It's a good thing that Steven Spielberg's Jaws is a film that gets watched over and over again by generation after generation, because that means Roy Scheider has now become immortal. Sad news, movie fans: Roy Scheider, star of Jaws, Klute, The French Connection, All That Jazz, Blue Thunder, 2010, Marathon Man, and a whole bunch more, passed away earlier today at the age of 75.

According to The New York Times, "Mr. Scheider had suffered from multiple myeloma for several years, and died of complications from a staph infection, his wife, Brenda Seimer, said."

Born in New Jersey in 1932, Mr. Scheider made his big screen debut in 1964's The Curse of the Living Corpse. From those inauspicious beginnings he became one of Hollywood's most unlikely leading men. Although his later career was peppered with lots of low-end product, the actor left behind a lot of excellent work*. He was nominated twice for an Academy Award (The French Connection and All That Jazz), but to millions of movie-lovers he'll always be remembered as the uncomfortable, no-nonsense, oddly lovable Police Chief Martin Brody, the island cop who hated the water.

* I'm sure you have your favorite Scheider moments, but here are a few (relatively) lesser-known titles that you might enjoy checking out: The Seven-Ups (1973), Sorcerer (1977), Still of the Night (1982), 52 Pick-Up (1986), and Naked Lunch (1991). One of the actor's last quality jobs was providing the narration for The Shark Is Still Working, a Jaws documentary that he endorsed quite happily. Fans will definitely want to check that one out.

Rest in peace, Mr. Scheider. I'm about to go grab my Jaws DVD.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Roy Scheider is one of those actors that was really popular many years ago and who appeared in several important and successful films and then, for the most part, disappeared. Sure, he's been working here and there but after you've starred in some of the best and most interesting films of the 70s: The French Connection, Klute, Marathon Man and, of course, Jaws, you probably are not so quick to highlight your more recent appearances in such "classics" as Chain of Command, Dracula III: Legacy and Dark Honeymoon.

Even if his recent projects may not up to his former standards, according to Vanity Fair's James Wolcott, Scheider deserves recognition for his past triumphs as well as for his most recent TV role -- as a psycho killer matching wits with Vincent D'Onofrio's detective Goren on TVs Law and Order: Criminal Intent. In fact, Wolcott is so in love with Schneider and his latest role as a TV psycho he wants next Monday -- the day the episode airs -- to be declared a holiday commemorating Scheider and his body of work.

According to Wolcott, "Roy Scheider Day," as he wants it known, "is my way -- America's way -- of toasting an actor too seldom seen these days on big screen or small." I have to agree with Wolcott on this one -- Scheider is a good actor that deserves recognition. Not only was he in some great films over the years that I, an many others, enjoyed but he also had the brains not to make any more Jaws films after Jaws 2. For that, alone, he deserves our respect. Kudos to you Roy. What's your favorite Roy Scheider film?