Roy Scheider: Nov. 10, 1932 - Feb. 10, 2008

At Oscar Adventures today we mourn the passing of Roy Scheider, the actor best known for his role as a police chief in the blockbuster movie "Jaws," has died. He was 75.

Scheider played Chief Brody, the character for whom my Oscar fish is named, in the classic film that was the first summer blockbuster ever.

Scheider died Sunday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. The hospital did not release a cause of death.

However, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years.

Scheider received two Oscar nominations, for best-supporting actor in 1971's "The French Connection" in which he played the police partner of Oscar winner Gene Hackman, and for best-actor for 1979's "All That Jazz," the autobiographical Bob Fosse film.

However, he was best known for his role in Steven Spielberg's1975 film, "Jaws," the enduring classic about a killer shark terrorizing beachgoers and well as millions of moviegoers.

Widely hailed as the film that launched the era of the Hollywood blockbuster, it was also the first movie to earn $100 million at the box office. Scheider starred with Richard Dreyfuss, who played an oceanographer.

In 2005, one of Scheider's most famous lines in the movie -- "You're gonna need a bigger boat" -- was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

That year, some 30 years after "Jaws" premiered, hundreds of movie buffs flocked to Martha's Vineyard, off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts, to celebrate the great white shark.
advertisement

The island's JawsFest '05 also brought back some of the cast and crew, including screenwriter Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley, who wrote the novel that inspired Spielberg's classic. Spielberg, Scheider and Dreyfuss were absent.

Scheider was also politically active. He participated in rallies protesting U.S. military action in Iraq, including a massive New York demonstration in March 2003 that police said drew 125,000 chanting activists.

One happy fish

Chief Brody loves the new aquarium. He spends a lot of time swimming from one side of the tank to the other in an endless cycle of laps as if to say, "Look at how much room there is!"

I am starting to wonder if I should introduce a few other fish to the aquarium now that there is room. I doubt I'd want another oscar. Chief Brody would be territorial after more than a year on his own, and the whole point of getting the bigger aquarium was to give him room to grow. If I were to introduce another oscar, I'd be cancelling out the extra room he just gained.

There are a few fish that can hold their own in an oscar tank. Some gouramis. A pacu (but they get too big). An algae eater or two might not hurt. Perhaps a few silver dollars (although I'd have to buy the biggest ones I can find or they'd become his chew toys).

The problem with introducing new fish is you don't know how that might upset the happy balance you've worked so hard to achieve. What if they fight? You also have to worry about new fish, which might import disease each time you add them to the tank.

For now I think we'll keep things status quo. I don't want to upset what is, for the moment, a happy fish.

Chief Brody's so-called life

First Photo of Chief Brody's new home

For the first 18 months of his life, Chief Brody has lived in a 29-gallon acrylic aquarium. During his all-too-brief youth, the aquarium was perfectly adequate to house the growing Oscar. But, in recent months, the oscar has expressed displeasure at the lack of open swimming space.

Yeah, so you're asking, "How was a fish able to express anything, much less displeasure?" Trust me, an oscar can make that clear, as anyone who's ever had an oscar for a pet can tell you.

Whether flaring his gills, changing his coloration or opening his mouth and swimming back and forth in a tight little move that I like to call the "Oh no you di'n't" of the fish world.

I became worried about Chief Brody in June. He wasn't eating very well, which means his food was clouding the water much too quickly for my taste. The owner of a local pet store (City Pets in Westport - Kansas City) told me something that was both remarkable, unbelievable and, in the end, right on the money.

He told me that, well, my fish was bored. I was not providing enough stimulation. You know we're advancing as a culture when even the fish need psychotherapy. Now I understand how parents feel when the teacher calls them in to accuse them of not providing enough support to little Jenny or Johnny.

Following the pet store owner's suggestion, I brought Chief Brody a peace offering - toys!. I dropped a hollow plastic golf ball and two plastic fish into the 29-gallon aquarium along with a rock with plastic nubs on it (for little self-administered massage sessions).

It worked! Chief Brody loved the golf ball. Nobody really believes that he bats it around the surface of the aquarium because he never performs in public. But I've seen it, and some day I'll be lucky enough to capture it on video.

I've never really seen Chief Brody play with the plastic fish, but I know he does because they move from one side of the aquarium to another and, last time I checked, there was no such thing as an aquarium poltergeist.

As for the massages, I'm hoping to never witness that.

So, that was a solution to fish boredom, albeit a short-lived one. The truth is that most books about oscars get it wrong. They do a good job of notifying the public that oscars should not be kept in a goldfish bowl or a 10-gallon starter tank, but let's face it - anyone who would buy a book specifically about oscars already knows that.

Most books say that you should have at least a 30-gallon aquarium for one oscar. I have an oscar book that is very non-commital about the size of aquarium that I would need for one Oscar. The book says I should have a 30-gallon but a 55-gallon is better and a 75-gallon would be ideal. How's that for indecisive?

Long story short, I decided that it was time to upgrade Chief Brody's home from 29 to 55 gallons. I found a great deal on a used 55-gallon on Craigslist.org this week, and today it was delivered. Chief Brody already seems so much more at ease in his new home.

Oscars, like people, need room to grow. And toys to fend off boredom, apparently. I draw the line at actually hiring a psychotherapist for my fish. Really, I do!

Chief Brody at 19 months old

This is what a young adult Oscar should look like. Chief Brody is a healthy cichlid with strong coloration, bright eyes and undamaged finnage.

Most oscar owners feed their oscars live fish. I don't do this for a few reasons. First, I don't want to stand there and watch poor little fish be hunted and eaten alive. I'm troubled by the number of people who post videos on YouTube of their oscars eating fish, frogs, baby mice and other defenseless little creatures. Perhaps the FBI should take an interest in these videos, which are surely the work of future serial killers.

Second, Chief Brody seems to be doing fine with a diet of fish food, fruit, vegetables and the occasional frozen beef heart or brine shrimp treat. While not a true vegetarian fish because of the last two choices, Chief Brody is also, thankfully, not one of those fish who kills other fish that would be put to better use as pets.

Going from 29 gallons to 55

Another view of the new aquarium.

A bigger home for a big fish

Chief Brody got a new home today and is loving all 55 gallons of it.

Jurassic Shark: Chief Brody arrives

New toys liven up life for Oscar

Breathing new life into the aquarium

I finally discovered something to cure the restlessness and seeming boredom that Chief Brody has suffered ever since I moved him to the new house in mid-May. It's not like he could tell we live in a new place, right? Well, maybe ....

While visiting my local pet store today, I found an employee with lots of experience with large cichlids. I was advised to add some visual interest to the aquarium for my Oscar. Specifically, some bright toys.

Great idea! The addition of two bright plastic fish toys, a plastic Ping-Pong ball and a rock with soft rubber nubs is just the ticket! Chief Brody has never seemed happier. He can "play" with the Ping Pong ball as it floats along the surface. He has two fish friends on the bottom to bully when he needs to vent some frustration. And he has the rock with soft rubber nubs to rub up against when he needs to calm an itch.

I'm so happy for Chief Brody as he seems happier now than he's been in months.

Chief Brody's favorite movie featured on TV tonight

Steven Spielberg's classic "JAWS" is on TV tonight, and Chief Brody enjoyed watching his favorite movie while swimming around his aquarium.

Chief Brody loves everything about JAWS and even likes to have his picture taken with JAWS memorabilia such as this replica (pictured) of the ORCA being attached by the great white shark, who is eating Quint in this particular re-enactment. The toy is from the Todd MacFarlane collection.

Exclusive! Rare home video of Chief Brody swimming

View rare footage of Chief Brody enjoying the warm waters of his tropical aquarium on a cold February day.

Oscars: Not for the beginning fishkeeper

This year marks my 20th year as a fish aquarium hobbyist. I'll never forget the excitement of getting that first aquarium - the 20 gallon that my parents bought for me in 1987. It's a hobby I've loved ever since. I've kept nearly every kind of tropical fish you can imagine, including tame choices like mollies, platties and guppies and more exotic specimen such as the piranha, fancy goldfish and, finally, the Oscar.

I feel like my years as an tropical fish hobbyist have been building up to this. Make no mistake - keeping an Oscar is hard work. Not only do they grow rapidly, demanding larger and larger tanks and ever-better filtration systems. They are also feisty, messy and tempermental. But that's just part of their amazing personalities.

Keeping Chief Brody happy is a full-time job. Consider the partial water changes that occur weekly. The twice-daily feedings. The weekly water testing (five different tests each time!). It's a lot of work, but I enjoy it and find it worthwhile.

I love that people read this blog and enjoy themselves. Some of you perhaps even consider getting an oscar of your own. But I want you, dear readers, to understand that a lot of work takes place behind the scenes. If you have never kept fish before, an oscar is not a wise first choice.

Chief Brody has grown a lot in the past 11 months

What a difference 11 months make! These images show the amazing growth of Chief Brody over the past 11 months.

In the photo at above left, he was just a baby Oscar exploring his new home on his first day there, on March 13, 2006. Above right, he is the undoubted sovereign of his domain.

The white tank decoration in the background gives some scale to the two images taken nearly a year apart. When he arrived in the 29-gallon tank, he was two inches long. Today, he is 6.5 inches long and growing more every day.

A fish that is quick to make his feelings known

They say that Oscars will let you know if they are unhappy about something that is going on in their aquarium or within their view, and I have definitely found that to be true.

Chief Brody never fails to let me know when something is not up to his standards. For instance, he will swing his powerful tail into the gravel and throw gravel across the tank if he decides he is hungry.

I have been in the habit of leaving the tank hood slightly off center so that I can simply drop food down the through the uncovered portion of the tank top. Tonight, however, I put the light cover back in its place. Chief Brody spent the next 30 minutes swimming up and slamming his head into the cover. I don't know whether it was finger wagging or the pain in his head that finally made him stop.

Oscars really do have personalities and are amazing fish to watch. I enjoy watching him swim about and, occassionally, "talk" to me about how life could be better for him if only I would feed him, change the water, increase the heat, move the light cover, etc.