Editing Stone Phillips (section)

==Early life==
Phillips was born December 2, 1954, in [[Texas City, Texas]], to parents Victor and Grace Phillips, a [[Monsanto]] chemical engineer and school teacher, respectively.<ref name="Riggs">{{cite book |last=Riggs |first=Thomas |title=Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television |volume=55 |year=2004 |publisher=Cengage Gale |isbn=9780787670986 |page=233 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XVFAQAAIAAJ&q=%22full+name:+stone+stockton+phillips%22|access-date=May 1, 2021|archive-date=September 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925084920/https://books.google.com/books?id=1XVFAQAAIAAJ&q=%22full+name:+stone+stockton+phillips%22|url-status=live}}</ref> Victor Phillips is a veteran of [[World War II]].<ref name=Parents/> Phillips and his siblings—brother Victor III and sister Minta—were raised in the Claymont section of [[Ballwin, Missouri|Ballwin]], Missouri, in the [[Greater St. Louis]] area.<ref name=Parents/>

As a boy Phillips was an [[acolyte]] at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in [[Ellisville, Missouri]], where his parents were founding members of the congregation.<ref name="Parents">{{cite web |last=Palermo |first=Gregg |url=http://ballwin-ellisville.patch.com/groups/arts-and-entertainment/p/stone-phillips-documentary-chronicles-care-for-his-parents |title=Stone Phillips documentary chronicles care for his parents |website=Ballwin-Ellisville Patch online newspaper |date=May 8, 2013|access-date=September 14, 2013|archive-date=September 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905172137/http://ballwin-ellisville.patch.com/groups/arts-and-entertainment/p/stone-phillips-documentary-chronicles-care-for-his-parents|url-status=live}}</ref> Phillips attended [[Parkway West High School (Ballwin, Missouri)|Parkway West High School]] in [[Ballwin, Missouri]], where he was an honor student and starting quarterback on the football team.<ref name="Legends">{{cite book |last=Brown |first=John W. |title=Missouri Legends: Famous people from the Show-Me State |year=2008 |publisher=Reedy Press |pages=215–216 |location=St. Louis |isbn=9781933370286}}</ref> Phillips is of [[Scottish Americans|Scottish]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stenhouse |first1=David |title=The Tartan Spangled Banner |url=http://archives.wbur.org/insideout/documentaries/tartan/synops.php.html|access-date=December 31, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101001253/http://archives.wbur.org/insideout/documentaries/tartan/synops.php.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Stenhouse |first1=David |title=The Tartan Spangled Banner (Listen) |url=http://archives.wbur.org/insideout/documentaries/tartan/listen.php.html|access-date=December 31, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101001102/http://archives.wbur.org/insideout/documentaries/tartan/listen.php.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Phillips matriculated at [[Yale University]] where he continued to excel in academics and in athletics. In 1976, he was starting quarterback for the Yale Bulldogs squad that won the [[Ivy League]] football championship.<ref name=Legends/> Phillips was a member of Yale's [[Scroll and Key]] [[Collegiate secret societies in North America|secret society]] and earned the university's prestigious F. Gordon Brown Award for outstanding academic and athletic leadership.<ref name=Legends/><ref name=NBCNews>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3949454 |title=NBC Dateline |website=[[NBC News]] |year=2013|access-date=September 11, 2013|archive-date=September 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925001107/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3949454|url-status=live}}</ref> Phillips graduated with honors from Yale in 1977, earning a [[Bachelor of Philosophy]].<ref name=Legends/>