Dreyfuss was born Richard Stephen Dreyfus in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Norman, an attorney and restaurateur, and Geraldine, a peace activist. Dreyfuss is Jewish and his surname is of Yiddish origin, believed to originate in the German city of Trier, which had a large Jewish population in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The Latin name for the city was "Treveris", of which Dreyfuss is a variant. He commented that he "grew up thinking that Alfred Dreyfus and [he] are of the same family." His family moved to California when he was nine.

Dreyfuss's acting career began during his youth at the Beverly Hills Jewish Center. He debuted in the TV production In Mama's House when he was fifteen. He attended the San Fernando Valley State College (later re-named California State University, Northridge) for a year. He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and worked in alternate service for two years as a clerk in a Los Angeles hospital. During this time, he acted in a few small TV roles on shows like Peyton Place, Gidget, Bewitched and The Big Valley. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he also performed on stage on Broadway, off-Broadway, repertory, and improvisational theater.

Dreyfuss's first film part was a small, uncredited role in The Graduate and had one line, "Shall I get the cops? I'll get the cops." He was also briefly seen as a stage hand in Valley of the Dolls, in which he had a few lines. He appeared in the subsequent Dillinger, and landed a role in the 1973 hit American Graffiti, acting with other future stars such as Harrison Ford and Ron Howard. Dreyfuss played his first lead role in the Canadian film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

He went on to star in the box office blockbusters Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both directed by Steven Spielberg.

Dreyfuss won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a struggling actor in The Goodbye Girl, becoming the youngest actor to do so. This record has since been surpassed by Adrien Brody.

Around 1978, Dreyfuss began using cocaine frequently; his addiction came to a head four years later in 1982, when he was arrested for possession of the drug after his car struck a tree. He entered rehabilitation and eventually made a Hollywood comeback with the film Down And Out In Beverly Hills in 1986 and Stakeout the following year.

He had a starring role opposite Bill Murray in the 1991 hit comedy What About Bob? as a psychiatrist who goes crazy while trying to cope with a particularly obsessive new patient. Dreyfuss later worked with Burns as producer and took on the role of Georges Picquart in Prisoner of Honor, a HBO movie about the historical incident released in 1991.

In 1994, Dreyfuss participated in the historic Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah (Holocaust) at the Vatican in the presence of Pope John Paul II, Rav Elio Toaf, 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 Third Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gilbert Levine. The event was broadcast worldwide.

Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995). Since then he has continued working in the movies, television and the stage. In 2001/2002, he played Max Bickford in the television drama The Education of Max Bickford. In April 2004, he appeared in the revival of Sly Fox on Broadway (opposite Eric Stoltz, René Auberjonois, Bronson Pinchot and Elizabeth Berkley).

In November 2004, he was scheduled to appear in The Producers in London, but withdrew from the production a week before opening night. The media noted that Dreyfuss was still suffering from problems relating to an operation for a herniated disc in January, and that the part of Max Bialystock in the play is a physically demanding one. Both he and his assistant for the production stated that Dreyfuss was accumulating injuries that required him to wear physical therapy supports during rehearsals. Nathan Lane was brought in to replace Dreyfuss in the London production. It later emerged that he'd been fired.

Dreyfuss recorded the voiceover to the Apple, Inc., then Apple Computer, Inc., Think Different ad campaign in 1997. The text of the ad begins, "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels..."

In 2006, he appeared as one of the survivors in the 2006 film Poseidon. Dreyfuss portrayed U.S Vice President Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone's 2008 George W. Bush bio-pic W.

In early 2009, he appeared in the play Complicit (directed by Kevin Spacey) in London's Old Vic theatre. His participation in the play was subject to much controversy, owing to his use of an earpiece on stage, reportedly because of his inability to learn his lines in time. He guest-voiced as himself in the "Three Kings" episode of Family Guy in 2009, and later appeared again in the episode "Peter-assment". Dreyfuss will guest star in at least four episodes of the sixth season of Weeds, which premieres in the US in August 2010.

Dreyfuss has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Political activity

Dreyfuss has been outspoken on the issue of media informing policy, legislation, and public opinion in recent years, both speaking and writing to express his sentiments in favor of privacy, freedom of speech, democracy, and individual accountability.

Dreyfuss has organized and promoted campaigns to inform and instruct audiences in what he considers potential erosion of individual rights, a personal initiative he began in 2006, responding to what he believes were violations of individual rights under the presidential administration of George W. Bush. On February 16, 2006, Dreyfuss spoke at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in hopes of prompting a national discussion on impeachment charges against U.S. President George W. Bush. On November 17, 2006, Dreyfuss appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher as a panel member to discuss teaching civics in schools. Dreyfuss currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. National Constitution Center - Near Independence Hall in Historic Philadelphia In 2007, Dreyfuss appeared in the youth voting documentary film 18 in '08. YouTube - 18 in '08 Trailer Dreyfuss has publicly endorsed Jonathan Tasini's campaign for Charles Rangel's congressional seat in the 15th district of New York in 2010.

Academic

Dreyfuss is involved in a nationwide enterprise to encourage the teaching of American history in American primary schools. He is a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony's College, University of Oxford.

Books

In 1995 Dreyfuss co-authored with science fiction writer Harry Turtledove the novel The Two Georges, an alternate history/mystery piece set in the year 1996 of an alternate timeline where the American Revolution was peacefully avoided. The painting that symbolizes the union between North America and Britain is stolen by terrorists, and officers of the Royal North American Mounted Police must find it before it is destroyed.

Dreyfuss married writer-producer Jeramie Rain in the early 1980s. With her he had three children: Emily (1983), Benjamin (1986), and Harry (1990). His elder son, Benjamin, was born with a malignant form of cancer in his left eye. Dreyfuss and Rain have continued to raise money for ophthalmology centers throughout the United States ever since. Dreyfuss then married Janelle Lacey in 1999 but they divorced in 2005.

Dreyfuss' mother died on October 19, 2000 due to complications from a stroke.

Dreyfuss suffers from bipolar disorder. In 2006, he appeared in Stephen Fry's documentary, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, in which Fry (who also has the disorder) interviewed him about his life.

On August 9, 2008, it was reported that Dreyfuss was suing his father and uncle over a 24-year-old loan he claimed was never repaid. He said he gave his relatives US$870,000 in 1984 when they owned an interest in a Los Angeles office building. In court papers filed on August 8, 2008, he claimed the loan was still outstanding and that his uncle, Gilbert, had refused to turn over financial records. He was reported to be seeking repayment of the loan, plus interest and punitive damages.

Dreyfuss and Russian-born Svetlana Erokhin married in 2006 and have lived in San Diego County since then, although they travel frequently to Los Angeles and London, where Dreyfuss once lived. They initially lived in Carlsbad, California. In February 2008, they bought a $1.5 million house in the rural community of Olivenhain in eastern Encinitas, California, and plan to renovate the 1970s structure with state-of-the-art green technologies.