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Roy ScheiderAdd to My CelebsAge 75 (passed away Feb. 10th, 2008) Birthday Nov. 10th, 1932 Born in Orange, New Jersey, USA Height 5' 9" |
Roy Scheider's Main TV Roles
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Main Movie Roles2007 - Chicago 102004 - The Punisher 2003 - A Decade Under the Influence 1998 - Evasive Action 1997 - The Rainmaker 1991 - Naked Lunch 1990 - The Russia House 1988 - Cohen and Tate 1987 - Jaws: The Revenge 1986 - 52 Pick-Up 1985 - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters 1984 - 2010: The Year We Make Contact 1984 - Terror in the Aisles 1983 - Blue Thunder 1982 - Still of the Night 1979 - Last Embrace 1979 - All That Jazz 1978 - Jaws 2 1977 - Sorcerer 1976 - Marathon Man 1975 - Jaws 1973 - The Seven-Ups 1972 - Un homme est mort 1971 - The French Connection 1971 - Klute 1964 - The Curse of the Living Corpse |
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB
Lean, angular-faced and authoritatively spoken lead / supporting actor Roy Scheider obviously never heard the old actor's axiom about "never appearing with kids or animals" lest they overshadow your performance. Breaking that rule did him no harm, though, as he achieved pop cult status by finding, fighting and blowing up a 25-foot-long Great White shark (nicknamed "Bruce") in the mega-hit Jaws (1975) and then electrocuting an even bigger Great White in the vastly inferior Jaws 2 (1978).
Athletic Scheider was born in November 1932 in Orange, New Jersey, and was a keen sportsman from a young age, competing in baseball and boxing (his awkwardly mended broken nose is a result of his foray into Golden Gloves competitions). While at college, his pursuits turned from sports to theater and he studied drama at Rutgers and Franklin and Marshall. After a stint in the military, Scheider appeared with the New York Shakespeare Festival and won an "Obie Award" for his appearance in the play "Stephen D."
His film career commenced with the campy Z-grade horror cheesefest The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964), and he then showed up in Star! (1968), Paper Lion (1968), Stiletto (1969) and Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970). In 1971 he really came to the attention of film audiences with his role in the Jane Fonda thriller Klute (1971) and then as Det. Buddy Russo (scoring his first Oscar nomination) alongside fiery Gene Hackman in the crime drama The French Connection (1971). His performance as a tough street cop in that film led him into another tough cop role as NYC Det. Buddy Manucci in the underappreciated The Seven-Ups (1973), which features one of the best car chase sequences ever put on film.
In the early 1970s the Peter Benchley novel "Jaws" was a phenomenal best-seller, and young director Steven Spielberg was chosen by Universal Pictures to direct the film adaptation, Jaws (1975), in which Scheider played police chief Brody and shared lead billing with Robert Shaw (I) and Richard Dreyfuss in the tale of a New England seaside community terrorized by a hungry Great White shark. "Jaws" was a blockbuster, and for many years held the record as the highest-grossing film of all time. Scheider then turned up as the shady CIA agent brother of Dustin Hoffman in the unnerving Marathon Man (1976) and in the misfired William Friedkin (I)-directed remake of Le salaire de la peur (1953) titled Sorcerer (1977), before again returning to Amity to battle another giant shark in Jaws 2 (1978). Seeking a change from tough cops and hungry sharks, he took the role of womanizing, drug-popping choreographer Joe Gideon, the lead character of the semi-autobiographical portrayal of director Bob Fosse in the sparkling All That Jazz (1979). It was another big hit for Scheider (and another Oscar nomination), with the film featuring a stunning opening sequence to the tune of the funky George Benson (I) number "On Broadway", and breathtaking dance routines including the "Airotica" performance by the glamorous Sandahl Bergman.
Returning to another law enforcement role, Scheider played a rebellious helicopter pilot in the John Badham conspiracy / action film Blue Thunder (1983), a scientist in the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) simply titled 2010 (1984), a cheating husband who turns the tables on his blackmailers in 52 Pick-Up (1986), a cold-blooded hit man in Cohen and Tate (1988) and a CIA operative in the muddled and slow-moving The Russia House (1990). The versatile Scheider was then cast as the captain of a futuristic submarine in the relatively popular TV series "SeaQuest DSV" (1993), which ran for three seasons.
Inexplicably, however, Scheider had seemingly, and slowly, dropped out of favor with mainstream film audiences, and while he continued to remain busy, predominantly in supporting roles (generally as US presidents or military officers), most of the vehicles he appeared in were B-grade political thrillers such as The Peacekeeper (1997), Executive Target (1997), Chain of Command (2000) and Red Serpent (2002).
TRIVIA:
- On March 4, 2007, Scheider was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University, following a screening of his classic film _All That Jazz (1979)_ (qv). It was the sixth time that Scheider had seen the film, and the first time for his young daughter, Molly, who accompanied him.
- He is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
- Was in talks to appear in _The Verdict (1982)_ (qv).
- His wife, Brenda Seimer, saved the old Art Deco Sag Harbor, Maine, movie marquee when the owner of the theater was renovating the building, and just tore it down and threw it out. She was threatened with arrest for stealing the sign. Scheider helped organize a community fundraising drive to re-create it, and the theater owner put it back in place.
- Attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, home of future graduates 'Elisabeth Shue' (qv) and 'Andrew Shue' (qv), 'Zach Braff' (qv), 'Lauryn Hill' (qv), and 'Ahmed Best' (qv).
- Has played the President of the United States 3 times.
- He was originally cast as "Michael" in _The Deer Hunter (1978)_ (qv), as the second movie of a three movie deal with Universal Studios. Because he did not believe that the character would travel around the world to find his friend, he quit the picture. Universal executives were furious, but they agreed to let him out of his Universal contract if he made _Jaws 2 (1978)_ (qv), which he did. He later regarded pulling out of _The Deer Hunter (1978)_ (qv) as the career decision he most regrets.
- Had two grandchildren.
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