"We're gonna need a bigger boat"--Scheider, a two-time Oscar nominee for THE FRENCH CONNECTION and the Fosse fantasia, was a terrific screen everyman, who brought distinction to numerous films, including MARATHON MAN, BLUE THUNDER, and 2010...but especially the Spielberg classic, great casting, perfectly played (the sequel was an unhappy assignment). He fell out of the top ranks by the mid-80s (52 PICKUP was a good starring role on the way downwards) but his presence sparked THE RUSSIA HOUSE and THE RAINMAKER and added a little class to lower-rank work. Any favorite memories out there?

Damn, that's too bad.

He's one of those actors that seem to just abruptly disappear after being ubiquitous for so many years. When seeing him in The Punisher I suspected that he might have had a stroke somewhere in there (there was an odd stiffness to his speaking), but I've never heard anything about it...

Aw, f**k!

That's what I said, so that's what goes on the page. Absolutely loved the guy.

Thought he was outstanding in ALL THAT JAZZ as the Bob Fosse character, Joe Gideon, and as Harry Mitchell in 52 PICK-UP. Great in JAWS and THE FRENCH CONNECTION too.

ROMEO IS BLEEDING, NAKED LUNCH, MISHIMA (narrator), BLUE THUNDER, SORCERER, MARATHON MAN, THE SEVEN-UPS and KLUTE.

Not to shabby of a resume!

I know that he lived down in Key West. Maybe he was just happy with an occassional job in his later years. Certainly had nothing to prove.

RIP Roy.

It's got me thinking about the mortality of screen stars his age or near...has it really been four years since the once-ubiquitous Gene Hackman, Scheider's FC co-star, has made a film (2004's WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT)?

These 60s and 70s guys (and gals) are so much a part of the fabric of my moviegoing life. And Scheider was a piece of it; ALL THAT JAZZ was a stretch from his usual screen persona (he excelled at workaday, blue-collar types) but like so much else he brought it to vivid life.

I read an interview with Hackman last year in which he commented on this. He said he would do movies if they were offered to him, but he just doesn't get offered parts anymore.

According to Sharon Waxman's "Rebels On The Backlot", Hackman's grown quite difficult to work with. Apparently he was an especial problem on THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, never really getting where Wes Anderson was coming from and becoming truculent during the shoot.

"There's no way they made it across that bridge!"

I love Roy. I was too young to see his movies in theaters but I sure do remeber them broadcasting on network television and cable. If Roy was in it, it was good.

Also of note, check out STILL OF THE NIGHT. Not perfect at all but its a Hollywood take on the Fulci giallo thrillers. And MARATHON MAN was great. He was scared in the right way!

Ah, dammit, love Roy Scheider, sorry to see him go. I didn't realize he was 75 and certainly didn't realize he had health problems (as stated in the Times obit); I saw him on a LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT last year as a convicted serial killer, and he seemed healthy and sharp as a tack. I've seen just about every major film he ever did, except ALL THAT JAZZ oddly (I finally caught up with STILL OF THE NIGHT last year). BLUE THUNDER, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, THE SEVEN-UPS, JAWS and MARATHON MAN are probably my favorite Scheider films, but let me also recommend:

• SOMEBODY HAS TO SHOOT THE PICTURE, an HBO movie that's one of the most powerful anti-death penalty dramas I've seen (Frank Pierson directed it)

• Jonathan Demme's Hitchcockian LAST EMBRACE, which insanely isn't on DVD yet

• the obscure ASSIGNMENT: MUNICH, in which he lost the role in the TV series to Robert Conrad

• THE FOURTH WAR, a competent reunion with director John Frankenheimer

Only SOMEBODY HAS TO SHOOT THE PICTURE was ever on DVD, and it's long out of print.

Something else interesting about Scheider: I believe he may be the only actor to portray three different Presidents of the United States. He did it in EXECUTIVE TARGET, CHAIN OF COMMAND and THE PEACEKEEPER.

Damn. RIP, Mr. Scheider. You'll be missed.

There were some good comments and opinions on Scheider in this thread I started a couple of years ago when the BLUE THUNDER special edition hit DVD.

More observations on the great Roy Scheider

So long, Sport.

Catch ya later.

If we're counting TV, you've got Martin Sheen to contend with.

I may be misremembering, but didn't Henry Fonda and Jason Robards take on a slew of POTUS roles?

Whatever Hackman's up to, he simply cannot die with WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT as the last credit on his resume. :lol:

Aw man, bad news to see when you first log onto Mobius. I've always loved Scheider, starting with JAWS as a kid and then working through his filmography. Marty has put up a great list of his flicks worth seeing (I will definitely check out SOMEONE... ). I would also recommend the underrated COHEN & TATE, the over-the-top Eric Red film about two hitmen battling over a boy.

He wasn't the only one.

The only thing worse than having a favorite actor pass on is to go to Mobius and find that Richard Harland Smith has once again stolen the title of your blog post (it really is getting old, RHS).

Those interested can read my little makeshift obit here.

Thinking about Scheider over the past 24hrs, it’s strange how much I’ve been dwelling on Blue Thunder. It’s not a great film – I suppose it could be argued that it isn’t even really good – but I’ve always loved it. And not in a snarky, ironic way, like some 19yr old wearing a Shaw Bros logo on a vintage tee shirt, either. It reminds me of a time when a hired gun like Badham could gather a really good crop of actors (besides Scheider, there’s Malcolm McDowell, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, and one of the finest collections of sinister-faced character actors ever gathered) and fashion an exciting action thriller that left you feeling good, as opposed to Transformers, which made me feel like I’d just spent my child’s milk money on a 2 1/2hr session with a prostitute.

Let's see RHS trump *that*! :lol:

Two and a half hours with a pro? How much money does your kid spend on milk?

Judges?

Well, I didn't put it in my blog title, but McDowell's favorite catch phrase from Blue Thunder came immediately to mind when I heard about Roy's passing and I did use it my post about Roy.

Blue Thunder is one of those films like First Blood that has been cited as a progenitor of the current blockbuster and/or action film template. However, as you make mention of in your post, Blue Thunder, and First Blood for that matter, really does seem to be of a bygone age. And, no it certainly isn't a great film, but like the film or not, it is interesting to see how some of the attitudes, personalities, and stylistic approaches of the previous decade are still present in these much bigger, blockbuster-type productions of the early 1980s. Surely, there is some symbolism in the fact that Blue Thunder marks the final film appearance of Warren Oates, a 1970s figure if there ever was one. Richard Fleisher's Tough Enough, released a week after Blue Thunder and also starring Oates, was in fact completed in 1981 making Blue Thunder his true swan song. The end credits of Blue Thunder, in fact, includes a touching memorial to Oates.

Anyway, in tribute to Roy, I think I will finally go ahead and order that new version of the Blue Thunder DVD.

Jack Braddock (Warren Oates) to JAFO (Daniel Stern): "I had twenty years in this outfit, when your idea of a good time was sittin' in front of the TV tube, watchin' Bugs Bunny and gnawing on your fudgecicle."

I love my non-existent, thirsty son

This is genuinely stunning and sad news to me.

If you want to remember him well, pick up the dvd for ALL THAT JAZZ and give his commentary a listen.

In the interest of clarity (or confusion), I'd like to point out that the Scheider commentary is only available on the older, out-of-print ALL THAT JAZZ dvd. It's worth mentioning that this version is easy to find, and usually turns up on the $5.50 shelf at Target.

The newer "Music Version" (as opposed to the, um, non-music version) apparently discards the Scheider commentary in favor of an Alan Heim commentary. Because, ya know, a dvd containing more than one commentary track is apparently unheard of.

But, seriously, seek out this (older) dvd. Especially if you haven't seen film. That Scheider's character, an alter-ego for writer-director Bob Fosse spends the entire film "flirting with Death" (as played by Jessica Lange) makes it all the more eerie...

...and appropriate.

Hold tight, they grow up so fast - especially when not bound by the laws of physics.