William Glenn Shadix-Scott (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his roles as Otho Fenlock in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and the Mayor of Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Early life
Shadix was born on April 15, 1952, in Bessemer, Alabama, the eldest child in the family. His surname was legally changed to "Scott" when his mother, Annie Ruth (née Livingston), remarried a few years after his birth, although he would use his original surname when working as an actor. He attended Birmingham–Southern College for two years, studying with absurdist playwright-director Arnold Powell.
Career
He lived in Manhattan, New York, prior to moving to Hollywood in 1977. He got his breakthrough film role in Beetlejuice as interior decorator Otho Fenlock, while appearing in The Groundlings comedy troupe and performing in the stage play Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights, portraying Gertrude Stein.<!--According to Shadix, it was the play that his agent warned him against doing, since it was a role that seemed too risky. But the actor went on instinct and played the role. Filmmaker Tim Burton was in the audience that night. Shadix became personal friends with Burton and the two would go on to make two more films together: 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas and the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes.--> Beetlejuice filmmaker Tim Burton went on to cast Shadix in two of his films: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Planet of the Apes (2001). Throughout the 1990s, Shadix had small roles in television series, including Cheers, Roseanne, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Seinfeld.
In 1995, Shadix was cast as Ray Cathode in the Space Mountain queue advertisements when the ride was sponsored by FedEx.
In 2005, Shadix was cast as the voices of the Brain and Monsieur Mallah in the fifth season of the Teen Titans animated series. His other voice work includes the aforementioned Nightmare, and episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures and Justice League Unlimited (where he played Steven Mandragora). He reprised his Nightmare Before Christmas role in the video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts II.
His television work included the HBO drama Carnivàle, the NBC television comedy Seinfeld, in which he played Jerry Seinfeld's landlord, and playing the roles of giant brothers Typhoon and Typhon in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. On stage, Shadix was set to begin rehearsals for a Birmingham production of Alan Bennett's History Boys.<!--It would have been Shadix's first time back in Birmingham theater since 1973 when he appeared in tHE Boys in the Band at the Birmingham Festival Theatre.-->
Personal life
According to an interview with the Truth Wins Out website, Shadix came out as gay at the age of 17. His parents enrolled him in "ex-gay therapy", which included shock treatments. When this failed to change his orientation, Shadix attempted suicide by overdosing with Elavil. His parents rushed him to a hospital, where he survived a three-day coma. After the incident, his parents began to accept his sexuality.
Shadix was known to be a long-time fan of Joan Baez, dating back to his childhood, when he had to hide her records from his family who disapproved of the folk singer. Shadix travelled cross country to attend one of her concerts and meet her in person.
In 2007, after spending 30 years in Los Angeles, Shadix retired to his native Bessemer, Alabama, where he purchased a Queen Anne-style, Victorian-era home. The house was completely destroyed in a fire on December 13, 2008. Shadix told firefighters, "I have lost my dream." Despite this, he would continue to live in Alabama and was living in a condo on Highland Avenue in Birmingham, Alabama at the time of his death in September 2010 at the age of 58.
Following Shadix’s death, his obituary identified his spouse Jon Jung. After recovering, he had mobility problems and used a wheelchair. On September 7, 2010, Shadix was found dead in his home. According to his sister, Susan Gagne, he fell and hit his head in the kitchen at his condominium in Birmingham, Alabama, and died of blunt trauma.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="white-space:nowrap"
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! Year !! Title !!Role!!Notes
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|1979
|Skatetown, U.S.A.
|
|
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|1981||The Postman Always Rings Twice|| Twin Oaks Customer||
|-
| rowspan="3" |1988||Beetlejuice||Otho Fenlock||
|-
|Sunset ||Roscoe Arbuckle||
|-
|Heathers ||Father Ripper||
|-
|1989||Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon ||Chet||Television film
|-
|1990||Meet the Applegates||Greg Samson||
|-
|1991||Bingo||Duke||
|-
|1992||Sleepwalkers||Mr. Fallows||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1993||Demolition Man||Associate Bob||
|-
|The Nightmare Before Christmas||Mayor of Halloween Town (voice)||
|-
| rowspan="3" |1994||Dark Side of Genius||Leon Bennini||
|-
|My Summer Story||Leopold Doppler, Manager of Orpheum Theater||
|-
|Love Affair||Anthony Rotundo||
|-
| rowspan="3" |1996||Dunston Checks In||Lionel Spalding||
|-
|Multiplicity||Building Inspector||
|-
|The Empty Mirror||Hermann Göring||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1997||Men||Neil||
|-
|Sparkler||Announcer||
|-
|1998||Chairman of the Board||Larry||
|-
| rowspan="2" |1999||Storm||Nate||Direct-to-video
|-
|Bartok the Magnificent||Townspeople (voice)||Direct-to-video