Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (/ˈdraɪfəs/ DRY-fəs; né Dreyfus;[1] born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Goodbye Girl (1977), The Competition (1980), Stand by Me (1986), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Stakeout (1987), Nuts (1987), Always (1989), What About Bob? (1991), The American President (1995), and Mr. Holland's Opus (1995).
Richard Dreyfuss
October 29, 1947
Actor
1964–present
- Lorin Dreyfuss (brother)
- Natalie Dreyfuss (niece)
Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1977 for The Goodbye Girl (at the time, the youngest-ever actor—age 30–to win), and was nominated in the same category for Mr. Holland's Opus in 1995. He is the recipient of a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, and was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2002; for his starring role in the CBS drama series The Education of Max Bickford, and his portrayal of Alexander Haig in the Showtime film The Day Reagan Was Shot, respectively.
Early life[edit]
Dreyfuss was born on October 29, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York, the second and younger son of Norman Dreyfuss (1920–2013), an attorney, restaurateur and plastics company owner originally from a "violent gang culture in Brooklyn",[2] and Geraldine (née Robbins; 1921–2000),[3] a peace activist. He is the second child of three children. He had an older brother, Lorin Dreyfuss (1944-2021), who was an actor, film producer and screenplay writer, and a younger sister, Cathy.[4] His father Norman suffered from the debilitating physical effects of a mortar explosion at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, requiring the use of crutches, canes, and special footwear provided by the Army for the rest of his life. He left the family when his son was 21 years old, and remarried more than once; he and his son were not on speaking terms at the time of his death.[2]
Dreyfuss was raised in the Bayside area of Queens, New York.[5] His family is Jewish, descended from immigrants from Russia and Poland; the Dreyfuss family was from Rzeszow.[6][7] He has commented that he "grew up thinking that Alfred Dreyfus and [he] are from the same family" and that his great-grand aunt was Hesya Helfman, one of the assassins of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and the only one to escape execution for the deed.[8][9] His father disliked New York, and moved the family first to Europe, and later to Los Angeles, California, when Dreyfuss was nine.[10][11] Dreyfuss attended Beverly Hills High School.[11]
Other work[edit]
The Dreyfuss Civics Initiative[edit]
Dreyfuss seeks to revive civics education to teach future generations about the power of their citizenship and the principles that hold America together.[37] In 2006, he created The Dreyfuss Civics Initiative (TDCI).[38][39] TDCI is a 501(c)3 designated organization, recognized as of 2008.[40]
On February 16, 2006, he spoke at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in hopes of prompting a national discussion on impeachment charges against U.S. President George W. Bush.[41] On November 17, 2006, Dreyfuss appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher as a panel member to discuss teaching Civics in schools.[42] In 2007, Dreyfuss appeared in the youth voting documentary film 18 in '08.
Politics[edit]
Dreyfuss has been outspoken regarding the media's influence in shaping public opinion, policy, and legislation. In the 2000s, he expressed his sentiments in favor of right to privacy, freedom of speech, democracy, and individual accountability.[43] In 2011 and 2014, Dreyfuss was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board.
In May 2023, Dreyfuss spoke out against the Academy Awards' new diversity guidelines that require films to have met at least two of four benchmarks, including that the lead actors are from underrepresented groups or that at least 30% of the cast and crew come from these groups. During an interview with Margaret Hoover, host of the PBS show The Firing Line, Dreyfuss claimed that the new guidelines "make me vomit". Dreyfuss explained that he was opposed to the guidelines because movie-making is "an art form ... and no one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give into the latest, most current idea of what morality is."[44][45]
Books and articles[edit]
In 1995, Dreyfuss co-authored with science-fiction writer Harry Turtledove the book The Two Georges, a novel set in the year 1995 of a timeline in which the American Revolution was peacefully avoided.[46][47] In 2002, he authored One Thought Scares Me...: We Teach Our Children What We Wish Them to Know; We Don't Teach Our Children What We Don't Wish Them to Know about the teaching of civics in American schools.