British filmmaker Ridley Scott has been married thrice and has 3 children to show for 2 of the marriages. Safe for his first wife, the other 2 women, Sandy Watson and Giannina Facio were quite famous for other purposes aside from their marriages to the renowned director.
Ridley’s first wife, Felicity Heywood bore him his first 2 children who happen to be boys that walk in their father’s footpath. The boys are Jake Ridley (59) and Luke Ridley (56).
From his second marriage, the director/producer welcomed a girl named Jordan (46) who tried as she did, couldn’t run away from being like her father, career-wise.
Ridley Scott’s Grand Uncle was a Pioneer of Cinema Chains, Back in the Day
Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937, in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England to Elizabeth Williams Scott and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. He grew up with 2 other brothers and was basically brought up by his mother as his father was always away, serving in the army.
Colonel Francis Percy had an uncle named Dixon Scott who has a reputation as the pioneer of the cinema chain around Tyneside. Ridley’s grand uncle was the one who introduced multiple cinemas in the area where he was born.
Intrigued by science fiction which was the first type of novels he grew up reading, Ridley’s interest in Art was spiked. From books, his interest developed into a love for sci-fi movies and slowly, with each new sci-fi movie he encountered, his path was made clearer.
Eventually, he attended Grangefield Grammar School, Stockton on Tees. He then attended and graduated with a Design diploma from West Hartlepool College of Art.
Not yet there, Ridley continued to push to follow his heart’s desire. He then joined the College Film Department of the Royal College of Art, London after enrolling in the college. He was also a huge contributor to the school’s magazine production.
It was here that Scott began his journey in filmmaking and directing. For his final project in the college, Ridley Scott made a black and white short film titled Boy and Bicycle. He featured members of his family in this production.
With his college success, Ridley got himself a very juicy job working for BBC. He started off as a trainee on the set of Tonight, in 1963. Within a short time, Scott climbed through the ladders and began directing for BBC.
By 1965, he was given directorial credit for some episodes of a BBC series including Adam Adamant Lives.
Ridley lost his older brother and younger brother in 1980 and 2012 respectively. Frank Scott, his older brother died after battling skin cancer. Tony, his younger brother and business partner, died after jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge and also battled cancer.
Ridley Scott’s First Feature Film as a Director Happened at the age of 40
A few years before he turned 40, Ridley and his younger brother, whom he was first successful in bringing over to his entertainment side, founded Ridley Scott Associates.
RSA was founded as a film and commercial production company and they partnered with Alan Parker, Hugh Hudson, and Hugh Johnson. By the 1970s, the RSA had been associated with so many commercials.
However, it wasn’t until 1977 that Ridley got his first role as a director in a feature film. The film is The Duellistst which was shot in Europe and even got a nomination at the Cannes Film Festival. The film also won an Award for Best Debut Film.
With this under his belt, Ridley went on to direct and make many more films and commercials, in the following decades.
For most of his works, he has received Academy, BAFTA, and Golden Globes Awards nominations and has won quite a lot.
Most importantly, Scott keeps his family in mind when making films. He has severally dedicated movies to his family members including his parents and brothers.
He’s Been Married Thrice
Now to the juicy part, away from Ridley’s directorial life. You know he has been married 3 times?
The first time was with a woman named Felicity Heywood, whom he met in his 20s. They got married when he was 27 years old, in 1964 and they remained together until 1975.
Felicity was a huge part of Ridley’s life when he was finding his feet in the entertainment industry. She, just like the filmmaker’s mother, had to tend to the home when Scott was mostly away, working.
As soon as their 11 years of marriage came to an end, Heywood went off the radar. Very little information made media waves about her anymore. However, her role in Ridley’s life cannot be overemphasized because she bore him 2 precious gifts that will always be memorabilia of her.
As soon as that marriage was out of the way, the British filmmaker gave marriage a couple of years before delving right in, again.
4 years after his first marriage ended, Ridley Scott remarried Sandy Watson. Sandy was an advertising executive with whom he welcomed a child a year before they got married.
Watson helped raise all of Scott’s children for many years until the divorce which saw an end to their marriage of 10 years. Sandy and Ridley divorced in 1989.
With how long it took for Ridley to find another worthy companion, one would have thought the director had given up on love and marriage again. However, he was obviously waiting for the perfect one and time.
26 years after his last divorce, the White Squall director got married for a third time. In 2015, he got married to a Costa Rican actress known as Giannina Facio. She was cast in a couple of his films including The Martian, American Gangster, and The White Squall.
Ridley Scott has 3 Children all of Whom are Directors Too
Through his 3 marriages, Ridley Scott has 3 children with none coming from his last wife.
His first marriage to Felicity produced 2 children, boys, Jake and Luke. His second marriage to Watson produced his only daughter, Jordan.
Here are brief profiles of Ridley’s kids:
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Jake Scott
Jake was born a year into his parent’s marriage, in August 1965 in London, England. He is, just like his father, a film director who has become part of his father’s RSA company. However, he is part of the subdivision of the company known as Black Dog Films.
Unlike his father, Jake has taken a more niche route in his directorial career. He is more active in the making of music videos and commercials. Up his shelf are videos for bands and musicians such as The Strokes, The Supernaturals, R. E., The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and many more.
The 59-year-old director is also a married man who has been hooked to Leigh Goldston since 2015. Yes! He and his father got married in the same year.
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Luke Scott
Luke Scott was born on May 1, 1968, 3 years after his older brother. He has a reputation as a Film director and a second unit director for Exodus: Gods and Kings as well as The Martian. On those projects, he worked under his father, Ridley.
The British filmmaking protégé of Ridley Scott has also worked in TV as a commercial and Television director.
Luke’s first directorial feature film was Morgan which was released in 2016. Luke is currently 56 years old. Luke is also part of the RSA.
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Jordan Scott
46-year-old Jordan Scott is the last of producer, Ridley’s kids. She was born from his second marriage to Sandy Watson in 1978. Her parents were married for about a decade and got divorced when she was about 10 years old.
Just like with her brothers and father, Jordan is a director. She tried to escape this but no matter how hard she tried; she was still somehow drawn to directing. Everything she enjoyed doing propelled her toward this career path.
While growing up, her father severally advised her to take up some directorial role or another but she would always shy away from it.
She is an alumnus of South Hampstead High and started college which she dropped out of at the age of 18. She then moved to Pasadena, California to study Fine Art but also dropped out while in her second year.
It was at this point that she realized she no longer had the will to fight off her calling in production.
Her debut feature film is Cracks which was set in a remote 1930s boarding school on a fictional island.
Prior, when she was still a very young, 7-year-old girl, her father tricked her into acting as a stunt double in one of his movies back in the mid-80s. That’s her only role in front of the TV and she chose to remain behind the scenes like her father and brothers.
Aside from directing, Jordan is also a photographer. Pieces of evidence of this can be found in her father’s co-founded RSA company which Jordan also works at.
Jordan and her brothers are very close. According to her, their family is close-knit and she didn’t really feel any impact from her parents’ divorce.
Also, she doesn’t consider Jake and Luke as her stepbrothers because she basically grew up with them. They were well older than her but they still treated her well and lovingly.
As of 2012, Jordan was in a relationship with a fellow director named Carl Rinsch.
