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Roy Scheider

7/4

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February 11, 2008

Roy Scheider, Actor in 'Jaws,' Dies at 75

By

, a stage actor with a background in the classics who became one of the leading figures in the American film renaissance of the 1970s, died on Sunday afternoon in Little Rock, Ark. He was 75 and lived in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

Mr. Scheider had suffered from multiple myeloma for several years, and died of complications from a staph infection, his wife, Brenda Seimer, said.

Mr. Scheider's rangy figure, gaunt face and emotional openness made him particularly appealing in everyman roles, most famously as the agonized police chief of
's 1975 breakthrough hit, about a New England resort town haunted by the knowledge that a killer shark is preying on the local beaches.

Mr. Scheider conveyed an accelerated metabolism in movies like
(1971), his first major film role, in which he played a threatening pimp to
's New York call girl; and in
's "French Connection" (also 1971), as Buddy Russo, the slightly more restrained partner to
's marauding police detective, Popeye Doyle. That role earned Mr. Scheider the first of two Oscar nominations.

Born in 1932 in Orange, N.J., Mr. Scheider earned his distinctive broken nose in the New Jersey Diamond Gloves Competition. He studied at Rutgers and at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., where he graduated as a history major with the intention of going to law school. He served three years in the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. When he was discharged, he returned to Franklin and Marshall to star in a production of

His professional debut was as Mercutio in a 1961 New York Shakespeare Festival production of
While continuing to work onstage, he made his movie debut in
(1964),
a low-budget horror film by the prolific schlockmeister Del Tenney. "He had to bend his knees to die into a moat full of quicksand up in Connecticut," recalled Ms. Seimer, a documentary filmmaker. "He loved to demonstrate that."

In 1977 Mr. Scheider worked with Mr. Friedkin again in
a big-budget remake of
's 1953 French thriller,
about transporting a dangerous load of nitroglycerine in South America.

Offered a leading role in
(1979), Mr. Scheider had to turn it down in order to fulfill his contract with Universal for a sequel to "Jaws." (The part went to
.)

failed to recapture the appeal of the first film, but Mr. Scheider bounced back, accepting the principal role in
's autobiographical phantasmagoria of 1979,
Equipped with Mr. Fosse's Mephistophelean beard and manic drive, Mr. Scheider's character, Joe Gideon, gobbled amphetamines in an attempt to stage a new Broadway show while completing the editing of a film (and pursuing a parade of alluring young women) — a monumental act of self-abuse that leads to open-heart surgery. This won Mr. Scheider an Academy Award nomination in the best actor category. (
)
won that year, for

In 1980, Mr. Scheider returned to his first love, the stage, where his performance in a production of
's
opposite
and
earned him the Drama League of New York award for distinguished performance. Although he continued to be active in films, notably in
's
(1982) and John Badham's action spectacular
(1983), he moved from leading men to character roles, including an American spy in
's "Russia House" (1990) and a calculating Mafia don in
(1993).

One of the most memorable performances of his late career was as the sinister, wisecracking Dr. Benway in
's adaptation of
's
(1991).

Living in Sag Harbor, Mr. Scheider continued to appear in films and lend his voice to documentaries, becoming, Ms. Seimer said, increasingly politically active. With the poet Kathy Engle, he helped to found the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, dedicated to creating an innovative, culturally diverse learning environment for local children. At the time of his death, Mr. Scheider was involved in a project to build a film studio in Florence, Italy, for a series about the history of the Renaissance.

Besides his wife, his survivors include three children, Christian Verrier Scheider and Molly Mae Scheider, with Ms. Seimer, and Maximillia Connelly Lord, from an earlier marriage, to Cynthia Bebout; a brother, Glenn Scheider of Summit, N.J.; and two grandchildren.

Edited by 7/4
GA Russell Veteran

GA Russell

Posted
Posted

RIP. I enjoyed him in The Seven Ups, which was made on the heels of The French Connection, and was a movie built around a car chase. I felt the movie was better than what it was given credit for, and it was a doozy of a car chase!

Free For All Newbie

Free For All

Posted
Posted

RIP. I enjoyed him in The Seven Ups, which was made on the heels of The French Connection, and was a movie built around a car chase. I felt the movie was better than what it was given credit for, and it was a doozy of a car chase!

That was the first film that came to my mind. Loved it.

He was always an interesting & engaging personality, even in some of the less-than-great films he was in.

RIP.

(BTW, you can currently get Seven Ups for cheap over at Amazon)

Kalo Newbie

Kalo

Posted
Posted

Only on this forum would a thread headline identify Scheider as the actor who played Dr. Benway in Naked Lunch, rather than as the dude from Jaws.

I guess that's why I love it here.

zen archer Newbie

zen archer

Posted
Posted

The Seven Ups is a GREAT movie with a great car chase !...i remember seeing this at the cinema

back when it was released . Bought the DVD the day it came out .

Also don't forget his performance as Dustin Hoffmans brother in Marathon Man !

Dan Gould Mentor

Dan Gould

Posted
Posted

We need a bigger boat! ;)

RIP Roy... :(

This morning, in his memory, I recited a line from that film that, every time it is broadcast, I feel compelled to repeat:

"I'm not talking about pleasure boatin' or day sailin', chief. I'm talking about workin for a livin, I'm talkin' about sharkin'!"

I tell ya, its great fun, and its sad to hear that Roy Scheider has died.

AndrewHill Newbie

AndrewHill

Posted
Posted

Shocked to read this this morning. Besides Jaws I think I've only seen him in two other movies (All that Jazz and I think the French Connection) and I thought he did an excellent job in those. RIP.

BruceH Newbie

BruceH

Posted
Posted

RIP. I enjoyed him in The Seven Ups, which was made on the heels of The French Connection, and was a movie built around a car chase. I felt the movie was better than what it was given credit for, and it was a doozy of a car chase!

I too liked him in The Seven Ups. I always felt there was something very engaging about him. Maybe that distinctive long face helped. Very sorry to hear this news. RIP

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