Jaws Actor Scheider Dead at 75

Oscar nominee appeared in more than 60 films
By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 11, 2008 7:39 AM CST
Jaws Actor Scheider Dead at 75
Roy Scheider   (Getty Images)

Actor Roy Scheider, famous for his roles in Jaws, All That Jazz, and The French Connection, died yesterday while being treated for multiple myeloma. He was believed to be 75, though he sometimes gave a different age in interviews, reports the Los Angeles Times. He once predicted that the Jaws role "will be on my tombstone."

Scheider worked nearly a decade in classical theater before making his name in film. His breakthrough role was in 1971's The French Connection, which he got after throwing the script down in a casting call for another project. He was an Air Force veteran and a longtime political activist who protested the Vietnam and Iraq wars. (More Roy Scheider stories.)

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