Obituaries : Timothy Scott, 32; Danced in Hit ‘Cats’

Timothy Scott, a dancer who created the role of Mr. Mistoffolees in the Broadway smash “Cats,” has died of complications from AIDS. He was 32 and died Wednesday at the Los Angeles home he shared with film editor Norman Buckley, Buckley said this week.

Scott, who also performed under the name of Timothy Scott Schnell, studied dance as a youth and began his career with the St. Louis Municipal Opera Company. He moved to New York and toured with “No, No Nanette” before Michael Bennett cast him as Mark in the first international company of Bennett’s “A Chorus Line.” He also had a small part in the film version of the record-breaking musical.

Scott appeared in both Broadway and national companies of “King of Hearts” and “Dancin’ ” and on television in “Baryshnikov in Hollywood” and performed at the 1980 Academy Awards broadcast.

In 1982, he auditioned for the role of Mr. Mistoffelees and stayed with “Cats” for about 18 months.

Locally, he was seen in the Long Beach production of “A Chorus Line.”

In addition to Buckley, his longtime companion, he is survived by his parents and his grandmother, all of Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, donations are asked in his name to the Los Angeles Center for Living, 1600 N. Sierra Bonita Ave., Los Angeles, 90046.