Richard Dreyfuss

Dreyfuss in 2013, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: Richard Stephen Dreyfus

Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: October 29, 1947

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Richard Dreyfuss is an American actor and activist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Goodbye Girl (1977). His roles also include the films American Graffiti, Dillinger, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Inserts, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Big Fix, The Competition, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Stand by Me, Tin Men, Stakeout, and its sequel; Nuts, Moon over Parador, Always (1989), Once Around…, What About Bob?, Lost in Yonkers, Silent Fall, The American President, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Mad Dog Time, Night Falls on Manhattan, The Crew, Silver City, Poseidon, W., as Dick Cheney; Piranha 3D, Red, Paranoia (2013), Book Club, and Murder at Yellowstone City, and television’s Victory at Entebbe, Lansky, Fail Safe (2000), The Education of Max Bickford, The Day Reagan Was Shot, and Madoff.

Richard is the son of Geraldine (Robbins), a peace activist, and Norman Dreyfus, an attorney and restaurateur, who owned a plastics company. He is from a Jewish family, from Poland, Hungary, Austria, Russia, and Latvia. His surname is Yiddish. His brother was actor, film producer, and screenwriter Lorin Dreyfuss. He was raised in Bayside, Queens, though the family spent some time in Europe, before moving to Los Angeles, California, when Richard was nine.

Richard is married to Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin. He has three children, including journalist Emily Dreyfuss and journalist and actor Ben Dreyfuss, with his former wife, writer and producer Jeramie Rain. His niece, Lorin’s daughter, is actress and model Natalie Dreyfuss.

Richard’s paternal grandfather was named Louis Dreyfuss (the son of Alexander Sussman Dreyfuss and Celia). Louis was born in Rzeszow, Poland.

Richard’s paternal grandmother was Sadie/Sara Stutz (the daughter of Joseph Stutz-Kugel and Gloria/Golda Grad). Sadie was born in Rzeszow, Poland. Joseph was the son of George Stutz-Kugel. Gloria was the daughter of Israel Noah Grad and Faiga Marian Rosenberg.

Richard’s maternal grandfather was named Samuel “Paddy” Rabinowitz/Robbins (the son of Robert Rabinowitz and Bessie). Samuel was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents.

Richard’s maternal grandmother was Elsie Hoffman (the daughter of Henry Hoffman and Katie Rich). Elsie was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Henry was possibly born in Riga, Latvia, the son of Kalman Hoffman and Sadie Krainin. Katie was the daughter of Isaac Rich and Elsie Rivkin.

Sources: Genealogy of Richard Dreyfuss – http://www.geni.com

Richard’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Richard’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org