Grew up in Orange, New Jersey

Suffered a severe bout of rheumatic fever as a child

Became a amateur boxer as a teen; broke his nose in a match

Began acting in comic plays in college

Spent two years with Air Force as air traffic controller

Returned to college; acted in Shakespeare's "Richard III"

Professional stage debut as Mercutio in the New York Shakespeare Festival's "Romeo and Juliet"

Appeared in more than 80 plays

Appeared in the TV soaps, "Search for Tomorrow" and "The Secret Storm"

Screen debut (billed as Roy R. Sheider) in "The Curse of the Living Corpse"

Breakthrough supporting role, "Klute"

Played Gene Hackman's partner in "The French Connection"; garnered a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination

Starred as the town police chief in Steven Spielberg's "Jaws"

Cast as Dustin Hoffman's brother in "Marathon Man"

Re-teamed with "French Connection" director William Friedkin on "Sorcerer" a remake of "The Wages of Fear"

Reprised role of Chief Brody in "Jaws 2"

Earned a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for playing Joe Gideon, the hard-living, exacting choreographer-director (an alter ego for Bob Fosse) in "All That Jazz"

Returned to the stage after many years in Harold Pinter's "Betrayal"; starred opposite Blythe Danner and Raul Julia

Starred opposite Meryl Streep in the thriller "Still of the Night"

Portrayed real-life Agentine newspaper publisher in the NBC drama "Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number"

Headlined the sequel "2010"

Narrated "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters"

Starred in the HBO original drama "Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture"

Co-starred in "The Russia House"

TV series debut in a lead role, playing Captain Nathan Bridger on the Spielberg-produced series, "seaQuest DSV" (NBC); left after the second season due to conflicts with the shows direction; had a recurring role in the third season

Played the patriarch of a dysfunctional family in "The Myth of Fingerprints"

Appeared in the HBO original drama "RKO 281"

Cast Marcia Gay Harden in the TV-movie "King of Texas"

Starred with Thomas Jane and John Travolta in "The Punisher"

Cast as Governor Bull Tyler in "Citizen Verdict"

Guest-starred in an episode "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (NBC) as a death row inmate

Narrated (also associate producer) of the Jaws documentary "The Shark is Still Working"