Roy Scheider, Actor in ‘Jaws,’ Dies at 75

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: NY Times

Roy Scheider, 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 “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg’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 “Klute” (1971), his first major film role, in which he played a threatening pimp to Jane Fonda’s New York call girl; and in William Friedkin’s “French Connection” (also 1971), as Buddy Russo, the slightly more restrained partner to Gene Hackman’s marauding police detective, Popeye Doyle. That role earned Mr. Scheider the first of two Oscar nominations.

More at link...

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/movies/11scheider.html?hp

---

[Bicoastal]

1. Roy! Nooooo!

RIP, Mr. Scheider.

[Maddy McCall]

2. Awww. RIP, Roy.

:(

[Redstone]

3. Oh, damn. I liked him. Go easy, Mr Scheider.

Redstone

[Penndems]

4. OMG, what a shock this is

What a fine actor he was. I enjoyed Mr. Scheider's work, particular in "Klute" and most definitely in "Jaws". Wow - hard to believe that's been over thirty years ago.

RIP, Roy. Thanks for the joy and pleasure your acting gave to us.

***********************************************************



"You're gonna need a bigger boat."








(edited to add photo)

[roguevalley]

28. He was great in French Connection. Perfect foil. This is sad.

[Penndems]

29. He WAS great in "French Connection". Thanks, I'd forgotten about that.

n/t

[Blue_Tires]

41. very sad

The French Connection was one of my alltime faves

[AlCzervik]

5. Oh no!!!

omg i'm so sad to hear to this.

[lost-in-nj]

6. Crap

We're gonna need a bigger boat......


he was awesome


:cry:



lost

[yourout]

7. He was also in 2010 the sequel to 2001 A Space Odessy and Sequest DSV.

Time to rent one of his movies.

[krispos42]

8. Oh no, Chief Brody died...

Rest in piece, Mr. Schieder, rest in peace.

[msongs]

9. MISTER Jaws, that is. stay out of the water. sad nt

[DS1]

10. I liked that guy

[gateley]

11. Sad news. He gave us some wonderful memories. RIP. nt

[Donnachaidh]

12. I'd rather remember him for "All That Jazz" or "2001" than "Jaws"

RIP Roy.

[murielm99]

55. I agree with you.

He was wonderful in "All That Jazz."

RIP

[Dukkha]

57. he wasn't in 2001

just 2010: The Year We Make Contact. His character Dr. Heywood Floyd was played by William Sylvester on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
He was great in 2010 a fine sequel and his screen presence with Keir Dullea as Dave was quite memorable.

[endarkenment]

65. His performance in Jazz was a lifetime achievement.

That was a wonderful movie and he was simply at the peak of his abilities in a vehicle that made him shine.

[Vanje]

13. I feel like I grew up with him

Goodnight sweet fellow

[MikeNearMcChord]

14. I was just watching his performance in the movie All That Jazz

Here it is. RIP Joe Gideon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNcl0L7eJUY

[tainted_chimp]

21. ...

posted that just as you did!

One of my all time favorite films.

So sad.

[MikeNearMcChord]

34. Great minds think alike!! But yes it is sad to see this great character

actor go! And yes I liked him in Blue Thunder too!

[Warpy]

23. One of my favorite films

and nobody but Scheider could have played the lead. He's the only one who could sell both the reality and the fantasy sequences.

RIP.

[tainted_chimp]

15. Aw shit...... R.I.P. "Joe Gideon"

Cant help but to think of the brilliant finale to 'All That Jazz'

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bNcl0L7eJUY


:cry:

[Drum]

16. R.I.P., Roy, and thank you.

(I also recall that RS played Dustin Hoffman's big brother in "Marathon Man".)

[thereismore]

17. The Sorcerer. Enough said. nt

[salinen]

46. What a great flic

remake of an older French film.

[Strelnikov_]

56. A classic n/t

[Divernan]

66. Rent both "Wages of Fear" (53) & remake, "Sorcerer" (77)

For a truly edge of your seat evening of cinema, rent both "Wages of Fear" (France, 1953, starring Yves Montand) and the 1970's remake, "Sorcerer". The NYT critic said of Wages of Fear, it has one of the best extended suspense sequences of all time - "you sit there waiting for the theater to explode".
The plot: 4 desperate men are hired by (need-I-say-evil?) Big Oil to drive 2 trucks packed with nitroglycerine through a South American jungle to put out an oil well fire. Sorcerer was a critical success but box office failure, in part because it was released the same time as "Star Wars".

RIP, Mr. Scheider. Jaws kept me out of the ocean from the day I saw it until I took up scuba diving in 2000. I've seen a lot of sharks underwater. My safety rule: always keep one other diver between me and the shark.

[Mist]

18. Be at peace, Roy. I especially liked him in "Last Embrace." nt

[NewYorkerfromMass]

19. Condolences to his family

I met Roy and his family two years ago and he was not doing well then. His two daughters from his current marriage to Brenda Seimer are fairly young and they are sadly losing their father far too soon.

[JerseygirlCT]

75. I knew (briefly) his older daughter many years ago

And am thinking of her today. How sad.

[MrSlayer]

20. "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

R.I.P. to a good actor.

[yourout]

22. A classic line from a classic movie.

[Swagman]

52. never forgotten that line..vale Roy

[Divernan]

64. "That's a bad hat, Harry!"

nt

[Cleita]

24. Condolences to his family.

My mother died from complications of the same wicked disease.

[Cirque du So-What]

25. Mr. Schneider was also a signatory to Drop the Rock

A powerful array of individuals and organizations throughout New York State is working vigorously on DROP THE ROCK, the Campaign to Repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Drop the Rock is composed of young community activists, veteran criminal justice reformers, artists, students, former inmates, politicians, and religious, civic, and labor leaders, all of various ages, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, geographic locations, religious beliefs and political proclivities.

Drop the Rock is at a crucial point. After years of resistance to change in Albany and only minimal reform, a new state administration has taken office and may very well be receptive to meaningful reform. The Drop the Rock Coalition must keep the pressure on until that change becomes a reality.

Join us in our campaign to end over 30 years of racist, ineffective, destructive and wasteful drug laws in New York State.

For more information, or to have a Drop the Rock member speak at your school, organization or other group, please email [e-mail]

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Drop the Rock is also conducting a Voter Registration Drive.
Because NYS law denies individuals in prison or on parole the right to vote, the drug laws have effectively disenfranchised thousands of poor African-American and Latino people and drained political power from poor NYC communities of color. Through the voter registration drive, Drop the Rock aims to restore a significant voice to communities that have been stripped of political influence, create awareness about the injustices associated with NY drug policy and felon disenfranchisement, and pressure government officials to repeal the drug laws.

BECOME A DROP THE ROCK VOTER!

For a Drop the Rock Voter Pledge Form, CLICK HERE.

For a Drop the Rock Fact Sheet, CLICK HERE or http://droptherock.cjb.net

[Whoa_Nelly]

26. Roy and All That Jazz

May you be at peace

[bleever]

45. That was a hell of a performance

in a hell of a movie.

RIP, Roy. You deserve it all.

[ixion]

27. Rest In Peace, Roy...you were one of the best

thankfully, we'll have a fantastic body of work to remember you by.

[Solly Mack]

30. Roy Scheider is dead and living in hearts everywhere

It's a play on the title of a movie he was in...

[Hawaii Hiker]

31. Great actor..My favorite film he did was the 1983 drama "Blue Thunder"

http://imdb.com/title/tt0085255/

[Olney Blue]

33. I was just going to post that! I loved Blue Thunder.

[hlthe2b]

32. A terrific actor who will be missed...

RIP, sir.



thanks so much to whomever remembered me with a heart! :loveya:

[nickyt]

35. "It's SHOWtime, folks!" - I use that expression all the time -

Thank you Roy - RIP -

[Trajan]

58. His greatest role ....

No doubt that his 'Jaws' persona is wry and likeable, but Scheider shines in 'All That Jazz' .... It was his tour de force .... He was amazing as John Gideon ... He carried the movie, and the movie carried him ....

RIP Roy ....

[anamandujano]

36. My friend just told me her father met him while fishing on the Vineyard.

He didn't know who he was, offered him a fishing pole and RS said, "No thank you, I'm filming over there."

Amazingly enough, years before she had watched an interview with Scheider while he spoke of his father and thought that he could have been talking about her own father.

Talk about synchronicity.


Anyway, such a young age, how horrible.

RIP

[Radio_Lady]

37. Too soon gone, but long remembered for his work.

My condolences to his family.

The first movie I saw when I moved to Boston was "Klute." It must have been May or June 1972 -- I was still living in the Copley Plaza hotel before my tiny children arrived from Miami.

The timeframe in which I saw that film obviously made a big impression on me.

Later, after I remarried, my older stepkids had problems going into our swimming pool after seeing "Jaws."

[Starbucks Anarchist]

38. R.I.P., Roy Scheider.

[Lennon]

39. Sad News

He was a GREAT actor, of all of his films, 2010 was one of my favorites

http://imdb.com/title/tt0086837

[xchrom]

40. what a wonderful actor he was -- Peace be with his family.

[Joe Bacon]

42. Very very sad.

He was a very classy guy. Rest in Peace, Roy! :cry:

[edbermac]

43. Weird. I was just about to watch my Jaws DVD.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat"

RIP, Roy.

[onehandle]

44. A Great Actor. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

47. Yikes! Just saw "Jaws" for the first time, on TV the other night...

An impressive film and very sad that he's gone... :-(

[Swede]

48. I loved his work.

RIP Mr.Scheider.

[Beaverhausen]

49. oh- that's sad. Thanks for all the wonderful moments, Mr. Scheider

:cry:

[Pastiche423]

50. Peaceful journey, Roy

[stox]

51. Another fine alumnus from my High School

I'm sad I never got to meet him, although he did have classes with my mother. He was a truly great actor. RIP, and my humble condolences to his family.

[PDittie]

53. I remember him from '52 Pickup'

with Ann-Margret.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090567/

[ladywnch]

54. I thought he had beaten it. All That Jazz is one of my favorites. RIP

[Greylyn58]

59. RIP Mr. Scheider

You were a favorite actor in one of my favorite movies.

May you always get the "Bigger Boat" you need in your next life.

:cry:

[superconnected]

60. Godspeed Mr. Scheider.

[John Kerry VonErich]

61. Sadly. the last time I heard about him....

he was getting ridiculed by the press of an anti war protest in the Hamptons.

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/jaws%20star.s%20war%20protest

He'll be very missed :(

[HamdenRice]

62. Didn't he smoke like a chimney?

I recently watched All That Jazz in which he played a substance challenged choreographer. While the script obviously emphasized the character's smoking (he has a heart attack), Scheider obviously wasn't faking it.

As a former smoker it was actually really hard to watch without getting nauseous.

Nice guy, great actor.

[bdamomma]

63. oh, I will never forget him in "Jaws"

:( nice guy too.

[jus_the_facts]

67. "We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat!!!"

:loveya:~*~ RIP Roy~*~:lovyea:

[DebbieCDC]

68. Really sad to hear this

"All that Jazz" is one of my all-time favorite films, but it's a little chilling now to think of that "Bye Bye Life" finale.

I'm surprised though that no one mentioned on here a "little" film that RS did with Meryl Streep called "Still of the Night" -- excellent suspense film with RS as a psychiatrist and Meryl as a murder suspect. They had good chemistry in that film. RIP Roy.

[John Kerry VonErich]

69. I think his co star was Ann-Margret

and not Meryl Streep

[John Kerry VonErich]

70. I think his co star was Ann-Margret

and not Meryl Streep

[DebbieCDC]

73. Ann-Margaret was in "52 Pickup" with RS

In "Still of the Night" it was Meryl Streep -- two different movies.

[John Kerry VonErich]

76. Oh ok

always get those 2 movies mixed up.

[ailsagirl]

71. I always liked him... that's very sad n/t

[apocalypsehow]

72. RIP, Mr. Scheider.

My favorite line of his was not the one from "Jaws," but from "52 Pickup": "so long, sport!!!!" (this after having been antagonized by the villian with the term "sport" throught the movie). All my sympathies to his family; he will be missed.

[Charlie Brown]

74. if you've never seen Jaws, make haste and watch it right away

Truly one of the best films ever, due in no small part to Scheider's convincing everyman performance.

[Neoma]

77. Ack.