RICHARD DREYFUSS
Richard Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960’s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1978 for The Goodbye Girl (1977), and was nominated in 1995 for Mr. Holland’s Opus. (More from Wikipedia)
Conversely, one might think that deafness and music would not mix at all; but I trust that we have all by now seen the terrific Richard Dreyfuss movie Mr. Holland’s Opus that puts the lie to that notion. (For what it’s worth, I have had several people tell me that I bear a certain resemblance to Dreyfuss – particularly from the back I would say). The best known example is that of Ludwig van Beethoven (as long as I have mentioned Blind Melon, I might as well bring up the quirky 1990’s band Camper Van Beethoven, who dedicated one of their albums to Patty Hearst). Beethoven grew increasingly deaf as he got older; and by the time his Ninth Symphony was finished, he was profoundly deaf. Considering that this is one of the most beloved musical compositions of all time, his lack of hearing was certainly not a problem for this musical giant.
(June 2011)
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There is a wonderful scene in the Richard Dreyfuss movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus about a jazz musician who takes a job as a high school music teacher. One of his students, played by Alicia Witt, is struggling with her clarinet playing. He tells her, “There’s more to music than the notes on the paper.” Up until then, the movie has been dealing with “serious” music; but at this point, Dreyfuss reaches into a pile of 45’s and puts on “Louie Louie”.
He gives a little speech while it is playing: “Listen. These fellas have absolutely no harmonic sense. They can’t sing, the lead singer is yelling. They’re playing the same boring three chords over and over and over. The recording sucks. The lyrics are awful when you can understand them, if you can hear them. This song is about a decibel away from being noise. But we love it. I love it! Do you love it?” (She nods).
“Why? I’ll tell you why. Because it has heart. These guys are playing with everything they have and they’re having fun. They love it, so we love it.”
(June 2016)
