Geoffrey Scott, 'Dynasty' Star, Dead at 79

03/03/2021 08:59 am EST

Geoffrey Scott, the actor best known for portraying Mark Jennings on Dynasty, has died. The late actor's wife, Cheri Catherine Scott, confirmed the news of her husband's passing to The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that Scott died just after midnight on Feb. 23, the day after his birthday, in Broomfield, Colorado after battling Parkinson's disease. He was 79.

In a separate statement to Fox News, Cheri reflected on her husband's love of sports, telling the outlet that he spent his final years in Colorado because "he loved to ski." She added that his decades-long career, which included portraying a tennis pro on Dynasty, "enabled him to do a lot of outdoor sports. That's what he loved. He was an incredible athlete."

Born on Feb. 22, 1942, Scott grew up in San Fernando Valley, California and got his start in show business when he was signed by legendary agent Dick Clayton, who, Variety notes, also represented the likes of James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Jane Fonda. Scott went on to land a contract with Universal and scored his first major acting role in 1970's vampire soap Dark Shadows as Sky Rumson. Just two years later, he played Jeffrey Jordan on CBS' Where the Heart Is, and in 1974, he took on the role Mel Anderson in the TV movie Houston, We've Got a Problem.

Scott, however, was best known for his role of Mark Jennings on Dynasty, the 1980s ABC primetime soap. Scott's character was a tennis pro and the first husband of Krystle Carrington, played by Linda Evans and was brought to Denver by Joan Collins' Alexis Colbyafter she learns that Mark and Krystle's divorce years earlier wasn't legal. Scott joined the series in 1982 during Dynasty's third season and appeared in a total of 45 episodes until 1984.

Scott's other credits include portraying a U.S. marshal fighting aliens in 1880s Wyoming on the NBC series Cliffhangers: The Secret Empire in 1979, starring alongside Jerry Reed on the 1981 CBS series Concrete Cowboys, and portraying a quarterback on the 1984-1985 HBO sitcom 1st & Ten. Scott also had numerous daytime TV credits, including starring as David McAllister on ABC's General Hospital in 1989 and Billy Lewis on CBS' Guiding Light in 1994. He also appeared in the titles The Morning After, Adam-12, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, Kojak, Dallas, Matt Houston, Night Court, Married … With Children, and Murphy Brown.

Scott retired from acting after 45 years in the business and moved to Colorado with his family, where he pursued skiing. He is survived by his wife and twin sons Christopher and Matthew.

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