Richard Dreyfuss

Son of an attorney, Richard Stephan Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 29th[?], 1947. He spent his early childhood in Brooklyn and in Bayside, Queens until he moved to L.A. with his family at age nine.

Richard's acting career began at age nine at the Beverly Hills Jewish Center. He debuted in the L.A. TV production, In Mama's House when he was fifteen.

Richard attended the San Fernando Valley State College[?] for a year and then became a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, and worked in alternate service for two years as a clerk in an L.A. hospital. He also acted some small TV roles on shows such as Peyton Place and The Big Valley. During the late 60s and early 70s, Richard also did Broadway, off-Broadway, repertory, and improv theatre.

Richard's first film role was a bit part in The Graduate, in which he only had one line, "Shall I call the cops? I'll call the cops." Richard made an impression in Dillinger, and landed a role in the 1973 hit, American Graffti with other future stars, Harrison Ford and Ron Howard. Richard's first lead role was in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz.

Richard went on to star in the huge box office hit, Jaws and then Close Encounters Of The Third Kind[?]. He portrayed a struggling actor in The Googbye Girl for which he won an Oscar, becoming the youngest actor to ever win the Best Actor Award.

Between 1978 and 1982, he acted as brilliant as ever in The Big Fix[?], The Competition, Whose Life Is It Anyways? and The Buddy System, but none did particularly well at the box office[?]. This lead to a growing drug dependancy, which ended one night in 1982 when his car hit a tree and he was arrested for posession of cocaine.

Richard cleaned himself up and made a come back in Hollywood in the film Down And Out In Beverly Hills[?], proving that he was still one of Hollywood's most accomplished actors. He went on to star in Stakeout, Tin Men, Always, Once Around, What About Bob? and Silent Fall.