From fanclub to friendship: My adventures with JAWS star Richard Dreyfuss

Hello, Islanders!

I hope you all had a great holiday and are looking as forward to the New Year as I am.

On September 21, 1975, I saw JAWS for the first time. Excuse the pun, but I was hooked. Like most youngsters I wrote fan letters to the three stars, sending them all to Universal Studios. I received replies to all three of them. In early 1976 I received a note from Roy Scheider’s current agent and was advised that “Roy has no interest in a fan club.” OK. (this turned out to be untrue as, in September 1977, with his approval, I started Roy Scheider’s Official Fan Club). On August 28, 1978 I received an envelope in the mail that included an autographed photo of Robert Shaw. If that date seems familiar, it’s because that is the day that Robert Shaw died. I know…eerie. In September 1976 I received a letter from Arlene Chain, who noted that she was Richard Dreyfuss’ cousin and oversaw his fan club. For $5.00 I could be a member of the club. I quickly mailed the money and included a note in which I told her that, if she ever needed any help, I was willing to lend a hand.

A few weeks later I received a large envelope. Inside was a note from Arlene not only welcoming me to the fan club but informing me that, due to Richard’s popularity, I would now be in charge of fans east of the Mississippi River. Inside the envelope were xerox copies of newspaper articles, a membership list and a “signed” 5”x7” negative of Richard in his wetsuit with which to have photos made to send to new members. I embraced my new responsibilities and went so far as to run a small ad in RONA BARRETT’S HOLLYWOOD magazine. The fan club continued to grow as Richard scored major hits with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Goodbye Girl, which culminated in his winning the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Some of the snapshots sent and returned to Richard's fans

In early September 1978, as I normally did, I contacted Richard’s agent, Meyer Mishkin, in search of some publicity material on Richard’s next film, The Big Fix. While he had normally been quite friendly in our phone conversations, this time he was quiet. Finally, he said that this would be the last time we would talk as “Richard feels he is no longer in need of a fan club.” OUCH! Anyway, I prepared one more membership newsletter – I did four a year – and explained to the more than 800 members that the fan club was no more.

Jump ahead to 1986. The movie Tin Men is filming in Baltimore and one of my friends knows the film’s director, Barry Levinson. He calls me at work – I worked nights – and invited me to visit the set. I grab the only “Richard” item close by – a movie poster for Down and Out in Beverly Hills – and head to Chase Street and the historic Belvedere Hotel. There we spend a couple of hours of on and off filmmaking, most notably a scene in the film where Richard’s character attempts to damage Danny DeVito’s car. While there we meet Danny DeVito – such a nice man – and Bruno Kirby, who is amazed that we know who he is. Finally, a break came and I noticed Richard off by himself. I made my way over to him, said hello and asked him if he would sign my poster. As he signed it I said, “you probably don’t know who I am but I used to run your fan club.” He gave me a glance, handed me the poster and headed back to the set.

Jump ahead to 2011. Lou Pisano and I have decided to write a book about the making of JAWS 2. As it is well known that Steven Spielberg was approached to direct the film – turning it down several times – and that the character of Hooper was in several early script treatments, I thought it would be a treat to the readers to find out from Richard why he didn’t do the film. Thus began a four-year game of phone tag between me and Richard’s assistant, Justin. I should note here that Richard never said “no” to my request to speak with him. He was just always so busy. I would get a phone call from Justin telling me that Richard may have some time in the upcoming weekend, but we never spoke. The book was first released in 2015. In early 2016 I decided to release an updated and expanded edition of the book, featuring more interviews and photos. I again reached out to Justin. In July 2016, I was a “celebrity” guest at the Hollywood Show in Los Angeles. I put the word celebrity in quotes because among the other guests was Paul Sorvino, Bruce Dern, the cast of “Mike and Molly” Joe Alves and several of the JAWS 2 kids. Oh, also on the guest list. One Richard Dreyfuss. Both Justin and I were overjoyed that Richard and I would finally be in the same room. Surely I would have my chance to speak with him. Saturday was a blur. The place was packed, and, to his credit, Richard talked with fans the entire day. I believe the only break he took was to attend a pre-arranged photo shoot. For almost 8 hours he signed items and chatted with fans. Sunday started out with what I thought was an omen that I would finally get my conversation. Noted JAWS prop collector Chris Kiszka had come to the show with an old, worn wetsuit, supposedly the one that Richard wore in the film. He told me that he had finally come across a photo that showed Richard in the full wetsuit and showed it to me. I was taken aback when I saw that the photo was one of the photos I had sent out 40 years ago during the fan club era. Chris asked me to video Richard signing the wetsuit, which I did. Seeing a lull in the action, I approached him. I had brought with me a set of snapshots that Arlene Chain had sent me 40 years ago and that were part of the fan club membership kit. I handed them to Richard and explained what they were, telling him I thought he might like to have them back. He looked at them quietly for a few moments and thanked me. I then told him that I had been trying to talk with him for years about JAWS 2. “I wasn’t in JAWS 2,” he said. When asked what he thought about the film he replied, “I didn’t see JAWS 2.” Interview over! For the next few hours – the Hollywood Show is notoriously slow on Sundays – I stood by his table as he regaled everyone with amazing stories of his career. The man has a passion for everything he does and it was evident in the way he shared his tales with us. In 2018, the updated and expanded edition of “JAWS 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel” was released. Inside you can find my “exclusive” interview with Richard.

In early 2019, it was announced that Richard would be coming to Kansas City for one of his “An Evening JAWing with Richard Dreyfuss” events. As a film critic I am often approached by the local ABC television affiliate to talk movies, especially around Academy Award time. In 2019 they did my segment from my home and also highlighted my love for JAWS. The segment was brought to the attention of the promoter of the upcoming show who reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in handling the Question and Answer portion of the program. Naturally I agreed. I spent the next few weeks trying to come up with questions that I thought Richard hadn’t heard. The night of the show I had to pinch myself as I found myself alone with Richard and his wife in the green room. With an hour to go before the show, Richard wanted to eat. My son volunteered to go on a food run – he has a great story to tell about this – and while we waited for him to return, we just chatted. It was a surreal experience for me to be sure. A few moments before we were to take the stage he asked me what kind of questions I had come up for him. I told him that I had (21) questions and that I was hopeful that he had never been asked them before. He smiled. “By the way,” he said to me, “every time you ask me a question that I’ve heard over and over, you owe me ten bucks.” I laughed. “I’m serious,” he said. As I took to the dark stage I went over the questions I had prepared in my head and I felt safe. After I was introduced it was my job to introduce Richard. I had thought long and hard about what I would say. I went with “For any artist, the greatest compliment they can receive is when they are told that their work has influenced others. This man’s work has influenced me for over four decades. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce Mr. Richard Dreyfuss.” Cue the applause!

The next 90 minutes flew by. Judging by his face, Richard was impressed with the questions I had come up with. I touched on the ill-fated “Catch-22” television series he was a part of, his love for director Mike Nichols, the never-filmed “sequel” to The Goodbye Girl and much more. I was cruising along when I came to a question that a member of our RICHARD DREYFUSS FANS Facebook page had asked me to ask. The question? “When you eat mashed potatoes, do you find yourself making a little Devil’s Tower out of them?” He laughed, looked at me and said, “you owe me ten bucks.” When the show was over, we made our way back to the green room. He looked at me and said, “you owe me ten bucks.” He was serious. His wife spoke up, saying “Richard, leave the boy alone.” He ignored her and held his hand out. I gladly handed him a $10 bill, which he pocketed with a smile. I had brought him a copy of the JAWS 2 book but, as they were traveling, he asked me to send it to him. He gave me his home address and we said our goodbyes. I mailed the book and sometime later I received a phone call from his wife. We talked about the event and I was pleased that they both had a great time. After that they would send me the occasional text message, filling me in on what Richard was doing and allowing me to share it on our page.

With Hooper himself, JAWS star Richard Dreyfuss at The Hollywood Show

In July 2021, I was a guest at the annual SHARKCon in Tampa. The big guest that year was going to be Richard and I was again asked to run the Q&A. This time I found myself spending the weekend sitting next to Richard, signing books and talking movies. Before the Q&A, with questions coming from the audience, I warned them of Richard’s $10 question penalty. I told Richard that I wanted a chance to get my money back and ask him a question he had never heard before. He agreed. My question:

During the “looking for help” montage in JAWS there is a scene of you on the phone and you are saying, “Mishkin…Mishkin….there is no need for me to come to Brisbaine when I have a great white right here.” Was that a secret nod to your agent, Meyer Mishkin? He smiled. “I owe you ten bucks!” The next day was spent watching him interact with fans. Like Henry Winkler, Richard is genuine. He listens to what he is told and he talks with a passion that is unmatched. I presented him with an autographed copy of Edith Blake’s updated “On Location: On Martha’s Vineyard – the Making of the Movie JAWS” which I had worked on. I pointed out that I had put him on the cover. He laughed and said to his wife, “Someone had to die so I could be on the cover.” Due to a change in their plans, Richard and his wife left on a break but never returned. I was sad that I hadn’t been able to say goodbye and flew back to Kansas City with the memories of a great weekend in my head. As I was driving home, my phone rang. Hello? “Hey there! We left without saying goodbye. Do you want to have a late dinner?” I explained that I had flown home right after the show. We talked for a while and Richard asked me what it was that made me a fan. I told him that he had been a huge influence on my life. He replied, “I hear that a lot, but when I ask what kind of influence I had people usually say ‘you made a good movie.” I told him it was more then a good movie. “Richard, I was a fifteen-year old kid; my parents had just divorced, and I had just moved to a new state and was trying to make new friends. Then I saw JAWS. And from that I got to help with the fan club. I started acting and making films…I found a career that I love, and I’ve made an entire world full of friends. And you were a huge reason for all of that. I was a 20-year-old kid, and I could tell people that Roy Scheider was my friend.” There was a brief silence and then Richard said, “well I’m your friend too.” I laughed. I told him that when I talk about him with Candy Clark or Cindy Williams, they always refer to him as “Ricky.” I said, “I want to be a “Ricky” friend.” His reply? “We’ll work on it.”

Words by Michael A Smith. Michael is co-author of Jaws 2: The Making Of The Hollywood Sequel. You can order the book by contacting Michael at OsFanMike@aol.com.

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