Roy Scheider 1932-2008

This is a bit of a corny remembrance. Sorry...

After living in the Los Angeles area for about a year to the day now, I'm still underwhelmed by L.A. proper, and Hollywood. The downtown area and the land where stars make dreams, and dreams make stars are both pretty damn disgusting and run-down, but back in the Summer of '93 I took my first trip out here as a 16-year-old-kid from a small Texas town, which was my first trip to a big city (besides Dallas or Houston), and I was pretty star-struck for lack of a better term. Besides fearing for my life on the freeway system, I was trying my best to keep an eagle-eye out for star sightings. So one night, while sightseeing down Sunset Blvd. with my family, we decided to stop into Book Soup, and who should I spot looking cool as Hell in a black leather jacket, but Roy Scheider, Chief Brody himself. I just kind of did the whole touristy staring thing briefly, and went to another area of the store, completely mancrushing-out over one of my favorite actors of all time.

There was no way in Hell that I could've talked to him. I was just too intimidated at the fact that one of my childhood heroes was in the same bookstore as I was...

BLUE THUNDER (one of the first movies I ever saw in a theater and one of the most underrated 80s action flicks), JAWS, 2010 (the decent, but unfortunate sequel to one of the greatest films ever made), SORCERER (the very-good remake of WAGES OF FEAR), MARATHON MAN, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, TIGER TOWN, STILL OF THE NIGHT, 52 PICK-UP... His stranger, more twisted turns in NAKED LUNCH and ROMEO IS BLEEDING... Some are indisputable classics, some are just solid entertainments, but one thing is for sure, he always turned in a great performance. He was never one to chew scenery, or to go method, just one to deliver the goods as realistically as possible. I probably should have said something to him, as I've only heard good things about the type of person he was, and now that he's dead, I really do regret not trying to get a handshake, or a bro-grab while expressing my appreciation for his work that evening.

So tonight, I hoist a beer and a shot to the departed (even though it's a belated one).

RIP Sir Scheider.