By Jill Zeman
Associated Press Writer
Monday, February 11, 2008

Roy Scheider, 75, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for his role in the blockbuster movie "Jaws," died Feb. 10.

Mr. Scheider died at a hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. The hospital did not release a cause of death, but hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Mr. Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma for the past two years.

He was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar in 1971's "The French Connection," in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman, and for best actor for 1979's "All That Jazz," the autobiographical Bob Fosse film.

He played a police chief in Steven Spielberg's 1975 film "Jaws," the classic with Richard Dreyfuss about a killer shark terrorizing beachgoers. Hailed as the film that launched the blockbuster, it was the first movie to earn $100 million at the box office.

"He was a wonderful guy," said Dreyfuss, calling Mr. Scheider the kind of actor who "does his job and does it as well as he can."