Which actor played General George S. Patton in the 1970 film Patton?

George C. Scott played General George S. Patton in the 1970 film Patton.

The biographical war film covers Patton’s career during the Second World War, including the North African campaign, the invasion of Sicily, his temporary removal from command, and his role in the liberation of Europe. Scott’s performance presents Patton as an exceptionally capable but abrasive commander whose ambition and bluntness repeatedly create political problems.

Franklin J. Schaffner directed the film from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North. The screenplay drew on Ladislas Farago’s biography Patton: Ordeal and Triumph and General Omar Bradley’s memoir A Soldier’s Story.

Patton won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Scott declined the Best Actor Oscar, becoming the first performer to refuse the award. The film opens with Patton addressing troops before a huge American flag, a scene that became central to its identity even though the speech was created for the film.