Roy Richard Scheider (November 10, 1932 – February 10, 2008) was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C. Brody in the first two Jaws movies, as choreographer and film director Joe Gideon in All That Jazz, as detective Buddy "Cloudy" Russo in The French Connection and as Captain Nathan Bridger in the science-fiction television series seaQuest DSV. Scheider's final performance was posthumously released in the 2011 thriller Iron Cross. Described by Allmovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", Scheider was nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. Scheider was born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Anna Scheider (née Crosson) and auto mechanic Roy Bernhard Scheider. Scheider's mother was of Irish Catholic background and his father was German American and Protestant. As a child, Scheider was an athlete, participating in organized baseball and boxing competitions, for which he was classed as a welterweight, weighing in at 140 lbs. Scheider competed in the Golden Gloves.