Debralee Scott (April 2, 1953 - April 5, 2005) was an American actress best known for her roles on the sitcoms Welcome Back Kotter, Angie, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Forever Fernwood. Scott was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and later lived in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania where she was a cheerleader.

Film and TV roles

At age 22, she found fame on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman playing Mary's sister Cathy Shumway. She appeared on the first season of the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter as Rosalie "Hotzi" Totzi, guest-starred in an episode of Gibbsville in 1976 and played Angie's younger sister Marie Falco in the Donna Pescow situation comedy Angie. Among her other credits were the 1973 feature film American Graffiti the 1974 film Earthquake and the 1984 film Police Academy. She played the corpse of a dead girl, Ann Mary Deacon, killed by Andy Robinson in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry.

Scott was a fixture on the game show circuit in the late '70s and early '80s, frequently serving as a celebrity guest on shows like Match Game, The $20,000 Pyramid, and Password Plus. She continued to act, appearing in two Police Academy movies, including the first, but she later retired from acting and became an agent for a company in New York City called Empowered Artists. In 2000, Scott appeared on a panel with her former Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman castmates at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills.

Death

On September 11, 2001, Scott's fiancé, John Dennis Levi, a New York police officer, was killed in the terrorist attack on New York City.

In 2005 Scott moved to Florida to live with her sister. Shortly after her arrival, Scott collapsed into a coma. She soon recovered and was released from the hospital on her birthday. Three days later, on April 5, 2005, she took a nap and apparently died in her sleep. Scott's body was cremated. Her fiance's mother stated that Scott had a drinking problem since 9/11 that led to her developing cirrhosis, which led to her death. Her sister Jerri said, "She never did get over Dennis's death."

Chronology

Television

• Sons and Daughters (1974)
• Movin' On (1974)
• The Secrets of Isis (1975) (1 episode)
• Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-77)
• Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976)
• Match Game (1976-82)
• Forever Fernwood (1977)
• Shoot for the Stars (1977)
• The Love Boat (1978)
• Angie (1979)
• "All Star" Family Feud (1979)
• The Donna Summer Special (1980) singing in 'Bad Girls' chorus
• Password Plus
• The $20,000 Pyramid
• The Merv Griffin Show

Movies

• Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
• Police Academy (1984)
• Pandemonium (1982)
• The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)
• Our Time (1974)
• Earthquake (TV edit)
• The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974)
• American Graffiti (1973)
• Dirty Harry (1971; uncredited)
• The Candidate (1972; uncredited)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]