Born in Orange, New Jersey, Roy Scheider had a career spanning four decades, making more than 60 films, as well as playing numerous roles on stage and television. He graduated as a history major with the intention of going to law school, but after serving for three years in the US air force, he decided to become an actor, spending seven years in theatre. He first appeared in 1964 in The Curse of the Living Corpse, with his first big role and Oscar nomination in the 1971 film The French Connection.
Roy Scheider, diagnosed with blood cancer in 2005, passed away at age 75 in Little Rock, Arkansas of complications from a staph infection
