So long, Roy...

Roy Scheider was always an actor I admired and looked up to as a young cinephile. Yes, he's most well known for his role as "Chief Brody" in the two first two Jaws films, though, notice how the obits only talk about the original and never the sequel, which i thought was a pretty good ride in and of itself. There were times when I felt Roy Scheider might have been trying to overextend himself as an actor such as his roles in Naked Lunch (his first appearance as the seemingly benign Dr. Benway is priceless) and Romeo is Bleeding (the latter a shit film in spite of Scheider's efforts). But it was really the '70s where he had hit his stride with roles in French Connection, Klute (as a pimp!), the two Jaws films, The Seven-Ups and All That Jazz. Of course, who could forget his work with William Friedken in the ill-fated movie Sorcerer (of which I was always a fan). I was 10 years old when Blue Thunder (1984) came out, and I thought that was just about the coolest movie I'd ever seen (it actually does hold up pretty well, plus it's got a good villainous turn from Malcom McDowell). Roy Scheider's work in Blue Thunder, by all means a routine renegade-cop action film, showcased how he could really bring his trademarked intensity to an otherwise conventional role and elevate the project as a whole. He was awesome.

Roy Scheider always possessed a very unique and unmistakable quality that was both disarming and completely likable. Even when playing less than savory roles - his presence always made me fond for him as a person. I felt like he was, in many ways, my "cinematic dad." He was the father figure in the first two Jaws films and there was just something indelibly old-school in his charm that, I suppose, reminded me of my own father.

I harbored aspirations to meet Roy Scheider and tell him how much he meant to me as a performer, actor, and all around cool person. I wanted him to sign a copy of his headshot I had picked up a few years ago on ebay and flaunt my collection of Jaws 2 baseball cards (trust me, i have plenty to flaunt). I'd probably make him laugh, maybe even quote him from some of his films, and then tell him something he'd never see coming... "I'm going to write the new Jaws film and we want to bring Chief Brody back and pretend that Jaws 3 & 4 never happened. It'll be called Jaws 5000 and will feature gigantic flying sharks that attack people in water, air and land." My enthusiasm would win him over and I'd be on my way to a successful hackneyed career in B-movie Hollywood. That dream died last night.

Roy - i'm gonna miss you! Thanks for being.