In Memoriam: Roy Richard Scheider, 1932-2008

[thatcrazycajun]

It is my sad duty to report that actor Roy Scheider, who left a commanding presence on TV series and films from Law & Order: Criminal Intent to Jaws, from Blue Thunder to SeaQuest DSV, has died at 75 years of age. He passed away today in a Little Rock, AR hospital of what appears to have been multiple myeloma; NewsVine has details here. He follows Robert Shaw (1927-1978) as the 2nd principal cast member of Jaws to be lost to us.

Roy's was one of my favorite faces to see in a movie; that weathered, craggy mug and raspy voice could make even a colossal turkey like 2010: The Year We Make Contact watchable. He was a poor man's Kirk Douglas (which is by no means meant to denigrate either him or Kirk in the least) who made every role he took and every scene he did—even when it was only a guest role—his own.

What's your favorite Scheider movie or TV appearance? Probably his best film perf for my money was All That Jazz, where he had the lead in a kinetic, fictionalized autobiography of choreographer/director Bob Fosse, acting (and even dancing!) alongside no less than Ben Vereen, Jessica Lange and Ann Reinking. (Oddly enough, I'd just mentioned that movie to autographedcat at last night's housefilk chez March-Wynne.) For TV, I think I liked his pulling a Hannibal Lecter as a long-imprisoned serial killer advising police in L&O:CI a couple years back.

Comments

[voiceofkiki.livejournal.com]

*bursts into tears*

I just bought my copy of seaQuest season 2. I loved Roy. I'm sad now.

Oh Fuck!

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

I have a fondness for "2010: The Year We Make Contact."
He stepped into the role in a believable manner and carried it off.



"It's show time!"

[serendipitygirl.livejournal.com]

Aw man..........I really liked his work.

[serendipitygirl.livejournal.com]

(the rest of my previous comment got chopped for some reason)
I'm not sure I could pin down a single favorite role for him. Most everyone will remember him for Jaws of course, but also I remember him for his work in 2010, Naked Lunch, 52 Pick Up, Blue Thunder, All that Jazz and probably a bazillion others that I can't recall off the top of my head.
Damn. He'll be missed.

Absolutely as unpretencious as he appeared

[oldfolkieathome.livejournal.com]

I actually had the privilege of meeting Mr. Scheider aboard the last flight out of Pensacola Regional Airport on Christmas Eve hmmm...IIRC 1976), they were shooting parts of Jaws 2 down in Navarre Beach. I was knitting a baby blanket for a friend when this gentleman standing in the aisle wearing a grey sweatshirt, jeans and running shoes asked me "That going to be done by Christmas?" I looked up...into the face of Roy Scheider. (GULP!) "No, but the baby this is for isn't due until February." He nodded and complimented me on the work, then turned to speak to the two gentlemen seated directly behind me (one of whom, I then realized, was Steven Spielberg). It was clear that as far as he was concerned, he was just another passenger on the plane making polite conversation with a (suddenly very nervous) young lady (I was 16 at the time) seated near his colleagues.

I'm not sure "Rest In Peace" would suit him. Mr. Scheider, wherever you are, I hope you're having an absolutely amazing adventure!

Re: Absolutely as unpretencious as he appeared

[dsthomas.livejournal.com]

That is just beautiful! I love hearing good stories (specially true ones) about stars. I never had the priviledge, but I'm glad you did.

[(Anonymous)]

Damn damn damn.

A fine, criminally underutilized actor.

A friend of mine from Mental Floss got to do a scene with him in an HBO film called "Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture." Scheider played a photographer hired to document the execution of a condemned man whose guilt was not entirely certain. My friend played the inappropriately chipper prison guard who led him to his first meeting with the convict - a moment of comic relief in a very grim, compelling drama).

Mark said Scheider was a pleasure to work with, very gracious, never plying the condescending star to Mark's unknown bit player. I've never heard any account of the man that conflicted with Mark's experience.

Incidentally, I'm surprised at your description of 2010 as a "colossal turkey." It had some flaws, but I've always considered it to be one of the better SF films. Certainly one of the few ever made that qualify as actual science fiction (as opposed to heroic fantasy or comic book adventures with sci-fi trappings), and good SF at that.

Still, it's fair to say that Scheider performance (one of several fine performances in the film) was one of the highlights.

[darrenzieger.livejournal.com]

D'oh. Forgot to log in...

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

>>Incidentally, I'm surprised at your description of 2010 as a "colossal turkey." It had some flaws, but I've always considered it to be one of the better SF films. Certainly one of the few ever made that qualify as actual science fiction (as opposed to heroic fantasy or comic book adventures with sci-fi trappings), and good SF at that. <<

Read Clarke's original novel 2010: Odyssey Two (http://www.amazon.com/2010-Odyssey-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0345413970/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202770754&sr=1-1) and see how much, MUCH better the movie could have been. (One example: the silly-assed Cold War brinksmanship subplot that was tacked on, which is even sillier since the real Soviet Union ceased to exist well before 2010.) Clarke's book containing the e-mail correspondence he had with director Peter Hyams while the movie was being made, The Odyssey File (http://www.amazon.com/Odyssey-File-Arthur-C-Clarke/dp/0345321081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202770848&sr=1-1), also details some of the other creative compromises in the film. (How Hyams could have avoided doing a better job with the master himself looking over his shoulder utterly escapes me.)

Scheider did indeed take on the thankless task of stepping into a role created by another actor decades before...and turned Heywood Floyd from the cipher he'd been in 2001 into a believable human you could give a damn about. His perf was one of only three things that made the sequel worth the time/money at all; those of Helen Mirren as the Soviet commander and John Lithgow as Dr. Curnow were the other two. (Okay, four: these and seeing Keir Dullea and Doug Rain play Bowman and HAL again. Possibly five if you include the late, lamented Paul Winfield as the NASA honcho.)

[darrenzieger.livejournal.com]

Six. Bob Balaban as Dr. Chandra. Odd casting ethnically, as the character was supposed to be East Indian; but Balaban is excellent at playing scientists and intellectuals (he has a marvelous supporting role in Altered States as John Hurt's fellow researcher).

I read the book when it came out, before the film was released, though considering that it's been about a quarter of a century since then, I should probably take another pass at it), and the film is weakest where it deviates from the source material. But it's still better SF than just about anything released that decade. In fact, I would submit (again) that it is one of the few genre films ever made that qualifies as actual Science Fiction - a group that can be counted on the fingers on your hands with a few digits left over.

ouch!

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

I loved him as Nathan Bridger in seaQuest, and 2010 was just shown a few times this past week as part of 31 days of Oscar. I will miss him.

[dsthomas.livejournal.com]

To wake to the news that he'd passed literally the day after dpthomas and I had watched 2010 was freaky and sad. SO sad. He will be and I missed.