Richard DreyfussBirth Place: Brooklyn, New York, USA Date of Birth: October 29, 1947 Heritage: American Contact Richard Dreyfuss | 
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The Goodbye Girl Background: “I don't think film acting is necessarily a triumph of technique. Film stardom is a friendship that happens between an audience and a performer. It’s like you meet someone and you click with that person for whatever reason.” Richard Dreyfuss Multi-talented Richard Dreyfuss won an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for his starring performance as Elliot Garfield in Herbert Ross' “The Goodbye Girl” (1977), from which he also netted a BAFTA Award, a Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award and a David di Donatello Award. He picked up an Academy Award nomination almost twenty years later after playing Glenn Holland in Stephen Herek's dramatic film “Mr. Holland's Opus” (1995). He also offered notable performances in such films as “The Young Runaways” (1968), “American Graffiti” (1973), “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” (1974), “Jaws” (1975), “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1986), “Tin Men” (1986), “Nuts” (1987), “Postcards from the Edge” (1990), “What About Bob” (1991), “The American President” (1995), “Who Is Cletis Tout” (2001), “The Old Man Who Read Love Stories” (2001), “Poseidon” (2006), “W” (2008), “My Life in Ruins” (2009) and “Leaves of Grass” (2009). The actor gained recognition on the small screen thanks to his work in the Showtime film “The Day Reagan Was Shot” (2001, received a Golden Satellite award and a Screen Actors Guild nomination) and the CBS series “The Education of Max Bickford” (2001-2002, earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination). He has also acted in the Broadway productions “But, Seriously...” (1969), “Death and the Maiden” (1992) and “Sly Fox” (2004). For his contribution to motion pictures, Dreyfuss was awarded a Star on the Walk of Fame. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2000 Hollywood Film Festival, the Desert Palm Achievement Award from the 1997 Palm Springs International Film Festival, a Master Screen Artist Tribute at the 1994 USA Film Festival and the Man of the Year Award from the 1978 Hasty Pudding Theatricals. He was also handed a Grand Prix Special des Amériques at the 1999 Montréal World Film Festival. One of the Empire magazine's “Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” (1997), Dreyfuss currently resides in San Diego, California, with his wife Svetlana Erokhin. Dreyfuss was previously married to Jeramie Rain (1983-1995), with whom he has three children, and Janelle Lacey (1999-2005). Dreyfuss experienced a well publicized drug problem in the early 1980s. He also suffers from bipolar disorder. In 2006, he appeared in a Stephen Fry documentary titled “Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive,” where Fry, who also has the disorder, interviewed him about his life.
Childhood and Family: Richard Stephen Dreyfus was born on October 29, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York, to Norman Dreyfus, an attorney who later became a restaurateur, and Gerry Dreyfus, a peace activist. His mother died from complications of a stroke on October 19, 2000. His older brother is actor, film producer and screenwriter Lorin Dreyfuss (born December 4, 1944). When Richard was 9, his family moved to Beverly Hills, California, and young Richard decided to become an actor. He began performing in plays at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. He attended Beverly Hills High School, along with Rob Reiner and Albert Brooks, and performed at the Gallery Theater in L.A. After graduating high school, he enrolled at San Fernando Valley State College but was kicked out after getting into a heated argument with a theater professor. He registered as a conscientious objector in order to avoid serving in the Vietnam War and worked as a clerk at a Los Angeles hospital for two years. On March 20, 1983, Richard married actress Jeramie Rain (born August 23, 1948), but they divorced in August 1995. The marriage produced a daughter, Emily (born in November 1983) and sons Benjamin (born in June 1986) and Harry (born August 9, 1990). Richard married Janelle Lacey on May 30, 1999. The couple divorced in 2005. He married his present wife, Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin, on March 16, 2006.
Career: Richard Dreyfuss first began acting at the West Side Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. As a teenager, he made his professional stage debut in “In Mama's House” (1964) at the Gallery Theatre in Los Angeles. Also that year, he appeared on television in an episode of the NBC sitcom “Karen” called “Karen's Simplicity Complex.” More guest stints followed, including appearances in “Gidget” (1966), “Bewitched” (1966), “The Big Valley” (1967), “Hey, Landlord” (1967) and “The Second Hundred Years” (1967). In 1966, he was seen in a production of “The Session with Larry Bishop,” which was directed by Rob Reiner. He made his Broadway debut in “But, Seriously...” (1969). Dreyfuss' big screen career began with unaccredited parts in the film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's novel “Valley of the Dolls” (1967) and Mike Nichols' “The Graduate” (1967), which was based on the novel of the same name by Charles Webb. He then delivered a memorable performance in “The Young Runaways” (1968), a film starring Brooke Bundy, Kevin Coughlin and Patty McCormack. He next portrayed the supporting role of Harold Webster in the musical comedy “Hello Down There” (1969), which was directed by Jack Arnold and Ricou Browning and starred Tony Randall and Janet Leigh. In addition to an appearance in Israel Horowitz's off-Broadway play “Line” (1971), Dreyfuss appeared in episodes of various TV series during the early 1970s, such as “The Bold Ones: The New Doctors,” “Room 222,” “You Are There,” “The Mod Squad,” “Gunsmoke” and “Catch-22,” among others. He also acted in the TV films “Untold Damage” (1971), “Two for the Money” (1972) and “The Shadow of a Gunman” (1972, as Tommy Owen). He resumed his film career as Baby Face Nelson in John Milius' “Dillinger” (1973), a gangster movie about the life and criminal exploits of notorious bank robber John Dillinger (played by Warren Oates). However, he did not gain real momentum until he was cast as college-bound Curt Henderson in the George Lucas coming-of-age movie “American Graffiti” (1973), opposite Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford. The film was critically and commercially successful and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Dreyfuss was nominated for a 1974 Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for his performance. Following his success in “American Graffiti,” Dreyfuss landed his first lead role in the Canadian “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” (1974). The film was a box office success in Canada and collected various major recognitions, including an Oscar nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film, a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium and a Golden Berlin Bear at the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival. Also in 1974, the actor appeared in Michael Barry's “The Second Coming of Suzanne” and the British drama “Inserts,” opposite Jessica Harper, Bob Hoskins and Veronica Cartwright. In 1975, Dreyfuss was cast in the starring role of marine biologist Matt Hooper in the Steven Spielberg directed thriller “Jaws,” alongside Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Murray Hamilton and Lorraine Gary. Based on the novel of the same name by Peter Benchley, the film was a huge success at the box office and grossed over $470 million worldwide against a budget of $9 million. The film was also a hit with critics. It won three Academy Awards and was nominated for Best Picture Award, among other accolades. Dreyfuss received a BAFTA nomination in the category of Best Actor for his effort. After playing Colonel Yoni Netanyahu in the TV film “Victory at Entebbe” (1976), opposite Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster and Elizabeth Taylor, Dreyfuss had an unaccredited role in Michael Winner's “The Sentinel” (1977). He then offered a notable performance as Roy Neary, a man who forms an obsession with unidentified flying objects, in the science fiction movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), his second collaboration with Steven Spielberg. The role brought him a Saturn nomination for Best Actor from the 1978 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Still in 1977, Dreyfuss attracted major attention with his portrayal of Elliot Garfield in “The Goodbye Girl,” a dramatic comedy directed by Herbert Ross that was written by Neil Simon. As an actor forced to share an apartment with a dancer and her daughter in the film, he was handed an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance, making the then-33 year old actor the youngest ever to win the category at the time. The role also earned him a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy, a BAFTA for Best Actor, a Kansas City Film Critics Circle for Best Actor, a Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Actor and a David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor. In 1978, Dreyfuss starred as private detective Moses Wine in the film “The Big Fix,” opposite Susan Anspach, Bonnie Bedelia, John Lithgow, Ofelia Medina and F. Murray Abraham. The film also marked the actor's first venture as a producer. He followed it up starring as a piano prodigy in the Joel Oliansky drama “The Competition” (1980). Both films, however, were box office disappointments and he was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Actor for his performance in the latter. In between the films, he portrayed the role of Iago in “Othello” (1979) with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park. In 1981, Dreyfuss starred as a paralyzed sculptor in John Badham's “Whose Life Is It Anyway,” but was forced to put acting on the backburner after a car crash in 1982 and being arrested for possession of cocaine and prescription drugs. The felony charges were later dropped after he followed the court's order to attend rehabilitation and successfully completed the program. Clean and sober, Dreyfuss returned to acting costarring with Nick Nolte and Bette Midler in the Paul Mazursky comedy “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1986), which was adapted from the French play “Boudu sauvé des eaux.” The same year, he narrated director Rob Reiner's feature film “Stand by Me.” He next gave superb performances in Barry Levinson's “Tin Men” (with Danny DeVito and Barbara Hershey) and John Badham's hit “Stakeout” (with Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn and Forest Whitaker). He also portrayed public defender Aaron Levinsky in the Martin Ritt drama “Nuts” (1987), opposite Barbra Streisand, a role that brought him a Golden Globe nomination in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in 1988. Also in 1987, he produced, wrote and hosted the ABC TV special “Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville.” Dreyfuss was reunited with Mazursky in “Moon Over Parador” (1988), where he starred as film actor Jack Noah, was cast as a gambler in Joe Pytka's “Let It Ride” (1989), starred as Pete Sandich in the remake “Always” (1989), his third movie with director Spielberg, and was featured in Tom Stoppard's “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead” (1990), for which he netted a Pasinetti Award for Best Actor at the 1990 Venice Film Festival. He went on to play roles in Mike Nichols' “Postcards from the Edge” (1990, starred Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine), Lasse Hallstrom's “Once Around” (1991), which he also co-produced, and Frank Oz's “What About Bob” (1991, as Bill Murray's shrink). He also executive produced and starred in the HBO TV film “Prisoner of Honor” (1991), which was directed by Ken Russell. Next up for Dreyfuss, he appeared in the feature film version of Neil Simon's play “Lost in Yonkers” (1993), Badham's “Another Stakeout” (1993), Bruce Beresford's “Silent Fall” (1994), “The Last Word” (1995) and Rob Reiner's “The American President” (1995, as Senator Bob Rumson). He was also cast as musician and composer Glenn Holland in Stephen Herek's dramatic film “Mr. Holland's Opus” (1995), for which he took home an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Golden Globe in the same category. The film grossed over $106 million worldwide. 1995 also saw the actor direct the short film “Present Tense, Past Perfect” (aired on Showtime). Dreyfuss then costarred with Andy García, Ian Holm, James Gandolfini and Lena Olin in Sidney Lumet's “Night Falls on Manhattan” (1996), with Jeff Goldblum, Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin and Diane Lane in Larry Bishop's “Mad Dog Time” (1996), and co-produced and starred as Fagin in the TV film adaptation of “Oliver Twist” (ABC, 1997). He was then cast as anthropologist James Krippendorf in Todd Holland's “Krippendorf’s Tribe” (1998) and starred as infamous Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky in the HBO TV film “Lansky” (1999), which was scripted by David Mamet and directed by John McNaughton. Meanwhile on stage, Dreyfuss returned to Broadway with a performance in “Death and the Maiden” (1992), opposite Glenn Close and Gene Hackman. He made his stage directorial debut with “Hamlet” (1994) for the Birmingham Theatre Company in England and costarred with Christine Lahti in the Los Angeles stage production of “Three Hotels” (1995). He then worked again with Marsha Mason in the stage play “House” (1998). Entering the new millennium, Dreyfuss was seen in the TV film “Fail Safe” (2000), the comedy “The Crew” (2000), “The Old Man Who Read Love Stories” (2001), in which he received a Film Critics Circle of Australia nomination for Best Actor-Male for his performance as Antonio Bolivar, and “Who Is Cletis Tout” (2001, as Micah Tobias). He earned notice on television with his portrayal of U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig in the Showtime TV film “The Day Reagan Was Shot” (2001), from which he won a Golden Satellite for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television. He was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. He gained further success on the small screen portraying Max Bickford in the CBS series “The Education of Max Bickford” (2001-2002, also a producer) and was nominated for a 2002 Screen Actors Guild in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for her performance. Dreyfuss next portrayed Barnaby Pierce in the TV film “Coast to Coast” (2003), costarred with Chris Cooper in John Sayles' political satire “Silver City” (2004), supported Blair Brown, Theresa Burkhart and Annie Campbell in the TV film “Copshop” (2004) and revisited Broadway in “Sly Fox” (2004), opposite Elizabeth Berkley. He was then cast in director Wolfgang Petersen's remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” (2006), narrated the TV documentary “Ocean of Fear: Worst Shark Attack Ever” (2007) and portrayed Mystic Man in the TV miniseries “Tin Man” (2007). He also worked in Oliver Stone's biopic “W” (2008, played U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney), Donald Petrie's “My Life in Ruins” (2009), “Happiness Isn't Everything” (TV movie, 2009), Tim Blake Nelson's “Leaves of Grass” (2009, with Edward Norton, Susan Sarandon and Keri Russell) and Daniel Adams' “The Lightkeepers” (2009, with Bruce Dern and Blythe Danner). In 2009, Dreyfuss also appeared in Joe Sutton's “Complicit” at London's Old Vic Theater (directed by Kevin Spacey) and received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word for the album “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.” In 2010, Dreyfuss worked with Elisabeth Shue in the thriller “Piranha 3-D,” played Alexander Dunning in Robert Schwentke's “Red,” opposite Bruce Willis, Karl Urban, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren, and had a recurring role on “Weeds,” playing Warren Schiff. Dreyfuss will star as Virgil in Laura Cayouette's “Lone Star Trixie.” He will also portray Charles Crocker in Daniel Adams' western “The Big Valley” (2011) and Ezra in Luisa Pretolani's film “Different Kind of Love” (2011).
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