Trivia: One of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors, Roy Scheider first hit his career peak in the 1970s, and will forever be associated with the "American film renaissance" of that decade thanks to his prominent billing in four vital motion pictures from the period: The French Connection (1971), Klute (1971), Jaws (1975), and All That Jazz (1979). As this list demonstrates, Scheider exhibited versatility in choice of material. He also, however, established a trademark persona that carried him from project to project: that of a slightly sardonic, wizened everyman who nonetheless evinced an unmistakable degree of sensitivity and emotional fragility beneath a tough exterior. Born November 10, 1932, in Rutgers, New Jersey, Scheider attended Rutgers University, as well as Franklin and Marshall College, where he studied history; meanwhile, an early boxing injury (in the New Jersey Diamond Gloves Competition) left Scheider with a broken nose that would soon become one of his trademarks. He subsequently joined the United States Air Force and served three years, ascending to the rank of first lieutenant, then returned to Franklin and Marshall for drama work, beginning with a much-acclaimed performance in Shakespeare's Richard III. Scheider inaugurated his professional career as a thespian by cutting his chops on the New York stage, as Mercutio in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1961 production of Romeo and Juliet, and appeared in a couple of shoestring-budget cheapies (such as the 1963 Curse of the Living Corpse). Additional movie roles followed, but the actor really only made his breakthrough in 1971, with two of the said parts -- in Klute (as the pimp of hooker Bree Daniels) and in William Friedkin's groundbreaking cop thriller The French Connection (as Buddy Russo, the somewhat low-key and subdued partner of Gene Hackman's manic Popeye Doyle). An additional cop role, in The Seven-Ups (1973), followed, but by this point, Scheider had reportedly grown concerned that he would be pegged and typecast as a policeman and decided to branch out with an offbeat turn in the romantic comedy Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975). When that picture unequivocally flopped, Steven Spielberg helped rescue Scheider (and in many ways put the actor on the proverbial map) by casting him as the lead, Police Chief Martin Brody, in the blockbuster shocker Jaws (1975). After this, roles proliferated; Scheider evoked a death-wish-laden Bob Fosse in the gonzo musical drama All That Jazz (1979, a part he inherited from Jaws co-star Richard Dreyfuss), and also chalked up a series of leads in Hitchcockian thrillers including Jonathan Demme's The Last Embrace (1979) and Robert Benton's Still of the Night (1982). Scheider remained equally active through the 1980s and '90s, though his choice of projects waxed slightly more uneven, ranging from the inspired (1986's 52 Pick-Up, 1990's The Russia House) to the abysmal (1986's The Men's Club). The actor retained a firm hold on his craft, however, and delivered some of the finest work of his career late in the game, with prominent roles in David Cronenberg's 1991 Naked Lunch (as a wiseacre physician) and Bart Freundlich's family-themed psychodrama The Myth of Fingerprints (1997, as a seriously deranged father with a seedy and twisted past). The 1990s also found Scheider embarking on a television career for the first time, with a regular role as Captain Nathan Hale Bridger in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi adventure series seaQuest DSV (1993-1996). Scheider would return to television a decade later, with a recurring portrayal of Fyodor Chevchenko on the prime-time drama Third Watch; in the mean time, the actor continued to tackle roles in additional features and even direct-to-video movies, including Time Lapse (2001), Red Serpent (2002), Wes Craven Presents Dracula II: Ascension (2003), and The Poet (2007). By the mid-2000s, Scheider contracted multiple myeloma and began to suffer from related health problems; he died in February 2008 of complications from a staph infection. The actor was 75.

Trivia: Trained at the Hagen-Bergdorf studio, actor Daniel Stern hopscotched between stage and films during his first professional years, appearing on Broadway in Sam Shepard's True West and making his movie debut as Cyril in Breaking Away (1979). Biding his time with bits in such films as Stardust Memories (1980) and One Trick Pony (1980), Stern enjoyed a career breakthrough in the role of obsessive record collector Shrevie in Barry Levinson's Diner (1982). While he has been seen in a number of major roles since then, Stern is most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Marv, the Larry Fine-like burglar in the two Home Alone flicks of the early 1990s, and as cowboy wannabe Phil Berquist in Billy Crystal's City Slickers films. Stern's TV contributions include the role of Joey Nathan on the shortliver 1985 weekly Hometown, and a longer stint as the adult Kevin Arnold, the never-seen narrator of The Wonder Years (1989-92). Having previously directed several Wonder Years installments, Daniel Stern made his feature-film directorial bow with the 1993 baseball fantasy Rookie of the Year, and in 1995 functioned as both star and producer of the theatrical feature Tenderfoot. He went on to appear in Celtic Pride, the TV series Regular Joe, A Previous Engagement, and he played Drew Barrymore's father in her directorial debut Whip It.

Trivia: Blue-eyed British actor Malcolm McDowell has a history of playing angry, cruel characters that still managed to be charming. Born in working-class Leeds, England, he sold coffee around Yorkshire before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late '60s. By 1967, he had made his big-screen debut in Poor Cow, the first feature-length film from director Ken Loach. Moving to New York, McDowell met director Lindsay Anderson and appeared in his off-Broadway production of Look Back in Anger. (He would reprise his role of angry young man Jimmy Porter in the 1980 film version.) He then played Mick Travis, the rebellious boarding school student in If.... (1968), a role he would continue in Anderson's next two films, O Lucky Man! (which he co-wrote) and Britannia Hospital (1982). Director Stanley Kubrick took notice of his work with Anderson and gave McDowell his international breakthrough with A Clockwork Orange, based upon the novel by Anthony Burgess. His portrayal of the sadistic Alex earned him two Best Actor nominations, but also cemented a dark image that would persist throughout his career. He would occasionally get breaks with characters such as Captain Flashman, the hero in the adventure satire Royal Flash or the naïve fighter in the WWI drama Aces High. But his unscrupulous reputation was reinforced in 1979, when he starred in the title role as the Roman emperor in Bob Guccione's notorious production of Caligula. He made his first American film the same year, playing H.G. Wells in Time After Time alongside young actress Mary Steenburgen (they were married from 1980-1990). McDowell went on to star in the horror remake Cat People, the action-adventure Blue Thunder, and the rock musical-comedy Get Crazy. McDowell made several TV movies toward the late '80s, including Gulag, Arthur the King, and Monte Carlo. After a serious bout with a persistent drug problem, his hair turned white and he started playing regular villains in largely forgettable U.S. releases. He had better casting luck abroad, such as the leading role in the Russian film Assassin of the Tsar. After a cameo in The Player in 1992, the actor started lending his voice talent to cartoons, including Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Superman, Spider-Man, Batman: The Animated Series, Biker Mice From Mars, and the features The Fist of the North Star and Happily Ever After. He also provided the voice of Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn for the Wing Commander video game series and subsequent cartoon. His villainous roles started to gravitate toward science fiction with Tank Girl, Cyborg 3: The Recycler, and, most notably, Dr. Soran in Star Trek: Generations. On television, he played the evil Benny Barrett on the BBC series Our Friends in the North and the sinister Mr. Roarke on the ABC revival series Fantasy Island. In the late '90s, he appeared in a lot of direct-to-video and made-for-cable movies before making a return to U.K. theatrical features with the family drama My Life So Far in 1999 and Gangster No. 1 in 2000. In 2003, he appeared in the horseracing film Hidalgo, Robert Altman's The Company, and the Russian film Evilenko as serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. For better or worse, McDowell's most recognizable role of the decade would likely be that of Dr. Samuel Loomis in Rob Zombie's Halloween (2008) and its 2009 sequel -- thouigh a recurring role on the NBC hit Heroes certainly didn't hurt in boosting his exposure among viewers too young to remember his dramatic defining roles. Occasional voice work in The Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb continued that trend - albiet in a less conspicuous manner -- then in 2011 the screen veteran turned in a brief but memorable performance in Michel Hazanavicius' Oscar favorite The Artist, proving that even without so much as a line of dialogue, McDowell still had the charisma to command the screen.

Trivia: Oates first acted in a student play while attending the University of Louisville. He moved to New York in 1954, hoping to find work on the stage or TV; instead he had a series of odd jobs. Eventually he appeared in a few live TV dramas, and when this work slowed down he moved to Hollywood; there he became a stock villain in many TV and film Westerns. Over the years he gained respect as an excellent character actor; by the early '70s he was appearing in both unusual, unglamorous leads and significant supporting roles. His breakthrough role was in In the Heat of the Night (1967). He played the title role in Dillinger (1973).

Trivia: Model-turned-actress Candy Clark first came to filmgoers' attention with a secondary role in John Huston's Fat City. Then Clark really went to town as gum-chewing, dumb-like-a-fox Debbie Dunham in American Graffiti (1974); for her portrayal of the girl who reminds Charles Martin Smith of Connie Stevens (well, it sounded like a good pick-up line, anyway), she was nominated for an Academy Award. Equally worthwhile roles followed in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), which included the scene wherein a sympathetic Clark lifted and carried ailing alien David Bowie, and the 1978 remake of The Big Sleep, which featured the actress as the deviant, thumb-sucking Carmilla Sternwood. Then, inexplicably, the actress endured a cinematic dry spell, though she was seen (and her Oklahoma accent heard) to good advantage in the made-for-TV movies Amateur Night at the Dixie Bar and Grill (1979) and Rodeo Girl (1980). In 1981, she made her first off-Broadway appearance in A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking. Candy Clark has been consigned to maternal roles in such films as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Radioland Murders (1994).

Trivia: Actor Paul Roebling spent most of his career on-stage, but he also periodically showed up in a few feature films and on television. Roebling, along with Robert Duvall and Roebling's wife, lga Bellin, teamed up in 1972 to produce Tomorrow. Roebling made his acting debut in the feature drama Prince of the City (1981). In addition to his acting credits, Roebling also narrated the PBS documentary The Civil War.

Trivia: African-American character actor Jason Bernard is one of those performers who seems to have never been out of work. Bernard's cinematic stock-in-trade has been stern authority figures: the parole officer in Car Wash (1976), the Mayor in Blue Thunder (1983), Judge Bochco in The Star Chamber (1983), Major Donovan in No Way Out (1987), and so forth. Bernard has appeared numerous times on television as a guest star and as a recurring character. Some of his most famous TV roles include Preston Wade in the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, mechanical whiz Fletch in the 1983 prime-timer High Performance, and the chronically humorless publishing executive Mr. Paul Bracken in the 1991 Fox sitcom Herman's Head. For his supporting role in the Lifetime network movie Sophie and the Moonhanger (1995), Bernard received a Cable Ace nomination. His last feature-film role was that of a judge in the Jim Carrey comedy Liar, Liar (1997). On October 16, 1996, the 58-year-old Bernard was driving in Hollywood when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Trivia: When asked why he decided upon becoming an actor, Joe Santos tended to trot out the tried-and-true rationale "because I failed at everything else." While attending Fordham University, Santos excelled at football, but lost interest in the sport after a few semi-pro years. By the time he was 30, Santos had been remarkably unsuccessful in a variety of vocations, including railroad worker, tree cutter, automobile importer and tavern owner. While working a construction job in New York, Santos was invited by a friend to sit in on an acting class. This seemed like an easy way to make a living, so Santos began making the audition rounds, almost immediately landing a good part on a TV soap opera. This gig unfortunately led nowhere, and for the next year or so Santos drove a cab for 10 to 11 hours a day. The novice actor's first big break was a part in the 1971 film Panic in Needle Park, which he received at the recommendation of the film's star (and Santos' frequent softball partner) Al Pacino. With the plum part of Sergeant Cruz in the four-part TV drama The Blue Knight (1973), Santos inaugurated a fruitful, still-thriving career in "cop" roles, the best and longest-lasting of which was detective Dennis Becker on the James Garner series The Rockford Files (1974-80). Joe Santos' other series-TV credits include the top-billed part of deadbeat dad Norman Davis in Me and Maxx (1980), Hispanic nightclub comic Paul Rodriguez' disapproving father in AKA Pablo (1984), and Lieutenant Frank Harper in the 1985-86 episodes of Hardcastle and McCormick. One of his final roles was a recurring gig on The Sopranos. Santos died in 2016, at age 84.

Trivia: For over 30 years, Paul Lambert played character roles on stage, screen, and television. He started out on the Manhattan stage in the early '50s. He also launched his television career around that time, appearing in series through the '80s ranging from Playhouse 90 to Hogan's Heroes to Doogie Howser, M.D.. Lambert died of cancer on April 27, 1997, at age 74.

Trivia: American producer Phil Feldman started out as a retail wholesaler. He then became a lawyer and this led to his signing on as counsel to Famous Artists in the early 1950s. Later he became a producer for several film and television studios as well as an executive. During the late 1960s, Feldman began working as an independent producer on such productions as Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969).

Trivia: American actor Anthony James has been playing unlovable, unsavory film roles since the late 1960s. James' lean-and-hungry appearance has usually led him to be cast as characters named Skinny (1975's Hearts of the West) or Slim (1992's The Unforgiven). His larger film assignments include Blue Thunder (1982, as Grundeltus) and Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991, as Hector Savage). Anthony James should not be confused with the "Anthony James" who appeared in the 1949 British film Last Days of Dolwyn.

Trivia: Trained at HB Studio, rough-edged American actor Ray Sharkey quickly graduated to movies and television. Sharkey's first film was The Lords of Flatbush (1974), a street-gang drama that also featured early appearances by Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone. The actor's breakthrough film was 1980's The Idolmaker, in which he played rock 'n' roll entrepreneur Bob Marcucci; that same year, he was Phil in the low-budget but highly praised Willie and Phil. Sharkey's best known role was as Atlantic City gangster Sonny Steelgrave on the TV series "Wiseguy" (1987-90). Shortly after finishing work on the 1992 Burt Reynolds vehicle Cop and A Half, Sharkey made public the fact that he had contracted AIDS through indiscriminate drug use; he died less than one year later.

Trivia: Born in England, John Badham became a naturalized American citizen at the age of seven. He received a BA and MFA at Yale University, which he attended before and after his military service. He worked his way up the professional ladder at Universal Studios; his first directorial assignments included the trailers (or coming-attraction reels) of the studio's features. In the early 1970s, Badham gained a good reputation as an able director of made-for-TV movies. It was his handling of the 1974 docudrama The Gun that won Badham his first theatrical-feature assignment, the 1975 baseball flick The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings (Badham was a last-minute choice when Steven Spielberg suddenly priced himself out of the film's budget thanks to Jaws). Badham's first bona-fide--and indeed, one of the biggest moneymakers of the 1970s--was the disco-driven Saturday Night Fever (1977). The director's striking visual sense and innate gift for montage has served him well in such nailbiters as Blue Thunder (1984), Wargames (1984), American Flyers (1985) and Point of No Return (1991); he was less successful with comedy, as witness Stakeout (1987) and Bird on a Wire (1989). In 1984, John Badham formed his own production firm, Great American Picture Show Company.

Trivia: Supporting actor, onscreen from the early '80s.