Roy Scheider, a versatile and talented acting presence, died Sunday.
The New York Times has an insightful obituary, remarking all of Scheider’s most memorable roles – Jaws, The French Connection, All That Jazz, Naked Lunch.
Scheider will always hold a revered spot in our cultural history. His role as Police Chief Martin Brody in Jaws is nothing short of iconic – both for the impact the movie made itself and for the way Scheider brought Brody to life. Even more impressively, he has several other iconic roles in a career that spans five decades.
Generations that grew up from the 1970s on will always remember Scheider as a normal guy fighting against incredible odds because he always played his characters with honesty and a touch of humility – even in the face of giant sharks and living corpses.
He wasn’t tied to any one genre or role-type. He was versatile enough to do Shakespeare and SeaQuest DSV. And although the legacy of his career will live on, he will be greatly missed.