• Leonard Rosenman (1924-2008) - Oscar-winning composer of the scores for Barry Lyndon and Bound for Glory. He also received nominations for his scores for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Cross Creek. Other scores he composed include those for East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, RoboCop 2, Fantastic Voyage, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Race with the Devil, Hell is for Heroes, Hellfighters, A Man Called Horse, The Car, the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer and the 1978 animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. He died of a heart attack March 4, in Woodland Hills, California. (Variety)

• Carole Barnes (1944-2008) - British television newsreader who appears as herself in Shaun of the Dead. She died following a stroke March 8, in Brighton, England. (The Guardian)
• Sidney Beckerman (1920-2008) - Producer of Marathon Man, Kelly's Heroes, Joe Kidd, Red Dawn and Inchon. He also was president of Allied Artists, where he oversaw the production of Cabaret, and he was executive producer of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension and The Sicilian. He died of cancer February 25, in Los Angeles. (Variety)
• John Bliss (1930-2008) - Actor who appears in A Face in the Crowd, Intolerable Cruelty, The Miracle Worker, The Thing with Two Heads, Imaginary Heroes and Art School Confidential. He died of complications related to an abdominal aneurysm February 28, in Los Angeles. (Variety)

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?