Dreyfuss rose to promimence with starring roles in American Graffiti (1973), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), Jaws (1975), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Elliot Garfield in the 1977 romantic comedy The Goodbye Girl, and was Oscar-nominated in the same category for his title role in the 1995 drama Mr. Holland's Opus.

[4] His father Norman suffered from the debilitating physical effects of a mortar explosion at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, requiring the use of crutches, canes, and special footwear provided by the Army for the rest of his life.

[6][7] He has commented that he "grew up thinking that Alfred Dreyfus and [he] are from the same family" and that his great-grand aunt was Hesya Helfman, one of the assassins of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and the only one to escape execution for the deed.

During this time, he acted in a few small TV roles on shows such as Peyton Place, Room 222 , Gidget, That Girl, Gunsmoke, Bewitched, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, and The Big Valley.

Dreyfuss appeared in the play The Time of Your Life, which was revived on March 17, 1972, at the Huntington Hartford Theater in Los Angeles, and directed by Edwin Sherin.

He subsequently appeared in Dillinger, and landed a key role in the 1973 George Lucas hit American Graffiti, acting with other future stars such as Harrison Ford.

[11] Dreyfuss played his first lead role in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), receiving positive reviews, including praise from Pauline Kael.

[11] Dreyfuss appeared as the elder Gordie Lachance (played by his Buddy System co-star Wil Wheaton) in Rob Reiner's Stand by Me, a coming-of-age drama/comedy adapted from Stephen King's novella The Body.

In 1994, he participated in the historic Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah at the Vatican in the presence of Pope John Paul II, Rav Elio Toaff, chief rabbi of Rome, and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, President of the Italian Republic.

In 1997, Dreyfuss recorded a voiceover for the Apple Computer "Think Different" ad campaign,[19] and also provided the voice of the narrator in The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon.

In 1999, Dreyfuss made his London West End debut starring alongside Marsha Mason in Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

The media noted that Dreyfuss was suffering from problems relating to an operation for a herniated disc, and that the part of Max Bialystock in the play was a physically demanding one.

[24] Dreyfuss portrayed U.S Vice President Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's 2008 George W. Bush biopic W.[25] In 2009, he appeared in the play Complicit by Joe Sutton at London's Old Vic theatre.

He followed it up with roles in the hit comedy Book Club (2018) opposite Candice Bergen and the Netflix movie The Last Laugh (2019) with Chevy Chase and Andie MacDowell.

[34] Dreyfuss and Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin married in 2006 and as of February 2020 they reside in the San Diego area,[35][36] although they have frequently visited New York City, London, and Sun Valley, Idaho.

[37] During his acting career, Dreyfuss had public feuds with some of the people he worked alongside, notably actors Robert Shaw and Bill Murray, who costarred with him in Jaws and What About Bob?

respectively, and filmmaker Oliver Stone, who directed him in W.[38] In 2017, writer Jessica Teich accused Dreyfuss of sexual harassment during the filming of an ABC special.

[46] On November 17, 2006, Dreyfuss appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher as a panel member to discuss teaching Civics in schools.

[citation needed] In 1995, Dreyfuss co-authored with science-fiction writer Harry Turtledove the book The Two Georges, a novel set in the year 1995 of a timeline in which the American Revolution was peacefully avoided.

"[52][53] During a screening of Jaws at The Cabot theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, on May 27, 2024, Dreyfuss criticised "diversity initiatives", and launched into what was described as a transphobic, misogynistic, homophobic, and sexist rant, causing many attendees to shout at the actor, and many to leave the venue in dismay.