(Orange, New Jersey, USA, November 10, 1932 - Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, February 10, 2008)


Scheider is an American actor whose career peaked in the 1970s thanks to films such as Klute (1971), The French Connection (1971), Jaws (1975) and All That Jazz (1979). He studied at the Rutgers University and majored in history at the Franklin and Marshall College. As a student his nose was flattened in a boxing match, giving him a recognizably thuggish look. He spent three years in the American Air Force attaining the rank of lieutenant. Afterwards he returned to the drama department of the Franklin and Marshall College where he acted in Shakespeare’s Richard III. In 1961, he played Mercutio in Romeo and Juliette at the Shakespeare Festival in New York. His first larger film role was in the low-budget horror The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964), after which he acted in several TV series and films. In 1971, he attracted more attention through his role in Klute. For his role in William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971) he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. After starring in another cop movie, The Seven-Ups (1973) he appeared in the comedy Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975), which turned out to be a complete disaster. Nevertheless, his next film was a huge success: he starred as a policeman in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and that remained one of his signature roles. Afterwards he acted in films such as John Schlesinger’s Marathon Man (1976), Sorcerer (1977), William Friedkin’s remake of Nadnice za strah (Le salaire de la peur, 1953) by Henri Georges Clouzot; Jaws 2 (1978). In All That Jazz (1979) by Bob Fosse, he acted as the director’s alter ego and earned another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Leading Actor. In the 1980s and 90s he was in films such as Still of the Night (1982), Blue Thunder (1983), 2010 (1984), 52 Pick-Up (1986), The Russia House (1990), Naked Lunch (1991), The Myth of Fingerprints (1997), RKO 281 (1999). From 1993 to 1995, he starred as the captain in the TV series SeaQuest DSV and in 2002 appeared in five episodes of the TV series Third Watch. Even though after 2000 he mostly appeared in b-productions, he remained active until his final days. His last film was Iron Cross (2008).