Roy Scheider

Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer who achieved fame with his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 1970s through to the mid-1980s. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, one Golden Globe, and one BAFTA.

Scheider's best-known roles include Frank Ligourin in ''Klute'' (1971), Police Chief Martin Brody in '' Jaws'' (1975) and its 1978 sequel, "Cloudy" Russo in '' The French Connection'' (1971), "Buddy" in '' The Seven-Ups'' (1973), Doc Levy in '' Marathon Man'' (1976), Scanlon / Dominguez in '' Sorcerer'' (1977), Joe Gideon in '' All That Jazz'' (1979), Frank Murphy in '' Blue Thunder'' (1983), and Dr. Heywood Floyd in the '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' sequel, '' 2010: The Year We Make Contact'' (1984). Subsequent credits included ''Naked Lunch'' (1991), '' Romeo Is Bleeding'' (1993), '' The Myth of Fingerprints'' (1997), '' The Rainmaker'' (1997), and '' The Punisher'' (2004). He also portrayed Captain Nathan Bridger on NBC's ''seaQuest DSV'' from 1993–1996.

Early life

Scheider was born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Anna (''née'' Crosson) and auto mechanic Roy Bernhard Scheider. Scheider's mother was of Irish descent with an Irish Catholic background, while his father was a Protestant German American. As a child, Scheider was an athlete, participating in organized baseball and boxing competitions, for which he was classed as a welterweight, weighing in at 140 lb (63.5 kg). Scheider competed in the Diamond Gloves Boxing Tournament in Elizabeth, New Jersey in Maplewood, New Jersey, graduating in 1950, and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1985. He traded his boxing gloves for the stage, studying drama at both Rutgers University and Franklin and Marshall College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

Amateur boxing

Between 1946 and 1949, Scheider boxed as an amateur in New Jersey. Scheider said in a television interview in the 1980s that he took up boxing to lose weight. He said he had no desire to fight, but that his trainer, Georgie Ward, encouraged him to compete. In his second bout, at the 1946 Diamond Gloves Tournament (Golden Gloves), Scheider suffered a broken nose and lost by technical knockout in two rounds to Myron Greenberg. He went on to post an 11–1 (six knockouts) record, reversing his defeat by Greenberg in the process.

Military service

Scheider served three years in the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant in air operations from 1955 to 1958. He then became a captain in the Air Force Reserve Command until 1964.

Acting career

Scheider's first film role was in the horror film '' The Curse of the Living Corpse'' (1964). On television, he played running roles on two CBS soap operas, ''Love of Life'' and ''The Secret Storm'', and also played character roles in episodes of '' Camera Three'', '' N.Y.P.D.'', and '' Coronet Blue''. He was in the TV movie '' Lamp at Midnight'' (1966). In 1968, Scheider appeared with the New York Shakespeare Festival, and also won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance in James Joyce's play ''Stephen D,'' appearing in it 68 times at the East 74th Street Theater. He appeared in the films ''Stiletto'' (1969), '' Loving'' (1970), and ''Puzzle of a Downfall Child'' (1970), and on television in '' Where the Heart Is'' and ''Cannon''.

In 1971, he appeared in two highly popular films, ''Klute'', directed by Alan Pakula, and '' The French Connection'', directed by William Friedkin. The latter, in which he played a fictionalized version of New York City detective Sonny Grosso, gained him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Scheider became much in demand. He went to Europe to have key supporting roles in '' The French Conspiracy'' (1972) and '' The Outside Man'' (1972).

Scheider's first starring role came in '' The Seven-Ups'' (1973), a quasi follow-up to ''The French Connection'', in which Scheider's character is once again based on Grosso. He was second-billed in '' Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York'' (1975). Scheider portrayed Chief Martin Brody in the Hollywood blockbuster '' Jaws'' (1975), which also starred Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. Scheider's ad-libbed line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," was voted 35th on the American Film Institute's list of best movie quotes. He appeared as secret agent Doc Levy in '' Marathon Man'' (1976), with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier.

Scheider was initially set to appear in the lead role in Michael Cimino's never-filmed romantic thriller ''Perfect Strangers'', but the film was canceled due to "political machinations" at Paramount. Scheider was later offered the role portrayed by Robert De Niro in Cimino's '' The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which was the second film of a three-picture deal with Universal Studios. He reunited with ''French Connection'' director William Friedkin in '' Sorcerer'' (1977), the second adaptation of the 1950 French novel '' The Wages of Fear''. Although the film didn't do well at the box office, it has since acquired a large cult following.

Still under contract after dropping out two weeks before ''The Deer Hunter'' started filming, Universal offered him the option of reprising his role as Martin Brody for a ''Jaws'' sequel, and would consider his contractual obligations fulfilled if he accepted. Scheider accepted, and ''Jaws 2'' was released in 1978. It was a huge hit. Scheider starred in '' Last Embrace'' (1979), a thriller directed by Jonathan Demme. He received his second Academy Award nomination, this time as Best Actor in '' All That Jazz'' (1979), in which he played a fictionalized version of the film's director and co-writer Bob Fosse. Some of the film's production was portrayed in the FX miniseries '' Fosse/Verdon'', in which Scheider was played by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

He made a thriller with Meryl Streep for Robert Benton, '' Still of the Night'' (1982), which was a box-office disappointment. The following year, however, his box office performance improved with '' Blue Thunder'' (1983), a John Badham film about a prototype attack helicopter that provided security over the city of Los Angeles during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. He made two TV movies, '' Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number'' (1983) and '' Tiger Town'' (1984). This was followed by a role as Dr. Heywood Floyd in Peter Hyams' ''2010'', a 1984 sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science-fiction classic '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', in which William Sylvester originated the role of Floyd. He provided narration for '' Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters'' (1985).

Scheider was in '' The Men's Club'' (1986), '' 52 Pick-Up'' (1986) for John Frankenheimer, '' Cohen and Tate'' (1988), '' Listen to Me'' (1989), ''Night Game'' (1989), '' The Fourth War'' (1990) again for Frankenheimer, '' Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture'' (1990), and '' The Russia House'' (1990). One of his later parts was that of Dr. Benway in the long-in-production 1991 film adaptation of William S. Burroughs' novel ''Naked Lunch''. Scheider played a mob boss who meets a horrific fate in the Gary Oldman crime film '' Romeo Is Bleeding'' (1994) and a chief executive of a corrupt insurance company cross-examined by Matt Damon's character in 1997's '' John Grisham's The Rainmaker'', directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Scheider appeared among an ensemble cast in '' The Myth of Fingerprints'' (1997), for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. He appeared as the crusty father of hero Frank Castle in '' The Punisher'' (2004), and in 2007, starred in '' The Poet'' and '' If I Didn't Care''. When Scheider died in February 2008, he had two movies upcoming: '' Dark Honeymoon'', which had been completed, and the thriller ''Iron Cross''. In ''Iron Cross'', Scheider plays the leading role of Joseph, a holocaust survivor with a propensity for justice, which was inspired by director Joshua Newton's late father Bruno Newton. ''Iron Cross'' was ultimately released in 2011.

Scheider was lead star in the Steven Spielberg-produced television series ''seaQuest DSV'' as Captain Nathan Bridger. During the second season, Scheider voiced disdain for the direction in which the series was heading. His comments were highly publicized, and the media criticized him for panning his own show. NBC made additional casting and writing changes in the third season, and Scheider decided to leave the show. His contract, however, required that he make several guest appearances that season. Scheider hosted an episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 10th (1984–1985) season and appeared on the ''Family Guy'' episode " Bill & Peter's Bogus Journey", voicing himself as the host of a toilet-training video, portions of which were censored on FOX and syndicated broadcasts. He provided voiceover on the ''Family Guy'' episode "Three Kings" (which was recorded in September 2007 but aired in May 2009, a year and three months after his death in February 2008), which also featured his ''Jaws'' co-star Richard Dreyfuss.

Scheider guest-starred in the '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' episode " Endgame" as serial killer Mark Ford Brady, who is identified at the episode's end as being the biological father of Detective Goren (played by Vincent D'Onofrio). He narrated and was associate producer of the 2006 ''Jaws'' documentary '' The Shark is Still Working''. In 2007, Scheider received one of two annual Lifetime Achievement Awards at the SunDeis Film Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts. After Scheider's death, a biography entitled ''Roy Scheider: A Life'' was released as a tribute, compiling reviews, essays, and narration on his life and career.

Personal life

Scheider married Cynthia Bebout on November 8, 1962. The couple had one daughter, Maximillia (1963–2006), before divorcing in 1986. On February 11, 1989, he married actress Brenda Siemer, with whom he had a son, Christian Scheider, and adopted a daughter, Molly. They remained married until his death.

Death

In 2004, Scheider was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In June 2005, he received a bone marrow transplant to treat the cancer. He died of a staph infection after a nearly 3 year battle with the cancer on February 10, 2008, in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center. He was 75 years old.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

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Obituary
in ''The Times''

William Friedkin on Roy Scheider

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheider, Roy
1932 births
2008 deaths
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American military personnel
21st-century American male actors
Actors from Orange, New Jersey
American male boxers
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni
Deaths from cancer in Arkansas
Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States
Deaths from staphylococcal infection
Franklin & Marshall College alumni
Infectious disease deaths in Arkansas
Male actors from New Jersey
Military personnel from Essex County, New Jersey
Obie Award recipients
Rutgers University alumni
United States Air Force officers
United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War
United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War
20th-century American sportsmen