Roy Scheider (1932-2008)
From the Associated Press:
Scheider was nominated for a best-supporting actor Oscar in 1971’s “The French Connection” in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman and for best-actor for 1979’s “All That Jazz,” the autobiographical Bob Fosse film. [...]“He was a wonderful guy. He was what I call ’a knockaround actor,”’ [Scheider's "Jaws" co-star Richard] Dreyfuss told The Associated Press on Sunday.
“A ’knockaround actor’ to me is a compliment that means a professional that lives the life of a professional actor and doesn't yell and scream at the fates and does his job and does it as well as he can,” he said. [...]
View image A few moments before Scheider utters the now-famous line that he must have known would be quoted in his obituaries.
Dreyfuss recalled Sunday a time during the filming of "Jaws" when Scheider disappeared from the set. As the filming was on hold because of the weather, Scheider “called me up and said, ’You don’t know where I am if they call.’“He’d gone to get a tan. He was really very tan-addicted. That was due to a childhood affliction where he was in bed for a long time. For him being tan was being healthy,” Dreyfuss said.
He added that Scheider “was a pretty civilized human being — you can’t ask for much more than that.”In his original 1975 review of "Jaws," Roger Ebert wrote: "All three performances are really fine. Scheider is the character most of us identify with. He's actually scared of the water, doesn't like to swim and, when he sees the giant shark swim past the boat for the first time, we believe him when he informs Quint, very sincerely, 'We need a bigger boat.'"Scheider was also politically active. He participated in rallies protesting U.S. military action in Iraq, including a massive New York demonstration in March 2003 that police said drew 125,000 chanting activists.
Scheider had a home built for him and his family in 1994 in Sagaponack in the Hamptons, where he was active in community issues.
According to IMDb, Scheider has two more films completed or in post-production: "Dark Honeymoon" and "Iron Cross."
Read Dave Kehr's NYT obit for Scheider here.
Comments
Damnit.
Posted by: Phillip Kelly | February 11, 2008 01:43 AM
I am deeply saddened by his death. He had one of those great 1970's movie-star faces, and an incredible talent to match. In Klute, The French Connection, All That Jazz, Marathon Man, Jaws: whenever he is on the screen, I can't help but stare at him, no matter what else of whatever importance is happenening elsewhere.
Also, I've just found out this morning that John Alvin, probably the most influential of poster artists in the eighties, and one of the most influential of the past fifty years, has also passed away.
Posted by: Ali Arikan | February 11, 2008 02:22 AM
What a badass this guy was. Completely underrated. Sad news, but he had a pretty fulfilling life and career. RIP
Posted by: Chris | February 11, 2008 04:12 AM
"Jaws" speaks for itself but "All That Jazz" is a real favorite of mine that seems to have been almost forgotten. I know a lot of people have trouble with the kind of narcissism Fosse shows but Scheider is just so great and effortless in a completely different role from his usual. I went a long time without seeing it and kind of expected it to be a relic of my youthful enthusiasms but no, it still gets me. "Marathon Man", too--what a great world-weary authority figure he could be.
Posted by: Dane Walker | February 11, 2008 06:44 PM
Wow, I'll miss Mr. Scheider.
Even though if asked I would never think to mention him as one of my favorite actors, but I'd always be delighted to see his name on a movie's credits and even more delighted when he appeared on screen.
For me his performances always seemed to carry a certain weight that could anchor a film with a ridiculous premise into something plausible (or better phrased: something we'd be willing to suspend our disbelief for.) And I sincerely think because of that weight he brought to his roles, his co-stars could go further with their own roles (not to take anything away from the other filmmakers involved, of course.)
In the visual arts, you learn a color is percieved differently depending on the colors around it. For me, Mr Scheider would always be one of those peripheral colors that may not be the focal point, but played a key role in shaping everything around him.
Rest in Peace, sir.
Posted by: Jay | February 13, 2008 08:50 AM
I was more broken up about this than I was about Heath Ledger even.
Posted by: Richard Johnson | February 13, 2008 12:30 PM