He can do anything, he’s the chief of police.
Roy Scheider was best known for his iconic role as Police Chief Martin Brody in the Steven Spielberg-directed hit “Jaws.” The New Jersey-born actor was also featured in a host of other classics such as “The French Connection,” “2010” and “Marathon Man.”
His breakout role came in 1971 in the thriller “Klute” alongside Jane Fonda.
On February 10, 2008, the film actor passed away at age 75 from multiple myeloma after starring in more than 40 big pictures and achieving two Oscar nominations.
In addition to his legendary acting alongside a great white, here are other iconic roles portrayed by Scheider:
Jaws
“Smile you son of a b—h”
Police Chief Brody (Scheider) proves the hero at the end of this best picture nominee. The officer comes face to face with the predator of this famous thriller just before pulling the trigger recites one of the most famous movie lines of all time.
2010
A sequel to “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the film “2010” – also known as “2010: The Year We make Contact” – was actually released in 1984. Scheider stars in this film as Dr. Heywood R. Floyd, an astronaut on a mission to discover the origin of an alien artifact.
The French Connection
In Scheider’s first Oscar-nominated film he portrays tough New York City cop, Det. Buddy Russo, in this police drama alongside partner Gene Hackman. The film features an iconic car chase Scheider and Hackman battling over who gets to bust a local crook.
All That Jazz
“All That Jazz” was a musical smash featuring Scheider as a choreographer and director who is both a perfectionist and a womanizer. He labeled this role his favorite character to play. Scheider landed his second Oscar nomination for this drama.
In this final scene, he dances and sings on stage with Ben Vereen during the hit “Bye Bye Life” from the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love”
Marathon Man
The Marathon Man, is actually Scheider’s character’s brother in the film, while Scheider plays a government agent chasing down a Nazi war criminal.
This classic fight scene is one of Scheider’s violent attacks against an intruder in a Paris hotel room.
Jaws
A second classic scene from “Jaws” can’t be passed up. Upon getting a glimpse of the enormous monster living under the water, he cries out “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
The Seven-Ups
Once again, Scheider plays a tough New York City cop who is running the unit called “The Seven-Ups” The film debuted in 1973 and centered on the use of secret police information to catch and kidnap local mobsters.
Scheider finds himself in a high speed car chase through the city and out onto more rural highways.
