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Roy Richard Scheider (November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor and amateur boxer. He played Martin Brody in the thriller film Jaws (1975), reprising the role in its sequel Jaws 2 (1978).
In
our view Roy was perfect for the part of the town sheriff, bringing a sense
of practicality and fair play to the film. We are just as disgruntled and
disbelieving as the Chief, when he is told Chrissie Watkins died from a
boating accident.
Scheider gained fame for his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films in addition to the Jaws films, from the 1970s through to the early to mid-1980s. These roles included NYPD Detective Buddy "Cloudy" Russo in The French Connection (1971); NYPD Detective Buddy Manucci in The Seven Ups (1973); Doc in Marathon Man (1976); choreographer and film director Joe Gideon (whose character was based on Bob Fosse) in All That Jazz (which was co-written and directed by Fosse) (1979); and Dr. Heywood R. Floyd in the 1984 film 2010, the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Scheider was also known for playing Captain Nathan Bridger in the science-fiction television series seaQuest DSV (1993–1996). Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", Scheider was nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award.
The one character most associated with the Jaws franchise outside of the various giant sharks that inhabit it, it's Chief Brody. Unlike many blockbusters, Jaws spends a lot of time developing its lead characters, with Brody getting the most attention. While Brody is a good man from the start of the film, it takes deadly adversity for him to rise up as the reluctant hero.
Brody overcomes his fear of the ocean, and a massive great white shark, with a lucky shot to a diving cylinder. He even managed to outlive Quint, the grizzled shark hunter who seemed to know just about every trick in the book when it comes to sharks, except that Jaws rattled him. If Jaws had been a one-off film, Chief Brody might stand as a character virtually untarnished. But it didn't, as big success usually means sequels.
While Jaws 2 isn't in the league of the original, it's decent enough, and is bolstered by Scheider's return as Brody. Jaws 3 - aka 3-D - and Jaws: The Revenge both suffered for lesser characters leading the way. However, it turns out fans were lucky to even see Brody in Jaws 2.
It's not entirely clear why, but Roy Scheider really, really didn't want to star in Jaws 2. Perhaps he had a similar view on the sequel that Steven Spielberg did at the time, saying they had already made the definitive shark movie, and doing another was just a cheap trick. Either way, Scheider wasn't interested in returning. The only reason he did is that due to him exiting The Deer Hunter, he owed Universal two more films under a contractual agreement. Universal then said if Schieder returned for Jaws 2, it would be counted as both. So he returned, and ended up constantly battling director Jeannot Swarzc on set.
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, however, to post an 8–1 (six knockouts) record, reversing the defeat to Greenberg in the process.
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 reservist captain in the Air Force Reserve Command until 1964.
Scheider 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.
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.
In 2004, Scheider was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In June 2005, he received a bone marrow transplant to treat the cancer. He died on February 10, 2008, in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Hospital.
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