Obituary: Roy Scheider

Actor Roy Scheider, who starred in perhaps the biggest horror blockbuster ever, died on Sunday afternoon. He was seventy-five.

'We need a bigger boat!'

Although not a genre specialist, Scheider will forever be remembered by millions of fans for his starring role as Chief Brody in JAWS (1975), the horror hit that became the biggest box office grosser of all time. (It was subsequently surpassed by STAR WARS.) Scheider reprised his role in the less successful sequel JAWS 2 (1978).
In a wide and varied career that included a co-starring role in the 1971 Best Picture THE FRENCH CONNECTION, Scheider’s genre roles were few and far between. He made his debut in THE CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE in 1964. He starred in Bob Fosse’s fantasy-musical ALL THAT JAZZ (1979). He played the lead in the Hitchcockian horror-thriller STILL OF THE NIGHT (1982). And he had a memorable role in David Cronenberg’s surreal adaptation of William S. Burrough’s NAKED LUNCH (1991).
You can read the New York Times’ obituary for Scheider here.

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