An Adler Award for Scheider
 The Stella Adler School of Acting honored the late Roy Scheider for a life committed to social engagement and acting. The actor’s widow, Brenda Siemer Scheider, and son, Christian Scheider, accepted the award on his behalf. |
(3/26/2008) Amid a crowd consisting of theater and screen legends such as Kathleen Turner and Stockard Channing, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting honored the late Roy Scheider at its fourth annual Stella by Starlight gala at Cipriani on 23rd Street in New York City on March 17.
He had a “love of the theater” and of “inspiring young people,” said Brenda Siemer Scheider, who accepted the Group Theatre Award on behalf of her husband. The award is given for a life committed to social engagement and prolific achievement in theater.
The couple’s son, Christian Scheider, who stood by his mother while she accepted the award, recalled his father as someone who felt that few things were “as important as drama” or “as essential as poetry.”
Mr. Scheider, a Sag Harbor resident and two-time Academy Award nominee, died in February. A Stella Adler Studio board member, he had an extensive career in film, television, and theater, and is best known for his roles in “Jaws,” “All That Jazz,” and “The French Connection.”
At the March 17 event, Tom Oppenheim, artistic director of the acting studio and grandson of Stella Adler, announced the establishment of the Roy Scheider Scholarship Endowment Fund. The fund will be used to enable lower- income, inner-city young people to study at the studio tuition free for four years. Steven Spielberg, who directed Mr. Scheider in “Jaws,” has already donated $50,000 to the fund, Mr. Oppenheim said.
During the awards ceremony, a clip was shown from the “American Masters” documentary “Harold Clurman: A Life in the Theater.” In it, Mr. Scheider held a cigarette in one hand while talking about Mr. Clurman. “Whenever you saw Harold . . . the world just looked better,” he said, his eyes filling with tears as he spoke about his friend and respected colleague.
“He so believed in Harold and what he taught,” Ms. Siemer Scheider said of her husband. “The people who worked with Roy understand that and were inspired by him.”
Other award winners that evening included Martin Sheen, the actor known for his roles in “Apocalypse Now” and “The West Wing.” Mr. Sheen received the school’s Marlon Brando Award for his commitment to social activism and excellence in film art.
Pamela J. Newman, an international insurance broker, was presented with the Harold Clurman Spirit Award, given for a courageous contribution to the culture of New York City and beyond.
Liz Smith, a columnist for The New York Post, received the Harold Clurman Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given for a commitment to the ennoblement of humanity through culture.