Richard Dreyfuss

'Richard Dreyfuss' (qv) is an American leading man, who has played his fair share of irritating pests and brash, ambitious hustlers.He was born Richard Stephen Dreyfus in Brooklyn, New York, to Geraldine (Robbins), an activist, and Norman Dreyfus, a restaurateur and attorney. His paternal grandparents were Austro-Hungarian Jewish immigrants, and his mother's family was Russian Jewish.Richard worked his way up through bit parts (_The Graduate (1967)_ (qv), for one) and TV before gaining attention with his portrayal of Baby Face Nelson in 'John Milius' (qv)' _Dillinger (1973)_ (qv). He gained prominence as a college-bound young man in _American Graffiti (1973)_ (qv) and as a nervy Jewish kid with high hopes in _The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)_ (qv). By the latter part of the 1970s Dreyfuss was established as a major star, playing leads (and alter-egos) for 'Steven Spielberg' (qv) in two of the top-grossing films of the that decade: _Jaws (1975)_ (qv) and _Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)_ (qv). He won a Best Actor Oscar in his first romantic lead as an out-of-work actor in _The Goodbye Girl (1977)_ (qv). Dreyfuss also produced and starred in the entertaining private eye movie _The Big Fix (1978)_ (qv). After a brief lull in the early 1980s, a well-publicized drug problem and a string of box-office disappointments (_The Competition (1980)_ (qv), _Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)_ (qv), _The Buddy System (1984)_ (qv)), a clean and sober Dreyfuss re-established himself in the mid-'80s as one of Hollywood's more engaging leads. He co-starred with 'Bette Midler' (qv) and 'Nick Nolte' (qv) in 'Paul Mazursky' (qv)'s popular _Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)_ (qv). That same year he provided the narration and appeared in the opening and closing "bookends" of 'Rob Reiner' (qv)'s nostalgic _Stand by Me (1986)_ (qv). He quickly followed that with _Nuts (1987)_ (qv) opposite 'Barbra Streisand' (qv), 'Barry Levinson' (qv)'s _Tin Men (1987)_ (qv) in a memorable teaming with 'Danny DeVito' (qv), and _Stakeout (1987)_ (qv) with 'Emilio Estevez' (qv). Dreyfuss continued working steadily through the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, most notably in Mazursky's farce _Moon Over Parador (1988)_ (qv), Spielberg's _Always (1989)_ (qv), _Postcards from the Edge (1990)_ (qv) and _Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)_ (qv). He appeared as a member of an ensemble that included 'Holly Hunter' (qv), 'Gena Rowlands' (qv) and 'Danny Aiello' (qv) in the romantic comedy _Once Around (1991)_ (qv) and as a pop psychiatrist, the author of several successful self-help books, who is driven to the edge by nutcase 'Bill Murray' (qv) in the popular comedy _What About Bob? (1991)_ (qv). Dreyfuss has also remained active in the theater ("Death and Maiden", 1992) and on TV. In his next project he starred the thriller _Silent Fall (1994)_ (qv) with 'John Lithgow' (qv) and 'Linda Hamilton' (qv), being the film debut of 'Liv Tyler' (qv), 'Steven Tyler' (qv)'s daughter ('Aerosmith' (qv)'s lead vocals). Just later Dreyfuss made _Another Stakeout (1993)_ (qv), sequel of _Stakeout (1987)_ (qv) where was team again with 'Emilio Estevez' (qv) accompanied of 'Rosie O'Donnell' (qv), the adaptation of 'Neil Simon' (qv)'s play _Lost in Yonkers (1993)_ (qv) and followed with a supporting turn as the querulous political opponent in _The American President (1995)_ (qv). Dreyfuss received some of the best notices of his career as a determined, inspiring music teacher coping with a deaf son and the demands of his career in _Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)_ (qv). Closing the 20th century he was in 'Sidney Lumet' (qv)'s _Night Falls on Manhattan (1996)_ (qv) with 'Andy Garcia' (qv), the crime comedy _Mad Dog Time (1996)_ (qv) as the mob boss Vic, the screwball comedy _Krippendorf's Tribe (1998)_ (qv) about an anthropologist who creates a false lost New Guinea tribe for not losing his job in the university, TV movie _Lansky (1999)_ (qv) about the infamous mob boss to end, the too TV movie _Fail Safe (2000)_ (qv) playing The President, and _The Crew (2000)_ (qv), about four older mobsters retired in Miami, partnering with Hollywood legends 'Burt Reynolds' (qv), 'Dan Hedaya' (qv) and 'Seymour Cassel' (qv).His start in the 21st century was with the adaption of 'Luis Sepúlveda' (qv)'s novel _The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (2001)_ (qv), playing an old man to must to hunt a female jaguar turned crazy. It was followed by the supporting apparition in the comedy _Who Is Cletis Tout? (2001)_ (qv) and another TV movie about 1981 'Ronald Reagan' (qv)'s shooting _The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001)_ (qv). After the short-lived TV series _The Education of Max Bickford (2001)_ (qv) about a teacher in a women's college where his daughter is student, Dreyfuss returned to cinema in _Silver City (2004)_ (qv) and the box-office bomb _Poseidon (2006)_ (qv) with 'Kurt Russell' (qv), 'Emmy Rossum' (qv) and 'Josh Lucas' (qv). Playing former vice-president Dick Cheney in the 'Oliver Stone' (qv)'s biopic _W. (2008)_ (qv) and Irv, the cunning tourist in Greece turned in assistant of a troubled tour guide in _My Life in Ruins (2009)_ (qv), Dreyfuss participated in low-budget productions as _Leaves of Grass (2009)_ (qv) and _The Lightkeepers (2009)_ (qv), for making a cameo in the wild and crazy _Piranha 3D (2010)_ (qv) about prehistoric men-eater piranhas that make a bloodbath in a spring break. Returning to first line playing evil Alexander Dunning in the actioner _RED (2010)_ (qv), his further productions included _Paranoia (2013)_ (qv) as 'Liam Hemsworth' (qv)'s father partnering 'Harrison Ford' (qv) and 'Gary Oldman' (qv), road movie _Cas & Dylan (2013)_ (qv) opposites 'Tatiana Maslany' (qv) and the biopic TV mini-series _Madoff (2016)_ (qv) about the infamous multi-billion-dollar and hustler 'Bernie Madoff' (qv). Tireless and always implied in new projects, Dreyfuss played George, the funny online date of 'Candice Bergen' (qv) in _Book Club (2018)_ (qv), the comedy and road movie _The Last Laugh (2019)_ (qv) with 'Chevy Chase' (qv), and the set in wilderness thriller _Daughter of the Wolf (2019)_ (qv) with 'Gina Carano' (qv) and 'Brendan Fehr' (qv). Making his 73rd birthday in 2020, Dreyfuss is an example of talent, diversity and love for his work, touching not only all the genres in cinema but leaving an unforgettable footprint at any of them.::A. 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