‘Jaws’ Star Richard Dreyfuss Reveals Serious Health Issue in Video From Hospital Bed

Richard Dreyfuss was set to attend SharkCon in Tampa, Florida, this weekend, but the Jaws actor canceled his appearance in a video from a hospital bed as he disclosed a serious health issue.

“Hello, fellow cons. I am very, very sorry to tell you that I’ve been diagnosed with, viral … bronchitis,” the 77-year-old said in the video, with wife Svetlana Erokhin helping him remember the name of the condition.

Dreyfuss added, “I’ve been told by my doctors I cannot fly, and I would have to fly five hours to get there. I’m terribly sorry because I had planned to be there and had been looking forward to it, but I am unable to do so. I don’t want to get anyone else sick, and I don’t want to get sicker myself.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by SharkCon (@shark_con)

The Academy Award winner, who was resting under a “Jaws 50” blanket commemorating the film’s 50th anniversary, told attendees he felt “terrible” about missing the convention but would feel worse about exposing them to his virus. He said he would “make it [his] business” to show up to other appearances.

“And I want to wish you all good luck and happiness, and I want you all to feel very sorry for me and very sorry for yourselves,” he added with a laugh. “I’m in a lot of pain, and that has to come first, my health. And I feel very good about having the time and enough health.”

Erokhin chimed in again, reminding her husband to give a shout-out to his fans. “That’s my wife saying that,” he said. “And she’s right — she knows how to do this. So good luck, happy health, happy con. Bye!”

Related

'Jaws' 50th Anniversary: How a Disastrous Shoot Invented the Summer Blockbuster

Aside from Jaws, Dreyfus is known for his roles in the films American Graffiti, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Mr. Holland’s Opus, as well as his Oscar-winning performance in The Goodbye Girl. He returned to the screen in another shark movie earlier this year with his role in Into the Deep.

Off screen, the ailing actor has sparked controversy in recent years. In 2023, he said in a PBS interview that the Academy Awards’ recent diversity rules “made [him] vomit” and complained about “[giving] in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is.”

Then, last year, Dreyfuss went off on what attendees called a “transphobic, misogynistic, homophobic, sexist rant” as he discussed women in film, the #MeToo movement, and LGBTQ rights at a Jaws screening in Beverly, Massachusetts, according to The Boston Globe.