Best Known As: The star of Jaws and Close Encounters
In the late 1970s Richard Dreyfuss was a top box office star, thanks to starring roles in the Steven Spielberg blockbusters Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Dreyfuss grew up in New York and California and was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He began his acting career in repertory theater and improvisational comedy, followed by Broadway and off-Broadway plays and guest appearances on television. In 1973 he was the center of the George Lucas coming-of-age hit American Graffiti, and he earned critical praise the next year for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. By the end of the '70s he was a box office draw, known more for his onscreen energy than for his good looks. He won a best actor Oscar for his performance in the romantic comedy The Goodbye Girl (1977), but then his career took a downturn. Mediocre movies and a drug addiction kept Dreyfuss out of the limelight during the first half of the 1980s, but he bounced back with Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) and Tin Men (1987). A sturdy character actor and sometime leading man, his films include What About Bob? (1991, with Bill Murray), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995, with Alicia Witt) and Silver City (2004).
Dreyfuss was nominated for a best actor Oscar for Mr. Holland's Opus.
Born: Oct 29, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Occupation: Actor
Active: '70s-2000s
Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
Career Highlights: Jaws, American Graffiti, Once Around
First Major Screen Credit: Bewitched: Man's Best Friend (1966)
Biography
Stocky, frequently bespectacled, eventually balding, and prematurely gray, Richard Dreyfuss is an unlikely candidate for a movie star. Even so, he has been one of Hollywood's most versatile, charismatic, and energetic leading men since the mid-'70s. Born in Brooklyn, NY, on October 29, 1947, Dreyfuss moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was nine. There he became friends with Rob Reiner and began acting in school productions and at the Beverly Hills Jewish Community Center. He attended San Fernando Valley State College, but was expelled after getting into a heated argument with a professor over Marlon Brando's performance in Julius Caesar (1953). Not wanting to be drafted for Vietnam, he registered as a conscientious objector and spent two years as a clerk at a Los Angeles hospital instead of enlisting.
During this time, Dreyfuss started getting a few acting jobs on network television series such as Bewitched and Big Valley; he had his first film role in 1967's The Graduate, speaking the lines "Shall I call the cops? I'll call the cops" to Dustin Hoffman. He continued playing bit parts in a couple more films, but did not get his first big break until he played Baby Face Nelson in the bloody biopic Dillinger (1973). A memorable leading role as an intelligent, contemplative teen in George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973) earned Dreyfuss critical acclaim, as did his portrayal of an entrepreneurial Jewish youth in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974).
In 1975, the actor's career exploded when he starred as an arrogant shark expert in Steven Spielberg's Jaws. He worked for Spielberg again two years later, playing an average Midwestern working stiff who learns that we are not alone in the universe in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Further success followed that same year when Dreyfuss portrayed a failed actor in Neil Simon's romantic comedy The Goodbye Girl. His performance won him an Oscar, making him, at the age of 29, the youngest performer ever to receive the Best Actor honor. After that, Dreyfuss was in demand and, until 1981, he continued to find steady work in a number of films. However, none of these proved particularly popular, and the actor's career began to nosedive. Matters were worsened by his reported drug use and Hollywood party antics; in 1982, he was involved in a car accident and arrested for possession of cocaine.
In 2001, with his film career struggling a bit, Dreyfuss took his first stab at series television since 1964's short-lived sitcom Karen. The hour-long CBS drama The Education of Max Bickford starred the actor as a college history professor opposite Marcia Gay Harden and received largely positive reviews from critics. However, despite the accolades, the show failed to garner a substantial audience and was cancelled after one season.
The next few years saw little more from Dreyfuss than voice-work and a pair of forgettable made-for-TV movies. However, in 2004, he received high-marks for his performance in director John Sayles political satire Silver City, which cast the actor as a Karl Rove-esque advisor to a dimwitted politico. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Norman, an attorney and restaurateur,
and Geraldine, a peace activist.[1] Dreyfuss is Jewish[2][3] and his surname is of
Yiddish origin, a variant spelling meaning tripod (literally 'three
feet').[4] His surname is pronounced "DRAY-fuss". For
years, though, the public mispronounced it as "DRY-fuss" until he corrected them. He has said that according to family tradition,
he is either a direct descendant or at least a relative of Alfred Dreyfus.[5] This is disputed by others.[6] Dreyfuss spent his early childhood in Brooklyn and in Bayside, Queens, until he moved to Los Angeles with his
family at the age of nine. In 1965, he graduated from Beverly Hills High
School in Beverly Hills, California.
Dreyfuss's first film part was a small, uncredited role in The Graduate, and in
that film he had one line, "Shall I call the cops? I'll call the cops." He was also briefly seen as a stage hand in
Valley of the Dolls (he had a few lines). He made a strong impression in the
subsequent Dillinger and landed a role in the 1973 hit American Graffiti, acting with other future stars like Harrison
Ford. Dreyfuss played his first lead role in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. He went on to star in box office
hits Jaws and Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, both directed by Steven Spielberg. Dreyfuss
was originally supposed to reprise his role as Hooper in Jaws 2 as the character who found
Orca. The proposal was denied when Peter Benchley was asked to include this in the
screenplay. For his portrayal of a struggling actor in The Goodbye Girl, he won
an Oscar (at age 30), becoming the youngest actor to win a Best Actor Award (this record has since been surpassed by Adrien Brody).
Around 1978, Dreyfuss began to use cocaine frequently; his addiction came to a head four
years later, when he was arrested for possession of the drug at the scene of a collision between his car and a tree. He entered
rehab and made a Hollywood comeback with the film Down And Out In Beverly Hills.
In November 2004, he was scheduled to appear in The Producers in
London, but withdrew from the production a week before the opening night. The media
noted that Dreyfuss was still suffering from problems relating to an operation for a herniated disc in January, and that the part of Max Bialystock in the play is a physically
demanding one. His assistant for the production stated that Dreyfuss was accumulating physical injuries that required him to wear
physical therapy supports during rehearsals. Nathan Lane was brought in to replace Dreyfuss
in the London production.
Dreyfuss has also dabbled with writing, notably teaming up with Harry Turtledove in
1995 to write The Two Georges, a conspiracy
thriller set in an alternate reality in which the American colonies remained under British rule (published by Hodder and
Stoughton, ISBN 0-340-62826-X). Dreyfuss recorded the voiceover to the famous Apple, Inc.,
then Apple Computer, Inc., Think Different ad
campaign in 1999. The text of the ad begins, "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the
rebels..."
From 1983 until 1995, Dreyfuss was married to Jeramie Rain, with whom he had three
children. In 1999, he married Janelle Lacey. After divorcing Lacey, he married Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin on March 16, 2006,
in Harrisonburg, Virginia, while there to speak at James Madison University. Dreyfuss and Erokhin now live in San Diego.
He suffers from bipolar disorder. In 2006, he appeared in Stephen Fry's documentary, Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, in which Fry (who
also has the disorder) interviewed him about his life with manic-depression.[7]
Political activity
He has been outspoken on the issue of media informing policy, legislation, and public opinion in recent years, both speaking
and writing to express his sentiments regarding the importance of privacy, freedom of speech, democracy, and individual
accountability.[8]
