Roy Scheider, One of My Favorite Actors, Dies

The AP reports that Roy Scheider died yesterday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock. Although the hospital didn't release a cause of death, " a hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years."

The news release highlights Scheider's roles in "The French Connection" (1971) and "All That Jazz," (1979), but says he is best known for his roll as the police chief in the 1975 blockbuster, "Jaws."

I, however, will always remember Roy Scheider as the police helicopter pilot whose mind was teetering on the edge of insanity in the 1983 film "Blue Thunder." I loved that movie!!! Scheider's character was sharp and ingenious as he battled his nemesis, his former commander from his Vietnam War days, in a twisted plot of cat and mouse in helicopters high above the streets of Los Angeles. Scheider's helicopter, however, wasn't just a typical whirly-bird; his copter was "Blue Thunder," a fully armored chopper that had more firepower, turbine boost and bells and whistles than anything manufactured before it. While being showcased as a chopper designed for assignments such as the 1984 Olympics crowd control, Blue Thunder in reality turned out to be a Weapon of Mass Destruction, WMD!!!!! How's that for Big Brother!!?! Of course, my FAVORITE part of the movie was when Scheider did the impossible with Blue Thunder, a 360 vertical loop. Blue Thunder was a helicopter that could do it all, but Scheider knew that, in the wrong hands, it was deadly. In the end, Scheider used his insane genious to destroy evil's choice of WMD.

I think Blue Thunder is truly one of the most underrated movies of all time and Scheider was brilliant in it. A must see for cop and action movie lovers.

Lastly, it surprises me, yet it doesn't surprise me, that Scheider chose to treat his illness in Arkansas. UAMS has an excellent reputation, but I didn't know it was renowned. That says A LOT about the excellence in medical research and treatment being practiced in my own backyard.