ROY SCHEIDER

By Nate Lee

GREAT PERFORMANCES YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN:

Klute (Jane Fonda’s pimp husband)

The Rainmaker

Naked Lunch (drug-making inventor)

Romeo Is Bleeding (mobster)

52 Pick-Up (executive fighting back against blackmailers)

The Seven-Ups (NYPD detective)

The Myth of Fingerprints

Still of the Night (opposite Meryl Streep)

BEST FILM:

All That Jazz ...

No question that “Jaws” and “The French Connection” are classics, but “Jazz” is completely Roy as master showman Bob Fosse in one of the best musical films ever.

BLOCKBUSTERS:

Jaws (Police Chief of Amity)

The French Connection (Oscar-nominated performance as Buddy Russo, Gene Hackman’s police partner)

Jaws 2

Marathon Man (CIA agent and big brother of Dustin Hoffman)

2010 (astronaut, in the sequel)

All That Jazz (Bob Fosse’s alter ego, Joe Gideon, in an Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated performance)

Blue Thunder (chopper pilot)

Russia House

ACTING STYLE:

Cool and tough. Experienced in boxing and sports, Scheider was the soft-spoken macho dude that excelled at cops, except for his one break-out role, that of the Broadway and film producer/director/choreographer who is bent on killing himself with drugs.

BITS AND QUIRKS:

Uses a cigarette, especially with the long pause, holding it up. The disbelieving stare. Eyes half closed, head cocked back for a smile or an almost laugh.

GREAT SCENES:

JAWS - The awesome line, “You’re going to need a bigger boat” > Watching the shoreline, scared, while everyone is in the water > Getting drunk with Richard Dreyfuss > Showdown with the shark

ALL THAT JAZZ - Flirting with “death” in the guise of Jessica Lange > The “Bye Bye Love” scene > “Showtime, folks!” > Interviewing the dancers > Working out the choreography of “Take Off with Us”

BLUE THUNDER - Finding out the secret of Malcolm McDowell’s plots, with the chopper’s listening device > Doing the 360 in the chopper

2010 - Conversations with Keir Dullea

FRENCH CONNECTION - Stripping the car, looking for drugs > The subway chase scene > The showdown with the drug lords

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