Raidy, 1988]
"That period of time was the
most incredible time in my career.
We opened on a Sunday, and
the following Sunday, the Tony nominations
came out, a week later we
were in the recording studio doing
the album, and two weeks later
we were performing live on the
Tony Awards"
[TV Guide, Stephen Schaefer, 1990]
Despite the success on Broadway and
the fact that Eisenhower and Lutz
was not renewed, Scott moved back
to LA.
"It was a gamble, but it
paid off fast with Quantum Leap.
Thank God"
[Philadelphia Inquirer, E.Knutzen, 1992]
Shortly after his return to California,
Scott's agent called with two scenes
from a pilot script named Quantum Leap
Bak home
