Last month, actor Roy Scheider passed away. After suffering from multiple myeloma for years, Mr. Scheider died from complications from a staph infection. He is survived by his second wife his wife, Brenda Siemer, and three children. Roy Scheider was 75.
Ten months after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, Scheider told the "The Today Show" that he considered himself lucky. "Every single day, it's a miracle," he said.
Scheider delivered realistic, memorable performances in many films, including "Klute" and 1971's "The French Connection" for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. He'd later appear in "All That Jazz" in 1979 (Best Actor Oscar nomination), "The Seven-Ups" (1973), "Marathon Man" (1976), "Jaws 2" (1978), "Still of the Night" (1982), "Blue Thunder" (1983), "2010" (1984), "52 Pick-up" (1986), "The Russia House" (1991), "Naked Lunch" (1991), "Romeo Is Bleeding" (1993), "The Myth of Fingerprints" and "The Rainmaker" (both 1997), among others. "Dark Honeymoon" and "Iron Cross" (both 2008) would be his last films.
But the list is conspicuous without the film that seems almost synonymous with Scheider, who once said that he thought "JAWS" would end up on his tombstone. He may not have been that far off.
The summer of 1975 was when the movies changed for me. It might help to explain the entertainment environment at the time. If you'd uttered the phrase "summer blockbuster" back then, no one would've known what you were talking about. Movies never opened in hundreds of theaters at once, and the ubiquitous infotainment and gossip machine we know and love today was three decades away. Popular movies a year earlier included "The Godfather Part II," "Chinatown," and "The Towering Inferno."
Navy duty called my family to Northern Virginia and away from Virginia Beach, which was about to be fine with me as the ocean would soon lose all appeal. The new neighborhood had lots of kids, which was great. The hype swirled around a movie about a big fish with a bad attitude – movie mania was reaching levels no one had seen before. Hanging around the cul-de-sacs and at the pool, we shared stories of any JAWS snippets we managed to scrounge. The ocean...I could understand, but there were many who wouldn't even get in the water at the pool. Radios (the young person's medium of the day) crackled with Dickie Goodman's "Mr. Jaws" man on the beach "interviews" with Chief Brody, the shark and other characters and "responses" from popular songs by KC & The Sunshine Band, War, James Taylor, Van McCoy, Captain & Tennille, The Eagles, Gary Wright, Glen Campbell and The Bee Gees. I know how stupid that sounds, but we loved it.
Audiences were seeing the film multiple times. It was everywhere. JAWS wasn't just a movie, it was an event. The film was rated "PG," which meant some content wasn't suitable for pre-teens. My whole family went. I was 6.
In JAWS, Chief Martin Brody is the reluctant hero, the fish out of water, the guy just trying to do his job. A man who lives on an island but hates the water, Brody neither wants nor seeks trouble. Brody moved his young family to Amity from the city because it was safer (or so he thought). The grounding force and essential human elements that make JAWS so watchable is due to Scheider. JAWS holds up so well mostly because of the acting in the film -- solid. The real stars of the film are Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw (and Spielberg) not the shark, although I'm sure I would of argued this point years ago.
By many, JAWS is considered a horror film. I was personally psyched to see it appear on Bravo's "100 Scariest Movie Moments" as 1, a huge feat for a movie with 70s effects. But I've always had a difficult time placing JAWS squarely in any genre, probably due mostly to the talents of Steven Spielberg. JAWS fans know of the horrible problems that plagued the set, from a sinking Shark to script issues. Spielberg managed to make JAWS more about character and less about a monster, and it worked.
Creature features are usually considered mindless entertainment for teenagers; for lack of a better, or more timely description, "drive-in crap." These flicks never generated that much attention. More than 67 million Americans went to see JAWS in that first year. It would be the first film to ever reach the $100 million mark and win three out of four Oscar nominations (lost Best Picture to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"). Not bad for a horror film.
Scheider's Brody is who we relate to, who we turn to when things careen completely out of control and circumstances become impossible to believe. But we do believe. We believe there's a monster shark down there, even though we hardly even see it. Much of the time, Brody is the voice of reason, trying to move things toward dry land. No matter if he played the lead or some nasty supporting part, Scheider offered the goods. He extracted the most difficult of prizes from his audience: empathy.
Imagining anyone else playing the part with equal parts practicality, realism and courage is impossible. Of the many decisions I'm sure Spielberg second guessed throughout his JAWS experience, casting Scheider couldn't be one of them. The 27 year-old director showed incredible foresight and maturity beyond his years to turn down Hollywood royalty Charlton Heston for the part of the Sheriff having one hell of 4th of July weekend.
Maybe my JAWS love is all brainwashing. As I peeked through the smallest opening I could make in my fingers and still see through, maybe that shark did something to my 6-year-old brain as that horrible but wonderful John Williams score thump-thumped through the darkened theater. Or...maybe it's just a great story executed by a brilliant young director and told by talented actors. JAWS is a perfect storm of elements. When virtually every aspect of the project forecast crashing into the rocks, it somehow made landfall, and history.
I've enjoyed watching the progress of "The Shark is Still Working," the feature length documentary about the movie that was such an important part of my childhood. Early on, Scheider offered his narration, and more importantly, his credibility, to the TSISW project. He went above and beyond, collaborating closely with the filmmakers in what sounds like a one-of-a-kind experience, which I appreciate them sharing.
To these fans turned colleagues he offered up priceless gems -- memories of the JAWS shoot. Scheider told unscripted stories during his interview, which makes me hopeful he'd made some peace with the film he'd forever be linked to. This clearly shows what a class act he was. Farewell, Roy.