SCHEIDER, Roy 1932(?)–
(Roy R. Scheider)

PERSONAL

Full name, Roy Richard Scheider; born November 10, 1932 (some sources cite 1935), in Orange, NJ; son of Roy Bernhard and Anna (maiden name, Crosson) Scheider; married Cynthia Eddenfield Bebout (a film editor), November 8, 1962 (divorced, 1989); married Brenda King (a documentary filmmaker and actress), 1989; children: (first marriage) Maximillia; (second marriage) Christian Verrier, Molly. Education: Franklin and Marshall College, B.A., 1955. Religion: Protestant.

Addresses: Agent —International Creative Management, 8942 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211. Manager —Brett Carella, The Lab, 5540 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 200, Hollywood, CA 90028.

Career: Actor. Actor with Lincoln Center Repertory Company and American Repertory Company. Appeared in television commercials. Co–owner of Joe Allen's Restaurants in Paris and Los Angeles. Competed as an amateur in the welterweight class, New Jersey Diamond Gloves boxing competition, 1951. Military service: U.S. Air Force, served as air traffic controller.

Member: Actors' Equity Association (member of council), Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Awards, Honors: Obie Award, Village Voice, 1968, for Stephen D.; Academy Award nomination, best supporting actor, 1972, for The French Connection; Distinguished Performance Award, Drama League of New York, 1980, for Betrayal; Academy Award nomination, best actor, 1980, Golden Globe Award nomination, best motion picture actor in a musical or comedy, 1980, and Film Award nomination, best actor, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1981, all for All That Jazz; Special Award, career achievement, ShoWest Convention, National Association of Theatre Owners, 1986; Independent Spirit Award nomination, best supporting male, Independent Features Project West, 1998, for The Myth of Fingerprints; Video Premiere Award nomination, best supporting actor, DVD Exclusive Awards, 2001, for Time Lapse; Bronze Wrangler Award, outstanding television feature film (with others), Western Heritage Awards, and Golden Satellite Award nomination, best supporting actor in a series, miniseries, or motion picture made for television, International Press Academy, both 2003, for King of Texas.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

(As Roy R. Scheider) Philip Sinclair, Curse of the Living Corpse, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1964.

Paper Lion, United Artists, 1968.

Star! (also known as Loves of a Star! and Those Were the Happy Times ), Twentieth Century–Fox, 1968.

Bennett, Stiletto, Avco Embassy, 1969.

Mark, Puzzle of a Downfall Child, Universal, 1970.

Frank Ligourin, Klute, Warner Bros., 1971.

Detective Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, The French Connection, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1971.

Skip, Loving, Paramount, 1972.

Michael Howard, L'attentat (also known as The French Conspiracy, Plot, Das Attentat, L'attentato, and Die Toedliche Falle/Die Affaere Sadiel ), Transinter Films, 1972.

Lenny, The Outside Man (also known as Funerale a Los Angeles and Un homme est mort ), United Artists, 1973.

Buddy Manucci, The Seven–Ups, Twentieth Century– Fox, 1973.

Sam Stoneman, Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York, Paramount, 1975.

Police Chief Martin Brody, Jaws, Universal, 1975.

La pelicula (also known as The Film ), 1975.

Henry David "Doc" Levy, Marathon Man, Paramount, 1976.

Jackie Scanlon/Dominguez, Sorcerer (also known as Wages of Fear ), Paramount/Universal, 1977.

Police Chief Martin Brody, Jaws II, Universal, 1978.

Harry Hannan, Last Embrace, United Artists, 1979.

Joe Gideon, All That Jazz, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1979.

Dr. Sam Rice, Still of the Night, Metro–Goldwyn– Mayer/United Artists, 1982.

In Our Hands, Almi Classics, 1983.

Frank Murphy, Blue Thunder (also known as Blue Thunder the Movie ), Columbia, 1983.

Dr. Heywood Floyd, 2010 (also known as 2010: The Year We Make Contact ), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1984.

Interviewee, Starring … the Actors (documentary), American Film Institute, 1984.

In Our Hands (documentary), Libra Cinema 5, 1984.

(Uncredited) 2010: The Odyssey Continues (short documentary), ZM Productions, 1984.

English narrator, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (documentary; also known as Mishima ), Warner Bros., 1985.

Harry Mitchell, 52 Pick–Up, Cannon, 1986.

Cavanaugh, The Men's Club, Paramount, 1986.

(Uncredited; in archive footage) Police Chief Martin Brody, Jaws: The Revenge, 1987.

Mike Seaver, Night Game, Trans World, 1989.

Cohen, Cohen and Tate, TriStar, 1989.

Charlie Nichols, Listen to Me, Columbia, 1989.

Colonel Jack Knowles, The Fourth War, Cannon, 1990.

Russell, The Russia House, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1990.

Dr. Benway, Naked Lunch, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1991.

Contact: The Yanomani Indians of Brazil (documentary), 1991.

Don Falcone, Romeo Is Bleeding, Gramercy, 1993.

The Films of John Frankenheimer (documentary), American Film Institute, 1995.

John Taggart, The Rage, Miramax, 1996.

Hal, The Myth of Fingerprints, Good Machine, 1997.

Eddie Jacobson, The Definite Maybe, DJM Films/Kaufman Astoria Studios, 1997.

Wilfred Keeley, The Rainmaker (also known as John Grisham's The Rainmaker ), Paramount, 1997.

Tom, Better Living, Goldheart Pictures, 1998.

The Uttmost (documentary), Clinica Estetico, 1998.

Lamont, The Doorway, New Concorde, 2000.

Stan Marshall, Daybreak (also known as Rapid Transit ), Off Track Productions, 2000.

Earl, Falling Through, Alliance Atlantis Communications, 2000.

Mayor Harry S. Porter, Angels Don't Sleep Here (also known as Backflash 2: Angels Don't Sleep Here ), Blockbuster Video, 2000.

Agent La Nova, Time Lapse, Trimark Video, 2001.

Colonel John Gartner, Texas 46 (also known as The Good War ), Bauer Martinez Films, 2002.

Narrator, Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines, Monarch Films, 2002.

Hassan, Red Serpent, Rex Media, 2002.

Fred, Love Thy Neighbor, New Concorde Home Entertainment, 2002.

Bull Tyler, Citizen Verdict, Bauer Martinez Studios, 2003.

Cardinal Siqueros, Dracula II: Ascension (also known as Wes Craven Presents Dracula II: Ascension ), Buena Vista Home Video, 2003.

A Decade under the Influence (documentary), IFC Films, 2003.

Cardinal Siqueros, Dracula III: Legacy, Dimension Films, 2004.

Mr. Castle, The Punisher, Columbia TriStar/Artisan Entertainment, 2004.

Red Light Runners, Entertainment Film Distributors, 2004.

Also appeared in Across the River and into the Trees and Mismatch.

Television Appearances; Series:

Jonas Falk, Love of Life, CBS, 1965–1966.

Bob Hill, The Secret Storm, CBS, 1967.

Captain Nathan Bridger, seaQuest DSV (also known as seaQuest 2032 ), NBC, 1993–1995.

Fyodor Chevchenko, a recurring role, Third Watch, NBC, 2002.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Host, Portrait of the Soviet Union, TBS, 1988.

Narrator, Race to Save the Planet (also known as State of the World ), PBS, 1990.

Peter Stride, Wild Justice (also known as Covert Assassin and Dial ), syndicated, 1993.

Host, Legends, Icons, and Superstars of the 20th Century, CBS, 1998.

Grant Schiller, The Seventh Scroll, 2001.

Jacobus Van der Byl, Diamond Hunters, syndicated, 2001.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Jake Webster, Assignment: Munich (also known as Munich—Assignment ), ABC, 1972.

Jacobo Timerman, Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number (also known as Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number ), NBC, 1983.

Billy Young, "Tiger Town," Disney Sunday Movie, ABC, 1986.

Paul Marish, Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture, HBO, 1990.

Alexander Senarkian, Plato's Run, HBO, 1997.

President Robert Baker, The Peacekeeper (also known as Hellbent and Red Zone ), HBO, 1997.

President Carlson, Executive Target, HBO, 1997.

Johnny Tobin, Money Plays, The Movie Channel, 1997.

Tom Heath, The White Raven, HBO, 1998.

John Rockwell, Silver Wolf, Fox Family Channel, 1999.

George Schaefer, RKO 281, HBO, 1999.

President Cahill, Chain of Command, HBO, 2000.

Henry Westover, King of Texas, TNT, 2002.

Television Appearances; Specials:

"Lamp at Midnight," George Schaefer's Showcase Theatre (also known as George Schaefer's Showcase Theatre: Lamp at Midnight ), 1966.

"To Be Young, Gifted and Black," N.E.T. Playhouse, PBS, 1972.

Narrator, "Follies in Concert," Great Performances, PBS, 1986.

George Babbitt, The Blessings of Liberty, ABC, 1987.

Narrator, Inside the Sexes, CBS, 1988.

"Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre," American Masters, PBS, 1989.

"Bob Fosse: Steam Heat" (also known as "Fosse, the Ultimate Showman"), Dance in America (also known as Great Performances ), PBS, 1990.

The Secrets of Dick Smith, 1991.

Voice, When It Was a Game, HBO, 1991.

Voice, When It Was a Game II, HBO, 1992.

This Is Your Life, NBC, 1993.

Narrator, "The Last African Flying Boat" (also known as "Africa: Flying the Imperial Way"), ABC's World of Discovery, ABC, 1993.

Host, Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects, NBC, 1994.

The American Film Institute Salute to Steven Spielberg (also known as The 23rd Annual American Film Institute Life Achievement Award: A Salute to Steven Spielberg ), NBC, 1995.

Narrator, "Joe Montana: The Fire Inside," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1995.

Narrator, Spy in the Sky, PBS, 1996.

Narrator, Coma, PBS, 1997.

"Evasive Action," Hallmark Hall of Fame, CBS, 1998.

Narrator, The World's Deadliest Sea Creatures, ABC, 1998.

Interviewee, Bob Fosse: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 1999.

Narrator, City of Steel: Carrier, The Discovery Channel, 1999.

Narrator, Secrets of the Dead, PBS, 2000.

Narrator, Lincoln's Secret Weapon, PBS, 2000.

Narrator, Hitler's Lost Sub, PBS, 2000.

The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing "The French Connection," 2000.

Interviewee, AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills: America's Most Heart–Pounding Movies, CBS, 2001.

Narrator, Nazi Prison Escape, PBS, 2001.

Interviewee, Making the Connection: Untold Stories of the French Connection, Fox Movie Channel, 2001.

Narrator, The Feds: U.S. Postal Inspectors, Part 1, The Discovery Channel, 2002.

Jaws: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 2002.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Kenny, The Edge of Night, 1962.

"A Charade for Murder," Coronet Blue, CBS, 1967.

Paul Jason, "Cry Brute," N.Y.P.D., ABC, 1968.

Dan Bowen, "No Pockets in a Shroud," Cannon, CBS, 1971.

Guest host, Saturday Night Live, NBC, 1985.

Guest, So Graham Norton, Channel 4 (England), 1999.

Also appeared in Hidden Faces, NBC; as Dr. Wheeler, Search for Tomorrow; and in Studio One, CBS.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

The 32nd Annual Tony Awards, 1978.

The 13th Annual CableACE Awards, TNT, 1992.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Captain Nathan Bridger, seaQuest DSV (also known as seaQuest 2032 ), NBC, 1993.

Stage Appearances:

Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet, New York Shakespeare Festival, New York City, 1961.

The Chinese Prime Minister, Broadway production, 1963.

The Alchemist, off–Broadway production, 1964.

Clerk and sergeant, Tartuffe, American National Theatre and Academy, Washington Square Theatre, New York City, 1965.

Sergeant Musgrave's Dance, Theatre de Lys (now Lucille Lortel Theatre), New York City, 1966.

Stephen D., off–Broadway production, 1968.

The Nuns, Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City, 1970.

Robert, Betrayal, Trafalgar Theatre, New York City, 1980.

Appeared in Richard III.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

The Making of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," Universal Home Video, 1995.

The Best of So Graham Norton, United Film and Television Productions, 2000.

Going the Distance: Remembering "Marathon Man," Paramount, 2001.

WRITINGS

Books:

(With Margery Beddow) Bob Fosse's Broadway, 1996.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 3: Actors and Actresses, St. James Press, 1996.

Kachmar, Diane, Roy Scheider: A Film Biography, McFarland and Co., 2002.

Periodicals:

Parade, January 31, 1999, p. 14.

SCHEIDER, Roy

Nationality: American. Born: Roy Richard Scheider in Orange, New Jersey, 10 November 1935. Education: Attended Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, B.A. 1955. Military Service: U.S. Air Force. Family: Married 1) Cynthia Eddenfield Bebout, 1962, one daughter; 2) Brenda King, one son, one daughter. Career: Member of the Lincoln Center Repertory Company; 1964—film debut in Curse of the Living Corpse; 1980—on Broadway in Betrayal; 1993–95—in TV series seaQuest DSV; 1993—in TV mini-series Wild Justice, and Leopold & Loeb, 1994.

Films as Actor:

1964

Curse of the Living Corpse (Tenney) (as Philip Sinclair)

1968

Paper Lion (March); Star! (Wise)

1969

Stiletto (Kowalski) (as Bennett)

1970

Loving (Kershner) (as Skip); Puzzle of a Downfall Child (Schatzberg) (as Mark)

1971

The French Connection (Friedkin) (as Buddy "Cloudy" Russo); Klute (Pakula) (as Frank Ligourin)

1972

Assignment Munich (Rich—for TV) (as Jake Webster)

1973

The Seven-Ups (D'Antoni) (as Buddy Manucci); Un Homme est morte (The Outside Man; Funerale a Los Angeles) (Deray) (as Lenny); L'Attendat (The French Conspiracy) (Boisset) (as Michael Howard)

1975

Jaws (Spielberg) (as Sheriff Martin Brody); Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (Furie) (as Sam Stoneham)

1976

Marathon Man (Schlesinger) (as Doc Levy)

1977

Sorcerer (Friedkin) (as Jackie Scanlon/"Juan Dominiguez")

1978

Jaws II (Szwarc) (as Sheriff Brody)

1979

Last Embrace (Jonathan Demme) (as Harry Hannan); All That Jazz (Fosse) (as Joe Gideon)

1982

Still of the Night (Benton) (as Sam Rice)

1983

Blue Thunder (Badham) (as Frank Murphy); Tiger Town (Shapiro) (as Billy Young); Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number (Yellen—for TV) (title role)

1984

2010 (Hyams) (as Heywood Floyd)

1985

Mishima (Schrader) (as narrator)

1986

The Men's Club (Medak) (as Cavanaugh); 52 Pick-Up (Frankenheimer) (as Harry Mitchell)

1988

Cohen and Tate (Red) (as Cohen)

1989

Night Game (Masterson) (as Mike Seaver); Listen to Me (Stewart) (as Charlie Nichols)

1990

The Fourth War (Frankenheimer) (as Colonel Jack Clark); The Russia House (Schepisi) (as Russell); Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture (Pierson—for TV) (as Paul Marish)

1991

Naked Lunch (Cronenberg) (as Dr. Benway); Contact: The Yahomani Indians of Brazil (doc)

1993

Romeo Is Bleeding (Medak) (as Don Falcone)

1994

Covert Assassin (as Col. Peter Stride)

1996

Myth of Fingerprints (Freundlich) (as Hal)

1997

Money Plays (Frank D. Gilroy—for TV) (as Johnny Tobin); Executive Target (Merhi) (as President Carlson); The Definite Maybe (Lobl, Sokolow) (as Eddie Jacobson); The Rainmaker (Coppola) (as Wilfred Keeley)

1998

The White Raven (Stevens) (as Tom Heath); Evasive Action (Jerry P. Jacobs); Better Living (Mayer) (as Tom/Tim)

1999

Silver Wolf (Svatek) (as John Rockwell); RKO 281 (Benjamin Ross—for TV) (as George Schaefer)

2000

Chain of Command; The Doorway; Falling Through

Publications

By SCHEIDER: articles—

Interview in Films Illustrated (London), January 1976.

Interview with James Cameron-Wilson, in Film Review (London), November 1980.

Interviews in Ecran Fantastique, July/August 1983 and April 1985.

Interview in Time Out (London), 14 March 1985.

On SCHEIDER: article—

Hamill, Pete, "Recognizing Roy Scheider," in New York, 23 May 1983.

Roy Scheider's career is marked by variety and diversity, but it has not been varied by degrees. Instead, Roy Scheider characters can always be seen at the extremes. He is at once the heroic, everyman, Sheriff Martin Brody in Jaws and Jaws II and Frank, the sadistic pimp in Klute. On both counts, at whatever end of the character spectrum he operates, he is always believable, and most importantly, accessible.

The best way to visualize the extremes in Scheider's long film career is to look at the year 1971. In that year he had roles in two Academy Award-winning motion pictures. In Klute he played Jane Fonda's pimp Frank, a necessarily small, seedy character from whose lips syrupy wooing and brutal epithets flow with equal credibility. Later that year, Scheider got what was to become perhaps his breakthrough role. As Buddy Russo, Gene "Popeye Doyle" Hackman's partner in The French Connection, he was the ideal, play-it-by-the-book offset to Hackman's obsessive Doyle.

Scheider's most memorable role, and subsequently his most marketable persona, is that of Sheriff Martin Brody in Jaws. Brody is the perfect commoner's hero: a former New York cop, who is afraid of the water, but lives and works on a small resort island. Brody himself wittily underscores this fact saying, "It's only an island if you're looking at it from out there [the water]." Brody, like so many later Scheider characters—the mild-mannered psychiatrist in The Still of the Night or the daring copter pilot in Blue Thunder—must rise above his personal limitations or hang-ups to overcome an adversary seemingly much better prepared. The task of these characters is made harder by the fact that they are also outsiders. But Scheider has worked his way up the ranks (i.e., "paid his dues" as an actor—anyone who has seen the low-budget Curse of the Living Corpse will agree), and been a tough guy in real life (Golden Gloves boxer in high school). These factors have helped bring a special kind of realism to his roles.

A less visible aspect of Scheider's career, but one that is just as significant, is the number of times he has played against his usual persona. In films such as William Friedkin's Sorceror, Scheider finds characters that seem to have no precedent in his prolific past. All That Jazz is the best example of how Scheider has willingly taken career chances. In the film, which Bob Fosse loosely based on his own self-destructive lifestyle, Scheider plays a famed choreographer/filmmaker named Joe Gideon. As such, he must dance, sing, and most importantly, develop a character that is credible within such a world. Scheider did an excellent job of making Gideon a three-dimensional character, managing to create a sympathetic side to a self-indulgent womanizer. His performance earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Among other things, Scheider has been fortunate enough to have worked with the major directorial talents of the last two decades: Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, Robert Benton, Alan J. Pakula, and Bob Fosse. It is also, decidedly, a tribute to Roy Scheider's talents that the foremost names continue to want to work with him.

—Rob Winning, updated by Linda J. Stewart

Scheider, Roy 1932-2008

PERSONAL

Full name, Roy Richard Scheider; born November 10, 1932, in Orange, NJ; died of complications from multiple myeloma, February 10, 2008, in Little Rock, AR. Actor. Twice nominated for an Academy Award, Scheider was best known for his role as an earnest police chief trying to save his small New England town from a marauding shark in the 1975 blockbuster hit Jaws. A boxer and athlete as a young man, Scheider turned from sports toward the theatre and began taking acting classes in college. After serving three years in the U.S. Air Force, Scheider returned to acting, making his debut at the New York Shakespeare Festival and shortly thereafter winning an Obie Award for his performance in the play Stephen D. A string of small roles in films soon followed. In 1971 Scheider earned his first major film role, playing opposite Jane Fonda in Klute. That year he also starred with Gene Hackman as a police detective in the thriller The French Connection, a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination. Scheider followed this with his star-making performance in Jaws, after which he appeared in Marathon Man and Jaws II. In 1979 Scheider won further acclaim for his starring role as Joe Gideon in All That Jazz, the semiautobiographical story of director and choreographer Bob Fosse. For that performance Scheider was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award. In 1980 he returned to the theatre in a staging of Harold Pinter's Betrayal and won a Drama League Award for distinguished performance. Although Scheider continued to appear in films in his later career, he turned from leading man to smaller character parts, most notably in Still of the Night, Blue Thunder, Russia House, Romeo Is Bleeding, and The Myth of Fingerprints. Scheider also narrated a number of documentaries and television specials.

PERIODICALS

New York Times, February 11, 2008.

People Weekly, February 10, 2008.