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Richard Dreyfuss
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Biography
American leading man who has played his fair share of irritating pests and brash, ambitious hustlers, Dreyfuss worked his way up through bit parts (The Graduate 1967, etc.) and TV before gaining attention with his portrayal of Baby Face Nelson in John Milius's Dillinger (1973). He gained prominence as a college-bound young man in American Graffiti (1973) and as a nervy Jewish kid with high hopes in The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz (1974). By the second half of the 1970s, Dreyfuss was established as a major star, playing leads (and alter-egos) for Steven Spielberg in two of the top-grossing films of the 70s, Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977). He won a Best Actor Oscar in his first romantic lead as an out-of-work actor in The Goodbye Girl (1978). Dreyfuss also produced and starred in the entertaining private eye movie The Big Fix (1978). After a brief lull in the early 80s, a well-publicized drug problem, and a succession of commercial disappointments (The Competition 1980, Whose Life Is It Anyway? 1981, The Buddy System 1984), 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 and Nick Nolte in Paul Mazursky's popular Down And Out In Beverly Hills (1986). That same year, Dreyfuss provided the narration and appeared in the opening and closing "bookends" of Rob Reiner's nostalgic Stand By Me. He quickly followed up with Nuts opposite Barbra Streisand, Barry Levinson's Tin Men with Danny De Vito, and Stakeout with Emilio Estevez (all 1987). Dreyfuss continued working steadily through the end of the 80s and into the 90s, most notably in Mazursky's Moon Over Parador (1988), Spielberg's Always (1989), Postcards From The Edge, and Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (both 1990). He appeared as a member of an ensemble that included Holly Hunter, Gena Rowlands, and Danny Aiello in the romantic comedy, Once Around and opposite Bill Murray in the successful comedy, What About Bob? (both 1991). Dreyfuss has also remained active in the theater (Death And The Maiden 1992) and on TV. He returned to features in the adaptation of Neil Simon's play Lost In Yonkers (1993) and followed with a supporting turn as the querulous political opponent of The American President (1995). 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).
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Spouse
Jeramie Rain (1983 - 1992) (divorced); 3 children
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Trivia
(October 1997) Ranked #81 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
Suffered a, well publicised, drugs problem in the early 1980s.
Three Children: Emily, Benejamin (b.1986) and Harry (1990)
Brother of Lorin Dreyfuss
Son of Geraldine Dreyfuss
Is left-handed |  |
