Scott Ruffalo biography: early life, family, death investigation and mystery

Who is Scott Ruffalo and how did he die? He was a renowned hairstylist and the brother of popular film star Mark Ruffalo. Besides being famous for having a celebrity sibling, Scott made the news in 2008 after he allegedly killed himself. However, his death was later said to have remained unsolved and there are other details about this tragedy that we will reveal as we go along.

In this article, we will go into details of Scott Ruffalo’s death as well as other facts about his life and family. We will also briefly look at facts about Scott Ruffalo. To commence, we start with a summary of the most important details about the less-popular Ruffalo brother.

Ten facts about Scott Ruffalo

1. He was born on 1 February 1969 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. His father, Lawrence Ruffalo Jr., worked as a construction painter while his mother, Marie Rose (née Hébert), is a hairdresser and stylist.
2. Scott Ruffalo is the younger brother of Avengers’ star Mark Ruffalo and he also has two sisters named Tania and Nicole.
3. He graduated from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and later completed his diploma in hairdressing from the Los Angeles University before he earned a verified license in Cosmetology.
4. Scott had fallen in love with styling and hairdressing from his mother at an early age and had always wanted to become a professional and own his own shop even when he was a teenager.
5. He worked as a hairstylist in several salons in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Later, he worked at Guiseppe Franco Salon; an outlet that is patronized by some of the biggest celebrities in America.
6. In 2001, he founded his own salon called the Ruff Inc. and worked with several well-known celebrities.
7. Scott Ruffalo was found with a gunshot wound at the back of his head in December 2008 and he died one week later after the medical team failed to save him.
8. While his death was initially ruled as a suicide, the coroner’s report allegedly proved that the angle of entry of the bullet meant that he could not have shot himself. Thus, the police said it was a homicide.
9. The key witness in the Ruffalo homicide case was a Saudi woman named Shaha Mishaal Adham who claimed to have walked in time to see him shoot himself just after he mentioned something about “Russian roulette”. She later died in 2012 of a suspected drug overdose.
10. He was married to Luzelena Ruffalo and he had adopted her daughter from a previous relationship, Lucinda.

Also read: The horror Satanist: Pazuzu Algarad bio, crime scenes, arrests and more

Family background, early life and education

Scott Ruffalo was born on 1 February 1969 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. His father, Lawrence Ruffalo Jr., worked as a construction painter while his mother, Marie Rose (née Hébert), is a hairdresser and stylist.

He grew up with his older brother, Mark Ruffalo and his two sisters Tania and Nicole. Ruffalo’s father is of Italian descent, originally from the Girifalco town and his mother is of French Canadian descent.

He graduated from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Later, the Ruffalo family moved to different cities in California including San Diego, California and then Los Angeles. During this time, while his brother took acting classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory, Scott picked interest in his mother’s hairstyling business. Here are some facts about his popular brother.

Mark Ruffalo Wiki

The popular actor was born in 1967 and was two years older than Scott. As a child and young adult, Mark said that he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD. However, this did not prevent them from having what he described as a happy childhood.

Mark Ruffalo started acting in the 1990s and first became known in the 1998 play “This Is Our Youth” and 2000 film “You Can Count On Me”. His comedy roles on “13 Going on 30” in 2004 and “Just like Heaven” in 2005 gave his career a massive boost.

In “Shutter Island” (2010), the actor proved that he could deliver impressive performances on both comedy and thriller roles. It was his playing Bruce Banner/Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that gave him international fame.

He has appeared as the fictional superhero in Marvel films such as The Avengers (2012), a cameo in Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), a cameo in Captain Marvel (2019), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Ruffalo has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a TV Movie, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie as well as Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor – Limited Series or Television Film.

You may also like: Jeff Wahlberg biography: early life, Wahlberg family background, career and personal life

Mark Ruffalo’s brain tumor diagnosis became public in the year 2000 and he underwent surgery to remove it. While the tumor was believed to be benign, the process of removing the acoustic neuroma cancer growth caused partial facial paralysis and loss of hearing. The actor recovered from the paralysis within a year but became permanently deaf in his left ear. He has three children – Keen Ruffalo, Bella Noche Ruffalo, and Odette Ruffalo – with his wife of over twenty years, Sunrise Coigney.

Not much is known about Scott’s two sisters, they appear to be living a quiet life that is different from the kind their brothers lead.

Career

Likely, Scott Ruffalo had started practicing hairstyling in his mother’s salon at a young age. He and Mark moved to Los Angeles into a $600-a-month apartment by MacArthur Park to pursue their respective careers.

When he came of age, Scott worked as a hairstylist in several salons in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Later, he worked at Guiseppe Franco Salon; an outlet that is patronized by some of the biggest celebrities including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Johnny Depp, Drew Barrymore, Jackie Chan, the cast of Lord Of The Rings and others. You can see a list of the salon’s clientele here.

He also completed his diploma in hairdressing from Los Angeles University before he earned a verified license in Cosmetology. This license means that he studied beauty treatments, including hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, and permanent or non-permanent hair removal. Here is a brief look at his career.

After gathering sufficient experience and earning a license to practice, he founded his own salon called the Ruff Inc. in 2001. He worked with several well-known celebrities, although we could not obtain the name of any. Additionally, his hairstyling business was successful and popular in Beverly Hills.

How did Scott Ruffalo die?

According to a New York Post report, Scott Ruffalo was found with a gunshot wound at the back of his head in December 2008. Ruffalo was 39 at the time and the police confirmed that the incident had taken place at midnight.

After the news broke, Mark Ruffalo traveled to be with his younger brother. He was hospitalized for one week but the medical team could not save him and he eventually passed away from his wounds. Here are some of the facts from the case.

Facts and details from Scott Ruffalo death

During the investigation of his death, Beverly Hills police found that a woman named Shaha Mishaal Adham had been present in his room at the time of the incident. She was the daughter of a wealthy Saudi businessman.

In her statement, obtained by the press, Adham claimed that she had just arrived at Scott’s apartment when she saw him shoot himself.

She had allegedly been there to collect the key to her car which Ruffalo had borrowed some days before and walked in time to see him shoot himself. He had mentioned something about “Russian roulette”, according to her. It was her lover Brian Scofield that alerted 911 operators about the incident.

While both Adham and Scofield were initially taken in for questioning, they were released because there was no solid evidence to implicate them.

Shaha Mishaal Adham herself died four years after Ruffalo, in 2012, of what was suspected to be a fatal drug overdose. The sources did not reveal what type of drug she had overdosed on.

Murder or suicide?

There have been hints that Scott Ruffalo was murdered in the media coverage of his death. Many reports used the term ‘execution-style’ shooting when describing the cause of his death. The coroner’s report also allegedly proved that the angle of entry of the bullet meant that he could not have shot himself.

Also, in July 2009, the LA Times Homicide blog revealed that Robbery-Homicide Sgt. Michael Publicker said his department is continuing to investigate Ruffalo’s death as a homicide.

However, after Adham’s death, the investigation has not been mentioned again in the news since then. It remains unresolved to this day.

See also: The unsolved case of Destiny Harrison homicide and murder in Baltimore

Personal life

At the time of his death, Ruffalo was married to Luzelena Ruffalo and he had adopted her daughter from a previous relationship, Lucinda. However, he did not live with Luzelena and there were unconfirmed claims that he was living with another woman who was possibly his girlfriend.

Additionally, he was said to have been addicted to drugs and alcohol. It had led him to have a confrontation with the law in April 2002 when he was convicted of a felony charge for ownership of a controlled substance for sale.

In a statement describing his personality, Scott’s accountant James Leger said; “He is well-liked by everybody and knows everyone in Beverly Hills. He was a guy who really wanted to do things right, as far as I was concerned. He is one of the easiest clients I have. He’s 100 percent above board and would go overboard to make sure everything is done right.”

I Know This Much Is True (2020)

In 2020, Mark Ruffalo starred in an American drama television miniseries titled “I Know This Much Is True”. He played two roles, identical twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey. For his role in the series, Ruffalo Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor – Limited Series or Television Film.

During an interview with the Daily Telegraph in May 2020, the actor mentioned that his late brother Scott influenced his acting in the series. “I’m the type of actor that likes to draw on my experiences, and my brother will always be a big part of that,” he said.

Conclusion

Scott Ruffalo’s death remains an unsolved homicide case to this day with a lot of sketchy details surrounding it. His family has since made peace with the fact that the details may never be as firmly established as possible and they have moved on cherishing his memories and moments.

As Mark Ruffalo’s brother, Scott was seen as his ‘friend’ by people who personally knew them. Thus, his death must have taken a toll on the popular actor as well. This may be why as he said, the late Scott kept influencing his acting.

The hairstyling genius had gone on to build an impressive brand as well as become successful in his field, which is something he had dreamed of as a child watching his own mother at work. His friends and family will always remember him as a ‘beautiful’ person.