About Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( DRY-fəs; né Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received numerous acting honors, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Satellite Award, a David di Donatello Award, a Saturn Award, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Actor Awards, two Photoplay Awards, and a Grammy Award. Dreyfuss rose to prominence with starring roles in American Graffiti (1973), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), Jaws (1975), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Elliot Garfield in the 1977 romantic comedy The Goodbye Girl, and was Oscar-nominated in the same category for his title role in the 1995 drama Mr. Holland's Opus. His other film credits include The Competition (1980), Stand by Me (1986), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Stakeout (1987), Nuts (1987), Always (1989), Postcards from the Edge (1990), What About Bob? (1991), The American President (1995), Poseidon (2006), W. (2008), Piranha 3D (2010), and Red (2010). On television, Dreyfuss starred as the title character on the CBS drama series The Education of Max Bickford (2001–2002), for which he was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor. He also portrayed Fagin in the 1997 Disney adaptation of Oliver Twist, Meyer Lansky in HBO's Lansky (1999), Alexander Haig in Showtime's The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001), and Bernie Madoff in the ABC miniseries Madoff (2016). His father disliked New York, and briefly moved the family first to Europe in February 1956, and then with funds running low, returned home and relocated to Los Angeles the same year when Dreyfuss was nine. Dreyfuss's first film role was a brief, uncredited appearance in The Graduate (1967), where he came up behind the landlord and said "Shall I get the cops? Dreyfuss played his first lead role in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), receiving positive reviews, including praise from Pauline Kael. He has received an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globe.
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