Milly Scott | |
|---|---|
 Scott in theSnip en Snap Revue in 1970 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marion Henriëtte Louise Molly |
| Born | (1933-12-29)29 December 1933 (age 91) Den Helder, Netherlands |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Website | www |
Marion Henriëtte Louise Molly (born 29 December 1933),[1] known professionally asMilly Scott, is a Dutch singer and actress ofSurinamese origin, best known for her participation in theEurovision Song Contest 1966. She is recognised as the firstblack singer to take part in theEurovision Song Contest.[2]
Scott was born inDen Helder, the main base of theRoyal Netherlands Navy, where her father was stationed as amarine.[3] Both her parents were immigrants from the Dutch colony ofSurinam, while her paternal grandfather was originally fromNorth Brabant.[1] As the first black family in Den Helder and the only black child inkindergarten, she often experienceddiscrimination while growing up.[1][3]
In the beginning ofWorld War II, the shipHNLMSJohan Maurits van Nassau was bombed, severely wounding Scott's father, after which the family moved toAmsterdam.[3] Soon after, her father was summoned by theNazis and taken toGermany as aprisoner of war.[1][3] TheRed Cross later informed the family that he had died there.[3]
Having learned to play the piano during the war, Scott started giving performances to financially support her mother after her father's death.[1] At the age of 14, she began singing in amateur bands and was eventually given ascholarship to study at theconservatory in Amsterdam.[3] However, she dropped out due to the intenseracism andbullying she experienced during her studies.[1][3]
In 1953, at the age of 19, Scott was asked by Dutch comedianToon Hermans to perform in one of his shows.[3] According to Hermans, the name Milly suited her better than her birth name Marion.[3] Following her mother's advice not to use her real surname, she then came up with the stage name Milly Scott.[3] After performing in front of a big audience for the first time, she quickly built up a career as ajazz singer, withLou van Rees as herimpresario.[3]
Working as a singer, she lived inHamburg,West Germany since 1954, and later moved toSweden where she stayed for five years.[1][3] InGothenburg andStockholm, she shared the stage with world-famous artists, such asJudy Garland andQuincy Jones.[3][4] Furthermore, she maintained a close friendship with Swedish-Dutch singerCornelis Vreeswijk, whom she regularly visited at his home inLidingö.[3]
Scott owes her successes in the Netherlands to the influential entertainment journalistHenk van der Meijden, who had found out about her career in Sweden and wrote an article about her inDe Telegraaf.[3][4] This led to numerous appearances on national television and she was even given her own television show in 1965, namedScott in de roos (after the phraseschot in de roos, meaning "bullseye").[3][4]
In 1966, Scott was asked to participate in theNationaal Songfestival, the Dutch national selection for theEurovision Song Contest.[3] She went on to win the national final with the song "Fernando en Filippo", written byGerrit den Braber and composed byKees de Bruyn. This gave her the right to represent the Netherlands in theeleventh edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held inLuxembourg City. Her entry received a total of two points from the international juries, placing fifteenth out of eighteen songs.[5]
Although "Fernando en Filippo" was something of anovelty song (and was also performed as such) at a time whenballads dominated in the competition, Scott would later claim that her disappointing result was attributable, at least in part, to racism on the part of the voting jurors.[3][6]
Although Scott never produced any hit records, her jazz-based singing career brought her to Germany, Sweden and theUnited Kingdom in later years. She also branched out into acting and appeared in many theater and television shows, her best-known role being in theRTL 4 drama seriesVrouwenvleugel (1993–95) in which she played Baby Miller, a prisoner trying to come to terms with her racial identity.[4][7]
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 | Succeeded by |
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