Roy Scheider (born November 10, 1932) is an American actor.
Born in Orange, New Jersey, was an athlete as a child, participating in organized baseball and boxing competitions. Scheider traded his boxing gloves for the stage, studying drama at both Rutgers University and Franklin and Marshall College. After three years in the United States Air Force, he appeared with the New York Shakespeare Festival, and won an Obie Award in 1968.
Scheider’s first film role was in a forgettable horror film in 1963 called Curse of the Living Corpse (he was billed as “Roy R. Sheider"). In 1971 he appeared in two highly popular movies, Klute and The French Connection, the latter garnering him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1975, Scheider starred in Jaws, and in 1978 its first sequel. In 1979, he broke the tough-guy stereotype he had found himself in by starring as musical theater director Joe Gideon in Bob Fosse’s autobiographical movie All That Jazz, for which he was nominated for Best Actor.
Scheider has continued to make movies through the years, and also starred in the Steven Spielberg-produced television series seaQuest DSV.