Editing Richard Dreyfuss (section)

=== 1975–1995: Career stardom and acclaim ===
Dreyfuss went on to star in box office blockbusters ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' (1975) and ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' (1977), both directed by [[Steven Spielberg]]. He won the 1978 [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] at the [[50th Academy Awards]] ceremony for his portrayal of a struggling actor in ''[[The Goodbye Girl]]'' (1977), becoming the youngest actor to do so (at the age of 30 years, 125 days old), besting [[Marlon Brando]], who had won his first Oscar in 1955 at the age of 30 years, 360 days old.<ref name="tca" /> This record stood for 25 years until it was broken in 2003 by [[Adrien Brody]], who was three weeks shy of age 30 at the time of the [[75th Academy Awards]] ceremony. Dreyfuss is still, however, the shortest to have ever won Best Actor, standing at about 5 foot 4 inches tall.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000377/bio?ref_=nm_ql_1|title=Richard Dreyfuss Biography Page|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref> In five years, between 1973 and 1978, the films that Dreyfuss appeared in grossed upwards of $900 million. He made his producing debut with ''[[The Big Fix (1978 film)|The Big Fix]]'' (1978), in which he also starred.

Around 1978, Dreyfuss began using [[cocaine]] frequently; he claims to not remember anything from the production of the 1981 film ''[[Whose Life Is It Anyway? (film)|Whose Life Is It Anyway?]]''. His addiction came to a head in 1982, when he was arrested for possession of the drug after he blacked out while driving, and his [[Mercedes-Benz R107 and C107|Mercedes-Benz 450 SL]] struck a tree.<ref name="tca" /><ref name="lmtcoc">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1qpfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3621%2C3765642 |newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune |title=Actor faces cocaine charge |date=November 13, 1982 |page=2A }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/77809/bio.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050109212035/http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/77809/bio.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 9, 2005|title=News - Entertainment, Music, Movies, Celebrity|publisher=MTV News}}</ref> He entered [[Drug rehabilitation|rehabilitation]] and eventually made a Hollywood comeback with the films ''[[Down and Out in Beverly Hills]]'' in 1986 and ''[[Stakeout (1987 film)|Stakeout]]'' the following year.<ref name="tca" /> Dreyfuss appeared as the elder Gordie Lachance (played by his [[The Buddy System (film)|''Buddy System'']] co-star [[Wil Wheaton]]) in [[Rob Reiner]]'s ''[[Stand by Me (film)|Stand by Me]]'', a [[Coming of age|coming-of-age]] drama/comedy adapted from [[Stephen King]]'s novella ''[[The Body (novella)|The Body]]''. He was nominated for a Golden Globe playing a defense lawyer in the courtroom thriller ''[[Nuts (1987 film)|Nuts]]''. In 1988, he reunited with director [[Paul Mazursky]] to star in the political farce ''[[Moon over Parador]]''.

In 1989, Dreyfuss reunited with Spielberg on ''[[Always (1989 film)|Always]]'', a remake of ''[[A Guy Named Joe]]'' in which he co-starred with [[Holly Hunter]], and reunited with his ''Close Encounters'' co-star [[Teri Garr]] for the comedy ''[[Let It Ride (film)|Let It Ride]]''. He had a starring role opposite [[Bill Murray]] in the 1991 comedy ''[[What About Bob?]]'', as a [[psychiatrist]] driven to insanity by a particularly obsessive new patient. That same year, Dreyfuss [[Film producer|produced]] and starred as [[Georges Picquart]] in ''[[Prisoner of Honor]]'', an [[HBO]] movie about the historical [[Dreyfus Affair]]. In 1994, he participated in the historic ''[[Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah]]'' at the [[Apostolic Palace|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. He recited [[Kaddish]] as part of a performance of [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s [[Symphony No. 3 (Bernstein)|Third Symphony]] with the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] under the baton of [[Gilbert Levine]]. The event was broadcast worldwide. Dreyfuss received his second Oscar nomination for his performance as Glenn Holland in ''[[Mr. Holland's Opus]]'' (1995).<ref name="tca" /> Since then, he has continued working in movies, television and the stage. In 2001–2002, he played Max Bickford in the television drama ''[[The Education of Max Bickford]]''. In 2004, he appeared in the revival of ''[[Sly Fox]]'' on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] (opposite [[Eric Stoltz]], [[René Auberjonois (actor)|René Auberjonois]], [[Bronson Pinchot]] and [[Elizabeth Berkley]]).