Scott grew up in the entertainment world. His parents were Broadway actors and later his father wrote for TV shows. His father was Jewish and his mother Protestant, but Scott was brought up with no real religious influence. For a time, as a boy, the family lived in England. It was there, in school, that he was exposed to the Christian faith, through the Anglican Church. When they returned to America, he insisted that the family go to church. In college, Scott went through a classical great books program. Through the reading of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Cervantes, Shakespeare, etc., he was drawn to the universal truth found in the Catholic Church.