Maureen Prescott (née Roberts), played by Lynn McRee, is a deceased character who is referred to throughout the Scream franchise.
Maureen is the mother of Sidney Prescott and wife of Neil Prescott. She is murdered before the events of the Scream films. She conducted several extra-marital affairs, including those with Cotton Weary and Hank Loomis, the father of Billy Loomis.
Cotton was arrested and convicted of her murder. In Scream, a killer taunts Sidney on the phone about her mother's murder; this killer is later identified as Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis and his friend Stu Macher. Billy reveals that it was he and Stu who murdered Maureen and framed Cotton for it.
In Scream 3, the current Ghostface uses Maureen's synthesized voice and image to taunt Sidney and lure her out of hiding. The killer is unveiled as Roman Bridger, who reveals that he is Maureen's son and Sidney's half-brother. For a two-year period in her youth, before she met Sidney's father, Maureen had traveled to Hollywood to become an actress under the pseudonym Rina Reynolds. During this time she was impregnated with Roman by Hollywood producer John Milton, after being gang-raped. She then gave him up for adoption. When the adult Roman found her, she denied she had been Rina and rejected him. Roman then proceeded to film her affairs and showed the footage to Billy before convincing him to kill Maureen, starting the chain of events that occur throughout the Scream films.
Scream 4 introduces Maureen's sister Kate Roberts and her niece Jill Roberts.