Dick Scott Entertainment

Richard Scott March 14, 1933 - August 29, 2006
Mr. Scott’s path to artistic management and development began in Macon, Georgia. Although he graduated from the historic Talladega College with a degree in chemistry, his love for music and drama won out and set him on his course. Among his many early endeavors, he served as a band director at his former high school, organized a touring a’cappella chorus for the U.S. Army, and became Assistant to the President and Director of Public Relations for Talladega College.

In 1960 he moved to Detroit, Michigan and after serving as the Assistant to the President of the Detroit Institute of Commerce, Dick became the Assistant Station Manager at WCHB-WCHD FM Radio Station – the first Black-owned and operated radio station in the country. Incidentally, it was during this period that Dick honed his merchandising and marketing skills by developing concepts for the station that won many national merchandising awards.
He then joined the staff of Motown Records as Assistant to President Berry Gordy and ultimately became the road manager to the number one female singing group of the time – The Supremes. He then went on to a string of achievements including becoming the first black manager of the Michigan State Fair, with responsibility for overall entertainment and space allocation. Next, he was the Director of Administration for CBS Records (now Sony Music), which then became the most successful marketer of black music in the history of the music business. Deciding to get involved with motion picture production, Dick moved to Los Angeles to gain knowledge of the film business. He aligned himself with Martin Poll, considered to be the Dean of Hollywood producers, where Dick learned the business from his most respected mentor. Afterwards, Dick focused on Artist Managements where he worked and developed a string of R&B Recording acts including the prolific Songwriters Leroy Burgess The Aleems, Au Natrual and a young Artist, Producer Maurice Star… Who in the near future, both Dick and Maurice were about to make music history.
In 1989 and 1990, Mr. Dick Scott was named “Manager of the Year” by the music industry Poll Star Magazine. It was not only a title for which he had worked diligently – it was an honor for which he had prepared extensively and richly deserved.
Dick Scott has been the manager of some of the hottest and most successful artists in the music business. In fact, he is known throughout the industry as a merchandising and marketing genius. One of his great successes was managing New Kids On The Block, who made merchandising history by generating more than $800 million dollars in merchandising income alone in 1990. His concepts revolutionized the way recording artists and motion pictures are now being marketed. Some of his other successful artists include, Boyz II Men, Mark Wahlberg, James Ingram, Patti Austin and Teddy Riley – all of whom continue to have distinguished careers.
Dick Scott not only knew, but also understood talent and its requirements to be nurtured. Having worked in nearly all aspects of the music business, he has guided artists to achieve more than they ever dreamed of doing.
With all his success, Dick found it important to continue his charitable work and was asked to join the staff of United Cerebral Palsy as the Associate Producer of the annual Telethon, also the coordinator of the annual Humanitarian Award Dinner, producing dinners for President Ronald and Nancy Reagan, President Gerald Ford and English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. With the annual Telethon and Award Dinners he once again was able to generate millions of dollars on behalf of this charity.
At the historic Pasadena Playhouse, Dick’s 1996 production of Larry Hart’s “Sisterella” became the most successful production in the eighty-year-old history of the Playhouse. The following year the life story of the famous sisters, the Emotions, who became platinum selling recording artists was told in an original musical, “Bigger Than Bubblegum”. It too, was an acclaimed success at Pasadena and subsequently played Lincoln Center in New York. The next Dick Scott production being prepared for the Los Angeles area is “Ciao Bella” written by and starring an amazing actor and singer, Karen Abercrombie. Dick was to direct this production.
Although Dick was an amazing conceptualist himself, he has played an exceptionally important role in the development of several of the world’s most brilliant young executives and entrepreneurs amongst them are Johnny Wright and Donnie Linton to name a few. These people run their own companies, employ others, and consider Dick Scott a most sacredly trusted mentor.
If you will, think of the largest entertainment companies in the world… Within several of those companies, you will find a senior level person that Dick helped place, or one of his treasured students who is recognized as an invaluable contributor to the organization’s short and long-term success.
Berry Gordy, founder of Motown, often said that Dick Scott was the most brilliant and talented person who ever worked for him. His list of current projects is extensive and all of the best quality. All of these projects - past and present - epitomize Mr. Scott’s quietly effective, consistent approaches to achieving success in the entertainment business.
These triumphs, successes and successors speak to Dick’s selfless nature, his life’s passion to serve and ultimately, his legacy – it is all of us who will keep his name and his mission alive. Dicks' ability to instill the belief that nothing was impossible was one of his greatest gifts. He was able to inspire that belief in the obviously very talented ones as well as the "work in progress." He was, and will always be a great inspiration to those he mentored and shaped to be better human being.