Roy Scheider Movies
One of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors, Roy Scheider first hit his career peak in the 1970s, and will forever be associated with the "American film renaissance" of that decade thanks to his prominent billing in four vital motion pictures from the period: The French Connection (1971), Klute (1971), Jaws (1975), and All That Jazz (1979). As this list demonstrates, Scheider exhibited versatility in choice of material. He also, however, established a trademark persona that carried him from project to project: that of a slightly sardonic, wizened everyman who nonetheless evinced an unmistakable degree of sensitivity and emotional fragility beneath a tough exterior. Born November 10, 1932, in Rutgers, New Jersey, Scheider attended Rutgers University, as well as Franklin and Marshall College, where he studied history; meanwhile, an early boxing injury (in the New Jersey Diamond Gloves Competition) left Scheider with a broken nose that would soon become one of his trademarks. He subsequently joined the United States Air Force and served three years, ascending to the rank of first lieutenant, then returned to Franklin and Marshall for drama work, beginning with a much-acclaimed performance in Shakespeare's Richard III.Scheider inaugurated his professional career as a thespian by cutting his chops on the New York stage, as Mercutio in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1961 production of Romeo and Juliet, and appeared in a couple of shoestring-budget cheapies (such as the 1963 Curse of the Living Corpse). Additional movie roles followed, but the actor really only made his breakthrough in 1971, with two of the said parts -- in Klute (as the pimp of hooker Bree Daniels) and in William Friedkin's groundbreaking cop thriller The French Connection (as Buddy Russo, the somewhat low-key and subdued partner of Gene Hackman's manic Popeye Doyle). An additional cop role, in The Seven-Ups (1973), followed, but by this point, Scheider had reportedly grown concerned that he would be pegged and typecast as a policeman and decided to branch out with an offbeat turn in the romantic comedy Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975). When that picture unequivocally flopped, Steven Spielberg helped rescue Scheider (and in many ways put the actor on the proverbial map) by casting him as the lead, Police Chief Martin Brody, in the blockbuster shocker Jaws (1975). After this, roles proliferated; Scheider evoked a death-wish-laden Bob Fosse in the gonzo musical drama All That Jazz (1979, a part he inherited from Jaws co-star Richard Dreyfuss), and also chalked up a series of leads in Hitchcockian thrillers including Jonathan Demme's The Last Embrace (1979) and Robert Benton's Still of the Night (1982).
Scheider remained equally active through the 1980s and '90s, though his choice of projects waxed slightly more uneven, ranging from the inspired (1986's 52 Pick-Up, 1990's The Russia House) to the abysmal (1986's The Men's Club). The actor retained a firm hold on his craft, however, and delivered some of the finest work of his career late in the game, with prominent roles in David Cronenberg's 1991 Naked Lunch (as a wiseacre physician) and Bart Freundlich's family-themed psychodrama The Myth of Fingerprints (1997, as a seriously deranged father with a seedy and twisted past). The 1990s also found Scheider embarking on a television career for the first time, with a regular role as Captain Nathan Hale Bridger in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi adventure series seaQuest DSV (1993-1996). Scheider would return to television a decade later, with a recurring portrayal of Fyodor Chevchenko on the prime-time drama Third Watch; in the mean time, the actor continued to tackle roles in additional features and even direct-to-video movies, including Time Lapse (2001), Red Serpent (2002), Wes Craven Presents Dracula II: Ascension (2003), and The Poet (2007). By the mid-2000s, Scheider contracted multiple myeloma and began to suffer from related health problems; he died in February 2008 of complications from a staph infection. The actor was 75. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- 2010
A retired New York police officer (Roy Scheider, in his final film role) travels to Nuremberg to visit his estranged son, only to find the belated reunion becoming a bitter mission of vengeance. When Joseph's son Ronnie (Scott Cohen) gave up a promising career in law enforcement to marry a pretty artist, his decision tore the family apart. Now, years after turning his back on his only son, Joseph travels to Nuremberg in hopes of reuniting with Ronnie and his family. No sooner does Joseph arrive in Germany, however, than he becomes convinced that the same SS commander who killed his family during World War II has adopted a false name and now lives in the apartment above his son. Realizing that the chances of seeing the former officer stand trial are slim to none, Joseph convinces Ronnie that his neighbor is not whom he appears to be, and together they prepare to exact bloody justice. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman named Gaby with her own secret agenda appears seemingly out of nowhere, sparking Joseph to recall his teenage romance with a heroic Polish girl named Kashka, who narrowly helped him to escape the massacre that claimed his entire family. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Scott Cohen, (more)
A young German officer and the daughter of a Rabbi find their blooming relationship threatened by the onset of World War II in director Damian Lee's emotional war romance. The setting is German occupied Poland, and Europe is finally feeling the full devastation of Hitler's might. German Officer Oskar and his Jewish girlfriend Rachel are deeply in love, but tragically torn apart by the violent village massacres that spread like a plague across the land. Convinced that she will never be reunited with her true love, expectant mother Rachel reluctantly marries respectable Jewish man Bernard, who longs to earn her love by raising her child as his own. Later, when Rachel and Oskar unexpectedly cross paths amidst the violence of the Russian front line, a sudden tragedy prompts one man to make the ultimate sacrifice. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daryl Hannah, Roy Scheider, (more)
The Kid Stays in the Picture director Brett Morgen turns his unique eye toward the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in this 2006 documentary. Using a star-studded voice cast along with a blend of archival footage and animation, Morgen tells the story of the eight demonstrators who were arrested and tried for conspiracy in the wake of the violent anti-war protests. Featuring the voices of Nick Nolte and Mark Ruffalo among others, Chicago 10 premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- 2007
Sibling filmmakers Benjamin and Orson Cummings write, produce, and direct this Hitchcock-influenced noir thriller starring Bill Sage as Davis Meyers, a trophy husband who lives in the Hamptons and resorts to infidelity and murder as a means of producing a suitable heir. By the time local investigator Linus (Roy Scheider) catches wind of the scheme, the stage has already been set for tragedy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Sage, Roy Scheider, (more)
Roy Scheider, Tia Carrere, Daryl Hannah, and Eric Roberts headline writer/director Phillip Leftfield's tense thriller about a newly hitched groom who discovers that you never really know a woman until you marry her. Their courtship was brief, but then again life is short. After exchanging martial vows with an enchanting young woman, the elated groom takes his beautiful new bride on a romantic honeymoon down the foggy Oregon coast. But why does everyone that the couple comes into contact with seem to meet such a grisly demise? As the body count and the tension begin to rise, the once happy husband gradually realizes that his bride's enchanting beauty masks a deep-rooted psychosis. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Tia Carrere, (more)
- 2004
- R
- Add Wes Craven Presents Dracula III: Legacy to Queue Add Wes Craven Presents Dracula III: Legacy to top of Queue
In this direct-to-video sequel to Dracula 2000, iconic vampire Dracula (Rutger Hauer) has once again escaped the clutches of Luke (Jason London) and Father Ufizzi (Jason Scott Lee), a pair of traveling vampire hunters. Luke and Ufizzi discover the undying bloodsucker has made his way back to his native Romania, and the hunters give chase. They arrive in Romania to discover the nation is caught up in a bloody civil war -- and that Dracula has kidnapped Elizabeth (Diane Neal), Luke's fiancée. Can Luke and Ufizzi finally vanquish Dracula and save Elizabeth in the midst of the chaos that sweeps the land? Produced in tandem with Dracula II: Ascension, Wes Craven Presents Dracula III: Legacy also stars Roy Scheider and Alexandra Westcourt. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Scott Lee, Jason London, (more)
An ordinary lawman goes outside the law to carry out his own brand of justice in this dark-themed thriller. Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is an FBI agent who deeply loves his wife and son, but is also strongly devoted to his work. Castle's investigation of a powerful crime cartel leads to a gunfight which claims the life of a young boy, whose father is underworld kingpin Howard Saint (John Travolta). Furious and eager for revenge, Saint arranges for Castle and his family to be murdered in retaliation. However, while Castle's wife and son are killed, he somehow survives, even though he's believed to have perished. Bent on stopping Saint once and for all, Castle remakes himself as The Punisher, a ruthless and heavily armed killing machine who will not rest until Saint and his crew have been wiped clean from the Earth. Based on a Marvel Comics character first introduced in 1974, The Punisher also stars Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Laura Elena Harring, Roy Scheider, and Kevin "Big Sexy" Nash. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Thomas Jane, John Travolta, (more)
In the late '60s, American culture experienced a period of change as the youth movement challenged conventional attitudes about politics, sex, drugs, and gender issues, while the advancement of the Vietnam War found many citizens questioning the actions and wisdom of their government for the first time. As American attitudes continued to evolve, so did the American film industry; as costly big-budget blockbusters nearly brought the major studios to the brink of collapse, smaller and more personal films such as Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, and Five Easy Pieces demonstrated there was a ready audience for bold and challenging entertainment. As the '60s faded into the 1970s, American cinema moved into an exciting period of creativity and stylistic innovation, which led to such landmark films as The Godfather, MASH, The Last Picture Show, Shampoo, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chinatown, and Taxi Driver, and new freedom for directors and screenwriters. Ironically, however, it was another pair of big-budget blockbusters directed by students of the new wave of filmmaking -- Jaws and Star Wars -- which brought the studios back to power and put an end to Hollywood's flirtation with offbeat creativity. A Decade Under the Influence is a documentary which explores the rise and fall of new American filmmaking in the 1970s, and features interviews with many of the key directors, screenwriters, and actors whose work typified the movement, including Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Roger Corman, Dennis Hopper, Jon Voight, and Julie Christie. A Decade Under the Influence received its world premier at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and an expanded version of the film was later shown on the premium cable outlet The Independent Film Channel; the documentary was the final work of co-director Ted Demme, who died shortly before the film was completed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, (more)
- 2003
- R
- Add Wes Craven Presents Dracula II: Ascension to Queue Add Wes Craven Presents Dracula II: Ascension to top of Queue
The burned corpse of Dracula (Stephen Billington) is revived by a wheelchair-bound scientist, Lowell (Craig Sheffer), and his devoted students in an effort to cure Lowell of a fatal disease. They chain the demon to a slab at the bottom of an abandoned indoor swimming pool and begin their experiments. But the highly contagious, extremely convincing fiend can create havoc even chained up, as Elizabeth (Diane Neal) and Luke (Jason London) find out the hard way. Luckily, vampire-slaying priest Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee) arrives with his razor-studded whip. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Scott Lee, Craig Sheffer, (more)
Justice is turned into a game show, with life and death as the stakes, in this satirical drama. Florida governor Bull Tyler (Roy Scheider) is trying to ease the dissatisfaction of his constituents in the midst of a major crime wave by getting tough on wrongdoers, and television producer Marty Rockman (Jerry Springer) has offered him a high-profile way to do just that. Rockman, best known for his splashy reality programs, has come up with an idea for a new show -- "Citizen Verdict," in which an alleged murderer is tried in three hours on broadcast television, with the viewers voting on the guilt or innocence of the accused. If 75 percent or more of those who call in vote to convict, the defendant will be executed as part of a pay-per-view special to follow. Tyler thinks the show could be a good publicity stunt and gives his OK, with Ricky Carr (Raffaello Degruttola), accused of murdering the host of a popular cooking show, given the honor of starring in the first episode. Carr is being defended by Sam Patterson (Armand Assante), a once-respected civil rights lawyer fallen on hard times, while prosecutor Jessica Landers (Justine Mitchell) represents the state. Citizen Verdict was the first directorial project from producer Philippe Martinez. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Jerry Springer, (more)
Giorgio Serafini's World-War II prisoner-of-war drama The Good War stars Roy Scheider as an American colonel at a detention camp for Italian soldiers. Scheider's character butts heads with detainee Luca Zingaretti. Their relationship takes an unusual turn when the camp closes at the end of the war and the two men are left behind together. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Luca Zingaretti, (more)
Red Serpent stars Roy Scheider as the title character, a drug kingpin in Moscow. The Serpent attempts to transport drugs, using American businessman Steve Nichols (Michael Paré) as a mule. The Serpent's evil plan includes holding Nichols' daughter hostage until the drugs have been delivered. The only person who can help Nichols is a former KGB operative who has a history with the Red Serpent. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
A man returns to his hometown determined to find out the truth about a 20-year-old crime in this drama. Harry Porter (Roy Scheider) is the mayor of a city that, while once quiet and peaceful, has since become a hotbed of vice and corruption. Russell Stark (Robert Patrick), one of the top men in the city's police department, has made it his job to keep any evidence of wrongdoing from sticking to Porter, but that may change with the return of Michael Daniels (Dana Ashbrook). Michael's twin brother Jessie disappeared under suspicious circumstances two decades ago, and his body was never found; Michael is now a trained forensic pathologist who has landed a job with the police department, and in his spare time he's been running tests on a number of "John Doe" bodies at the coroner's office, determined to find out what happened to Jessie. Angels Don't Sleep Here also features Kelly Rutherford and Kari Wuhrer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dana Ashbrook, Kelly Rutherford, (more)
A checkered past full of deception and anger threatens to bring both a family and a diamond empire crashing to the ground in this absorbing mini-series starring Roy Scheider, Alyssa Milano, and Sean Patrick Flanery. Abandoned by his powerful father Jacob (Scheider) nearly twenty years ago, diamond hunter Johnny Lance (Flanery) returns to South Africa's Emerald Coast to confront a past that continues to haunt him. As simmering tensions quickly swell to a furious boil, Johnny must struggle not only to regain the empire he risked losing two decades ago, but to escape with his own life in a desperate attempt to impress Jacob and elude the vengeful wrath of his half-brother Benedict (Michael Easton). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
A spy discovers information that could put the entire nation in danger, and must struggle to remember the facts while he still can in this suspense thriller. Clayton Pierce (William McNamara) is an American intelligence agent who has infiltrated a cadre of Russian and Saudi gangsters in order to bust them in the midst of what he believes will be a major heroin deal. However, Pierce discovers the briefcase being passed in the deal is actually a portable thermonuclear device with the power to level an entire city; Pierce blows his cover while intercepting the bomb and is shot during the melee that follows. He manages to escape and is treated for his wounds in the agency's private clinic. However, Pierce soon finds that there are large and troubling gaps in his memory -- so much so that he doesn't even remember that he was divorced by his ex-wife Kate (Dina Meyer) six years earlier. With Kate's help, Pierce discovers the startling truth about the bomb he's discovered, and an even more disturbing secret about the agency -- that La Nova (Roy Scheider), his commander, has dosed him with an experimental drug called Oblivion that erodes the memory of anyone who used it. Time Lapse also features musician and author Henry Rollins as one of Pierce's fellow agents.
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- William McNamara, Roy Scheider, (more)
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part one, he presents five "people who made a difference." Helen Keller, despite being deaf and blind from infancy, persevered through incredible odds to emerge as a respected scholar, writer, and speaker, an inspiration to millions. Eleanor Roosevelt was the country's widely respected and first publicly lauded First Lady, who as the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a champion of human rights as well as a published writer This I Remember) and delegate to the United Nations. Jackie Robinson broke through major league baseball's color barrier as the first black player in the history of the game, spending nine seasons as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers before ending up in the Hall of Fame. Mother Teresa was born in Albania but spent her life as a nun in India dedicated to ending the suffering of that country's poor and starving masses. She won a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in 1979. And finally, the video pays tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., who was the founder of the American civil rights movement and urged the country to end racism through peaceful speeches, demonstrations, and marches. He won a Nobel Peace Prize before being assassinated in 1968. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part two, he presents five "leaders who changed the world." Mao Tse-tung was the Chinese theorist who founded the Communist Party in China, proclaiming the People's Republic in 1949 and serving as its leader until the early 1970s when his country established ties with the West. Mahatma Gandhi was the Indian nationalist and spiritual leader who introduced the people of his country to the idea of non-violent disobedience for the purposes of gaining their independence. His efforts were successful and Great Britain granted India independence in 1947, just one year before he was assassinated. David Ben Gurion was an Israeli political leader active in the Zionist movement to create a Jewish state in Palestine. He organized the resistance against Great Britain after WWII and became prime minister of Israel after the country gained independence in 1948. Nelson Mandela, the current president of South Africa, was the black political leader of that country who was imprisoned for nearly 30 years for his participation in anti-apartheid activities. After his eventual release in 1990, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his efforts. Rounding out this video's honorees is Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet politician, general secretary of the Communist party in its waning years, and president of the U.S.S.R. from 1988-1991. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part three, he presents five "people who fascinated us." Fidel Castro is the Cuban revolutionary who led the overthrow of the corrupt dictatorship of his country in 1959 and established a socialist state. A main player in the Cold War of the 1960s, he remains leader of Cuba today and supports the liberation struggles of countries in Latin America and Africa. Jackie Kennedy Onassis, the beloved wife of President John F. Kennedy, brought a youthful vigor to the White House, promoted the arts in America, and became a fashion icon to a generation of admirers. John Wayne was a larger-than-life star of the silver screen and to many the embodiment of rugged American manhood. He starred in dozens of Westerns, won an Academy Award in 1969, and eventually produced and directed his own movies. Marilyn Monroe, while also a film star, transcended Hollywood and became an international sex symbol. Her short, turbulent life was filled with modeling assignments, movie roles, marriages (most notably to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller), alleged presidential flings, and the drug use that culminated in her death in 1962 at age 36. Princess Diana became the world's sweetheart in 1981 when she married Prince Charles of Wales at the tender age of 19. Her grace, beauty, and generosity captured the attention and fascination of millions, lasting -- despite the first Royal divorce in 1996 -- until her untimely death in 1998. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part four, he presents five World War II leaders. The most notorious of the bunch is Adolf Hitler, the founder of the German Nazi Party and chancellor of the Third Reich, who forced his country into an absolute dictatorship while leading the persecution and extermination of millions of Jews and other minorities during the war. Joseph Stalin, Lenin's successor to Communist rule in the U.S.S.R., was a ruthless ruler who led campaigns that displaced millions of peasants and forced his country to the forefront of industrial power in the world. He rallied his underpowered military to victory in the war and then imposed Communist rule over most of the countries liberated by the Soviet armies. Winston Churchill was an accomplished writer (The Second World War, Nobel Prize for literature in 1953) and British politician, who as prime minister courageously led Great Britain through World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Churchill's counterpart in America, initiated the New Deal in an effort to increase employment, introduce relief programs, and assist in agricultural and industrial recovery from the Great Depression; he also led the country into World War II as the only president elected to three terms. Roosevelt's military commander, Dwight Eisenhower, launched the invasion of Normandy and essentially ended the war with the defeat of Germany in 1945. While a war hero, Eisenhower was elected president in 1953 but soon fell from grace with the American public during the subsequent Korean War debacle, severe racial unrest in America, and the advent of the Cold War with Cuba and the Soviet Union.
~ Sarah Block, Rovi
~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part five, he presents five "movie superstars." Walt Disney was the cartoonist and visionary behind the first animated film with sound and the first full-length animated feature. His creative genius spawned Mickey Mouse, mega-entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney Productions and amusement parks throughout the world. British-born Charlie Chaplin moved to America at the age of 20 and became a star of the silent screen as "The Tramp," launching a career as a tragicomedian and also as a writer, producer, composer, and actor in over 70 films. Katharine Hepburn, an actress known for her beauty, elegance, and feistiness, started her career on Broadway before moving to the big screen, where she won four Academy awards for her work. Another versatile actor, Jack Nicholson, made his mark on Hollywood with his menacing grin and tough guy roles while gradually diversifying his career to include writer, director, and producer among his credits. Steven Spielberg tops the list as the commercially and critically acclaimed producer and director of epic films such as Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List, whose voice and creativity have contributed to the way America thinks about movies.
~ Sarah Block, Rovi
~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part six, he presents five "television originals." The man credited for starting it all was Philo T. Farnsworth, a Utah-born engineer who demonstrated the first working television system in 1927 at the age of 22. Lucille Ball captured the hearts of millions and four Academy awards with her talent for physical comedy, appearing both in movies and with her husband Desi Arnaz in the long-running sitcom I Love Lucy. Edward R. Murrow broke ground in the news industry by introducing the concept of news reporting with a sense of social responsibility and integrity. He was a broadcast journalist renowned for his factual reports from the battlefront in London during World War II. Jacques Cousteau was the French underwater explorer who helped develop the aqualung, the first underwater breathing device. He introduced the American public to sea life, sunken ships, and buried treasures with the television series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. Oprah Winfrey worked her way from small-town Mississippi to the top of the television world with her popular, nationally syndicated talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, while captivating the public with her heartfelt concern for the common person and her media savvy as an actress and producer. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part seven, he presents five "masters of the arts." One of the most influential artists of the 20th century was Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter and sculptor who helped introduce the collage technique and the Cubist movement, forever transforming the art world. Irish author James Joyce used the concepts of realism, naturalism, and symbolism to create some of the 20th century's most monumental works of fiction, including Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake. George Bernard Shaw was a self-educated, Irish-born playwright and arts critic who founded the Fabian Society and won the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for literature. George Gershwin was the American composer who combined jazz with classical music forms to create a unique style used to orchestrate many musical comedies (Porgy and Bess) and songs ("Fascinatin' Rhythm". George Balanchine was a Russian-born ballet director and choreographer who revolutionized the New York City Ballet and choreographed more than 100 ballets in his lifetime. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part eight, he presents five "giants of science." George Washington Carver was an American educator and agricultural innovator best known for his work with peanuts, cotton, and soil preservation. The Wright brothers were the American duo who invented and flew (at Kitty Hawk in 1903) the world's first airplane. Austrian Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis who theorized that many psychological problems are rooted in unresolved infantile psychosexual conflicts and whose theories heavily influenced 20th century thought. Alexander Fleming was the British bacteriologist who discovered penicillin, the first successful antibiotic. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his achievements. German physicist Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity -- the primary component in the exploitation of atomic energy -- and is considered one of, if not the premiere scientist of the 20th century. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
- 2001
Documentary film maven David L. Wolper returns to the scene with a ten-part series profiling 50 international icons of the 20th century. In part ten, he presents five "pop music icons." Louis Armstrong, or "Satchmo," was an American jazz trumpeter and singer who overcame poverty and racism to introduce "scat" singing and who helped to popularize jazz in the United States. Frank Sinatra thrilled a generation of fans with his good looks and enticing voice. Nicknamed "Old Blue Eyes," he starred in several movies and sang with the big bands of the 1930s before launching his successful solo career. He was granted three posthumous Grammy awards for his musical achievements and influence. Elvis Presley was one of the most famous entertainers of the 20th century with his charismatic style and soothing voice, crooning such tunes as "Love Me Tender" and "Heartbreak Hotel." Combining elements of gospel, country & western, and R&B music, Elvis helped to transform rock music in America. The Beatles, however, changed the face of rock & roll music forever when they brought their innovative style from Britain to the United States in the early '60s. While only together for a short time, the group remains popular worldwide, with many young musicians citing them as a major influence on their musical development. Michael Jackson was the youngest of the famous sibling group the Jackson Five before embarking on his even more successful solo career as singer, dancer, and songwriter. A somewhat reclusive yet fascinating character, he was a true pop icon of the late 20th century. ~ Sarah Block, Rovi
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