Scott Hylands(1943-2026)

Scott was born in Lethbridge, Alberta in 1943, raised in Vancouver, B.C. and graduated from University (UBC) with a B.A in theatre (honours) in 1964. He immediately moved to New York where he snagged the title role in Billy Liar, off bwdy. His performance drew the attention of the noted director William Ball, who was just forming the American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco). Scott became one of the original company members of the ACT, appearing in over twenty productions, Death of a Salesman to Beyond the Fringe, King Lear to Charley's Aunt. While his film test for the Antonioni film Zabriskie Point didn't get him the part, it led him to another film, Daddy's Gone A'Hunting, which introduced him. For the next fifteen years Scott accumulated an impressive and long list of credits in Los Angeles based film and television as well as a strong profile in the theatre community, appearing often at the Mark Taper Forum, the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival, and Theatricum Bottanicum. He has performed on Bwdy, opposite Colleen Dewhurst ( Queen of the Rebels). In 1981 he returned to Canada, for an acclaimed season at the Stratford Festival, with prominent roles in Coriolanus, Wild Oats, and The Misanthrope. His performance of Salieri (Amadeus) in Edmonton was followed by an offer to play O'Brien, the lead detective in the series Night Heat (CBS, CTV), produced by the legendary Sonny Grosso. Ninety-six episodes were produced in Toronto, 1984-88. Much of the work was done at night, and budgets were slender, yet NH, with its fluid story formant and catchy intro tune ( Dominic Troiano), captured a loyal audience. With his bank account modestly fattened, Scott moved away from Toronto after Night Heat, back to B.C. and the wet coast where he was raised. Buying land on Saltspring Island, he built a house of his own design, married a beautiful nurse, Veronica (Toronto Sick Kids Hosp.), who he'd met on the street while filming NH, and raised two children, Rebecca, and Luke. He kept his hand in the business at the same time, working in theatres across Canada from Toronto's Royal Alex (Art) , to Winnipeg's Prairie Theatre Exchange ( Copenhagen), to Victoria's Belfry Theatre (Trying, Blue Orange.) And working out of Vancouver he has appeared in innumerable TV projects (V, The Returned), and movies filmed locally (Baal, Anna's Storm, The Hamster Cage, Becoming Redwood).