Scott MacDonough, a veteran unit publicist who worked on films including Annie Hall, Norma Rae and Diner, died Tuesday at his home in New York, his family announced. He was 81.
MacDonough did publicity for Woody Allen’s The Front (1976), Annie Hall (1977), Interiors (1978) and Manhattan (1979) and for the Martin Ritt-directed movies Conrack (1974), Casey’s Shadow (1978), Norma Rae (1979), Back Roads (1981) and Stanley & Iris (1990).
In interviews, Kevin Bacon has given MacDonough credit for helping get Barry Levinson’s Diner (1982) released after the film tested poorly and was put on a shelf at MGM/UA.
Scott Pearsall MacDonough was born on May 15, 1944, in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. When he was 3, he and his sister, Jill, moved with their parents, Dorothy and Jack, to Maplewood, New Jersey, where he would attend Columbia High School.
After graduating from Middlebury College and earning his master’s degree in American Literature from Columbia University, MacDonough began his career as a writer for film and television publications before becoming a unit publicist.
His publicity credits included The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970), 40 Carats (1973), Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973), Ciao maschio (1978), Chapter Two (1979), Gordon Willis’ Windows (1980), Robert Altman’s Streamers (1983) and The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988).
He was a unit publicist from 1970-90, with a lot of that time spent at MGM/UA.
“He will be remembered for his encyclopedic knowledge of movies, his skilled writing and his incredible sense of humor,” his family noted.
In addition to his sister, survivors include his nephew, Chris, and his niece, Noelle. Funeral services will be private.