Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Oct. 29, 1947, Richard Dreyfuss did extensive theatre work before breaking into small television roles. In 1967, he made his film debut with bit parts in The Graduate and Valley of the Dolls, and a major role in The Young Runaways (1968) followed. But his breakthrough role wouldn't come until 1973, when he portrayed sensitive high school graduate Curt Henderson in the nostalgia hit American Graffiti.Next came roles in back-to-back mega-hits for Steven Spielberg -- Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Dreyfuss also was memorable as fidgety actor Elliot Garfield in The Goodbye Girl, a role that made him one of the youngest Best Actor Oscar winners in history. He was nominated again for Mr. Holland's Opus (1995).
Dreyfuss's other films include Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Stakeout, What About Bob?, Krippendorf's Tribe and Silver City.
American Graffiti: Collector's EditionShowcasing then-Hollywood-newcomers Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard, director George Lucas weaves together the stories of a disparate group of teenagers as they struggle with adolescent rites of passage in 1962. On the night before two of them leave for college, four high school... Read More
PiranhaRavenous piranhas with razor-sharp teeth terrorize Lake Havasu vacationers in director Alexandre Aja's remake of Joe Dante's campy 1978 horror film, itself a satire of Steven Spielberg's Jaws. When an earthquake tears open the bottom of Lake Havasu, schools of carnivorous piranhas are released from... Read More
AlwaysDirected by Steven Spielberg, this affecting remake of A Guy Named Joe stars Richard Dreyfuss as brash Pete Sandich, a firefighting pilot who dies in the line of duty but returns as a guardian angel to fledgling aviator Ted Baker (Brad Johnson). Pete's task takes an unexpected twist, however, when... Read More
Mr. Holland's OpusIn 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired... Read More
The LightkeepersRichard Dreyfuss stars as solitary lighthouse keeper Seth Atkins, who no longer thinks he needs women until well-kept Ruth (Mamie Gummer) and her housekeeper, Mrs. Bascom (Blythe Danner), arrive. An unexpected romance is rekindled when Seth is forced to confront a past love. Daniel Adams writes and... Read More
