Scott Bryant bio

Scott Dinsmore Bryant was born October 8, 1977, in Huntsville, Alabama. His father, Arthur, was an engineer at Marshall Space Flight Center, and his mother, Julia, was the local elementary school principal. Scott's sister Carol was in the second grade when he was born, and his sister Ellen joined the family two years later.

Young Scott played sports, but when he became a teenager, he preferred co-ed activities. As a high school sophomore, he developed a crush on the star of the spring musical, so he joined the stage crew. He never caught the girl's eye, but he discovered a new love: the theater.

Scott participated in every production the school staged until he graduated. He relished the camaraderie of working with a team to create something that brought joy to others.

After high school, Scott wanted to pursue a theater degree, but his parents were firmly against it. Scott enrolled at the University of Alabama and dabbled in engineering classes to please his father, but he ended up getting a degree in management.

During his senior year, Scott met Virginia Dole, an Ole Miss student who was in Tuscaloosa exploring the graduate programs. The two spent all their free time together while she was in town.

After she returned to Oxford, they kept in touch, and when Scott learned Ginny was coming to Tuscaloosa for her master's degree, he stayed in town after graduation. Soon, the couple was living together in a small apartment.

When Ginny got her master's, she and Scott moved to Birmingham for her first job. Scott found a position managing a furniture store and volunteered at the local theater.

After several years in Birmingham, Ginny received a job offer in Oxford, Mississippi, that was too good to pass up, so they relocated. Ginny was thrilled to be back in her college town, where many of her old friends still lived.

Scott had a hard time settling in but eventually got a job managing a retail store and found a community theater group that could use his services.

When Ginny's friend Denis heard about Scott's theater experience, he introduced Scott to the Yoknapatawpha Players, who hired him as the stage manager.

Scott quit his job to focus on the theater. He worked closely with the theater's artistic director, Anna Kessler, who challenged him to create his best work ever.

As Scott started spending more time at the theater, Ginny complained she never saw him anymore. He asked why she couldn't support him doing something he loved after he had always supported her career moves.

Friends say Ginny believed Scott was pulling away from her, but she didn't understand why. She tried without success to talk to him about it and became increasingly sad and withdrawn. One night, Scott came home to find Ginny dead in their home. The coroner ruled it a suicide, and everyone who loved her was devastated.

After her death, Scott threw himself even further into his work and never had time for anyone who wasn't part of the Yoknapatawpha Players.