She played Charlton Heston's mother twice, in Ben-Hur (1959) and The Ten Commandments (1956), and his wife twice on stage.
She was offered the role of Mary Hatch Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) after Jean Arthur turned it down, but she also declined the part. Donna Reed was cast instead, and it became one of her most famous performances.
Unusually, despite being an Academy member and a former nominee in 1940, she was not part of the Memorial Tribute at the 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004).
She earned a bachelor's degree in drama from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan (1934).
She had previously played Charlton Heston's wife in a lesser-known period drama, "Design for a Stained-Glass Window". When the original actress was fired, she was hired for Ben-Hur (1959) on Heston's recommendation. A similar situation arose a few years later when Heston was to appear in the play "The Tumbler". The actress hired to play his wife was fired, and Heston again recommended Scott. "I could vouch for her absolutely, both as actress and pro," he said in his memoir.
On April 23, 1993, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Live Theatre category at 6126 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
In 1968, they formed a partnership with actors Robert Ryan and Henry Fonda. In New York, they founded the Plumstead Playhouse theatre production company, later known as the Plumstead Theatre Society. They co-produced the Broadway production of "First Monday in October", starring Fonda and Jane Alexander, as well as the film version (First Monday in October (1981)) with Walter Matthau and Jill Clayburgh. It also produced the L.A. production of "Twelve Angry Men" in 1985.
Although she played John Carradine's mother in The Ten Commandments (1956), in real life she was six years younger than him.
Her mother, Letha McKinley Scott, was a second cousin of President William McKinley.
She was a very active member of both the Hollywood Democratic Committee and the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, and throughout her life she donated her time and money to many liberal causes (such as the founding of the United Nations and the Civil Rights Movement) and political candidates (including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Al Gore).
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1934 with a bachelor's degree in drama, she appeared in William Shakespeare's plays at the 1933-1934 Chicago World's Fair before coming to New York.
She was under the protection of her second husband, Benny Goodman, and singer Peggy Lee was the godmother of their first daughter.
She appeared in six Oscar Best Picture nominees: Our Town (1940), One Foot in Heaven (1941), The Ten Commandments (1956), Sayonara (1957), Ben-Hur (1959) and The Turning Point (1977). Ben-Hur was the only winner.
Martha Ellen Scott died on May 28, 2003, four months after the date that would have been her 91st birthday, September 22.
Her first husband, Carlton Alsop, was a radio and film producer. She had a son named Carleton Scott Alsop, and later had two daughters, Mary and Kathleen, with her second husband, composer Mel Powell.
She was the second actress in the Broadway role of "Emily Webb" after the original cast was dropped by producer/director Jed Harris because she did not make a difficult transition in the character after Emily dies in childbirth. This role made Martha a theatre star. Ironically, when she took on her own role in the film, the final act was rewritten to include a happier ending in which Emily does not die. This was a very bad decision on the part of the producers, and because of this almost disrespectful flaw, the film version of Our Town (1940), beautifully crafted and interpreted as it is, is not regarded as the classic it should be.
Her first husband, Carlton Alsop, was previously married to another film star, Sylvia Sidney.
She was survived by her brother Charles Scott, her son Carleton Scott Alsop and her two daughters Mary Powell Harper and Kathleen Powell.
After her death, she was buried next to her husband Mel Powell in Mason Cemetery in Jamesport, Missouri.
Although she played Charlton Heston's mother in The Ten Commandments (1956) and Ben-Hur (1959), in real life she was only eleven years older than him.
Although she played Olive Deering's mother in The Ten Commandments (1956), in real life she was only six years older than her.
She was a member of the Delta Gamma women's fraternity (Xi-Michigan chapter).