Roy Scheider

Roy Richard Scheider (; November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor who achieved fame with his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 1970s to the mid-1980s including the lead role in Jaws. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, one Golden Globe, and one BAFTA Award, and won both an Obie and Drama League Award for his stage performances.

Scheider's best-known film 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), and Frank Murphy in Blue Thunder (1983).

Subsequent credits included Naked Lunch (1991), Romeo Is Bleeding (1993), The Myth of Fingerprints (1997), The Rainmaker (1997), and The Punisher (2004). He also starred as Captain Nathan Bridger on the NBC television series seaQuest DSV (1993–96).

Early life and education Scheider was born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Anna (née Crosson; 1906–1984) and auto mechanic Roy Bernhard Scheider (1903–1976). Scheider's mother was of Irish descent with an Irish Catholic background. 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. He attended Columbia High School 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 & Marshall College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

Military service From 1955 to 1958, Scheider served in the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant in air operations. He then became a captain in the Air Force Reserve Command until 1964.

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 (ten knockouts) record, in Hugh Leonard's play, which was adapted from the works of James Joyce, 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. "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 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. 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. They remained married until his death. He died of a staphylococcal infection after a nearly three-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 Year Title Role Notes 1964 The Curse of the Living Corpse Philip Sinclair 1968 Paper Lion Central Park Flag Football Player Uncredited 1969 Stiletto Bennett 1970 Loving Skip Puzzle of a Downfall Child Mark 1971 Klute Frank Ligourin The French Connection Det. Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo 1972 The French Conspiracy Michael Howard The Outside Man Lenny 1973 The Seven-Ups Buddy, Seven-Up 1975 Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York Sam Stoneman Jaws Police Chief Martin Brody 1976 Marathon Man Henry 'Doc' Levy 1977 Sorcerer Scanlon / Dominguez 1978 Jaws 2 Police Chief Martin Brody 1979 Last Embrace Harry Hannan All That Jazz Joe Gideon 1982 Still of the Night Sam Rice 1983 Blue Thunder LAPD Officer Frank Murphy 1984 2010 Dr. Heywood Floyd 1985 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Narrator (voice) 1986 The Men's Club Cavanaugh 52 Pick-Up Harry Mitchell 1987 Jaws: The Revenge Police Chief Martin Brody Archive footage; uncredited 1989 Cohen and Tate Cohen Listen to Me Charlie Nichols Night Game Mike Seaver 1990 The Fourth War Colonel Jack Knowles The Russia House Russell 1991 Naked Lunch Dr. Benway 1993 Romeo Is Bleeding Don Falcone 1997 The Myth of Fingerprints Hal 1997 Plato's Run Senarkian Executive Target President Carlson The Rage John Taggart The Peacekeeper President Bob Baker The Rainmaker Wilfred Keeley The Definite Maybe Eddie Jacobsen a.k.a. No Money Down 1998 Evasive Action Enzo Marcelli Better Living Tom The White Raven Tom Heath 2000 Chain of Command President Jack Cahill Falling Through Earl The Doorway Professor Lamont Daybreak Stan Marshall 2001 Time Lapse Agent La Nova 2002 The Good War Colonel Gartner a.k.a. Texas '46 Angels Don't Sleep Here Mayor Harry Porter a.k.a. Blakflash 2 2003 Citizen Verdict Governor 'Bull' Tyler Dracula II: Ascension Cardinal Siqueros Red Serpent Hassan 2004 The Punisher Frank Castle Sr. 2005 Dracula III: Legacy Cardinal Siqueros Love Thy Neighbor Fred 2006 Last Chance Cumberland short film 2007 Chicago 10 Judge Julius Hoffman (voice) Documentary The Poet Rabbi a.k.a. Hearts of War If I Didn't Care Linus Boyer a.k.a. Blue Blood The Shark Is Still Working Narrator (voice) Documentary 2008 Dark Honeymoon Sam direct-to-video 2009 Beautiful Blue Eyes Joseph Released posthumously; final acting role

Television

Partial stage credits