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Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an Oscar-winning American actor.

Biography

Early life

Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish American parents Norman, an attorney and restauranteur, and Geraldine, a peace activist. His surname is Yiddish (a variant spelling of the surname literally meaning tripod). He spent his early childhood in Brooklyn and in Bayside, Queens, until he moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine.

Career

Dreyfuss's acting career began while as a youth at the Beverly Hills Jewish Center. He debuted in the TV production In Mama's House when he was fifteen. He attended the San Fernando Valley State College (later re-named California State University, Northridge) for a year. He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and worked in alternate service for two years as a clerk in a Los Angeles hospital. During this time, he acted in a few small TV roles on shows like Peyton Place, Bewitched and The Big Valley. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he also performed on stage on Broadway, off-Broadway, repertory, and improvisational theater.

Dreyfuss's first film part was a small, uncredited role in The Graduate; in that film he has only one line, "Shall I call the cops? I'll call the cops." He made a strong impression in the subsequent Dillinger and landed a role in the 1973 hit American Graffiti, acting with other future stars like Harrison Ford.

Dreyfuss played his first lead role in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. He went on to star in box office hits Jaws and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, both directed by Steven Spielberg. For his portrayal of a struggling actor in The Goodbye Girl, he won an Oscar (at age 30), becoming the youngest actor at the time to ever win a Best Actor Award (this record has since been surpassed by Adrien Brody).

Between 1978 and 1982, Dreyfuss acted in several films, but none did particularly well at the box office. This led to a growing drug dependency, which ended one night in 1982 when his car hit a tree, and he was arrested for cocaine possession. He entered rehab and made a Hollywood comeback with the film Down And Out In Beverly Hills. In 1995, Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland's Opus. Since then he has continued his career not only in the movies, but also in television and on stage. In April 2004, he appeared in the revival of Sly Fox on Broadway (opposite Eric Stoltz, René Auberjonois, Bronson Pinchot and Elizabeth Berkley).

In November 2004, he was scheduled to appear in The Producers in London, but withdrew from the production a week before the opening night. The media noted that Dreyfuss was still suffering from problems relating to an operation for a herniated disc in January, and that the part of Max Bialystock in the play is a physically demanding one. His assistant for the production stated that Dreyfuss was accumulating physical injuries that required him to wear physical therapy supports during rehearsals. Nathan Lane was brought in to replace Dreyfuss in the London production.

Dreyfuss has also dabbled with writing, notably teaming up with Harry Turtledove in 1995 to write The Two Georges, a conspiracy thriller set in an alternate reality in which the American colonies remained under British rule (published by Hodder and Stoughton, ISBN 0-340-62826-X).

He appeared as one of the survivors in the 2006 film Poseidon.

Dreyfuss is currently a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony's College, University of Oxford.

He claims to be a direct descendant of Alfred Dreyfus.

Personal life

From 1983 until 1995, Dreyfuss was married to Jeramie Rain, with whom he had three children. In 1999, he married Janelle Lacey. After divorcing Lacey, he married Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin on March 16, 2006, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, while there to speak at James Madison University. Dreyfuss and Erokhin now live in New York.

He suffers from bipolar disorder. In 2006, he appeared in Stephen Fry's documentary, Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, in which Fry (who also has the disorder) interviewed him about his life with manic-depression. [1]

Political activity

He has been outspoken on the issue of media informing policy, legislation and public opinion in recent years, both speaking and writing to express his sentiments regarding the importance of privacy, freedom of speech, democracy and individual accountability. [2]

Dreyfuss has organized and promoted campaigns to inform and instruct audiences in potential erosion of individual rights. On 16 February, 2006, Dreyfuss spoke at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and called for President Bush to be impeached for his role in the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy.

On 17 November, 2006, Dreyfuss appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher as a panel member to discuss the importance of teaching civics in schools.

Filmography

• Poseidon (2006)
• Silver City (2004)
• Who is Cletis Tout? (2001)
• The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (2001)
• Krippendorf's Tribe (1998)
• Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)
• Mad Dog Time (1996)
• James and the Giant Peach (1996)
• Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
• The American President (1995)
• The Last Word (1995)
• Silent Fall (1994)
• Another Stakeout (1993)
• Lost in Yonkers (1993)
• What About Bob? (1991)
• Prisoner of Honor (1991)
• Once Around (1991)
• Postcards from the Edge (1990)
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
• Always (1989)
• Let It Ride (1989)
• Moon Over Parador (1988)
• Nuts (1987)
• Stakeout (1987)
• Tin Men (1987)
• Stand By Me (1986)
• Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986)
• The Buddy System (1984)
• Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
• The Competition (1980)
• The Big Fix (1978)
• The Goodbye Girl (1977) - won Academy Award for Best Actor
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
• Victory At Entebbe (1976)
• Jaws (1975)
• Inserts (1975)
• The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974)
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
• Dillinger (1973)
• American Graffiti (1973)
• Hello Down There (1969)
• The Young Runaways (1968)
• The Graduate (1967)

Miscellaneous

Dreyfuss co-authored, with Harry Turtledove, the book "The Two Georges" about an alternative outcome to the American War of Independence.

External link

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