Roy Scheider's Real Name: Roy Scheider

Quick answer: He was known as Roy Scheider, and that was his real name. Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Los Angeles Times both say he was born in Orange, New Jersey, on November 10, 1932. A Library of Congress record citing a book galley gives the fuller form Roy Richard Scheider. He died in Little Rock, Arkansas, on February 10, 2008.

Real name and early life

Britannica gives his birth as November 10, 1932, in Orange, New Jersey. The Los Angeles Times obituary says he was "reportedly" born on that date in Orange, but notes that in some interviews he suggested he was born in 1935. Both sources give the 1932 date.

The Times says he grew up in the New Jersey suburbs outside New York City and was, by his own account, a sickly, pudgy child who spent much time in bed. One of his greatest pleasures was Saturday matinees at a movie theater in Irvington, New Jersey. The obituary describes him as a former boxer. After a stint in the Air Force, he began acting at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then spent seven or eight years in classical theater.

Career highlights

The Times says his most acclaimed work came in about eight years in the 1970s, starting with The French Connection (1971). He played Det. Buddy Russo, the partner of Gene Hackman's "Popeye" Doyle, and earned a supporting actor Oscar nomination. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer he landed the part after a casting director saw him lose his temper at a stage audition.

He is best remembered as Martin Brody, the water-shy police chief in Jaws (1975), who says, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Britannica's coverage of the film describes Jaws as the first summer blockbuster. Scheider once said the role "will be on my tombstone."

His favorite part was the choreographer Joe Gideon, a thinly disguised Bob Fosse, in All That Jazz (1979). He had to learn to dance for it and received a best actor Oscar nomination. Britannica also lists Jaws 2 (1978) and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984). The Times says he appeared in more than 60 films across four decades.

Death

The Times says Scheider, who lived in Sag Harbor, New York, died on a Sunday afternoon at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock. A university spokeswoman said he died of complications from multiple myeloma, which he had been treated for over about three years. Britannica records his death on February 10, 2008.

Name notes for searchers

Roy Scheider was his real name, not a stage name. The middle name Richard appears in one Library of Congress record.