Everyone who has watched Jaws must remember Roy Scheider as the police chief. In today’s news, it was reported that Roy Scheider has passed away at the age of 75. I guess he lived a long life, so the news isn’t so terrible as compared to some of the more recent deaths (Heath Ledger, Steve Irwin, and some lesser known stars, Brad Renfro and Jonathan Brandis).

Perhaps it’s because I’m growing older, but the news of a celebrity’s death seems more disturbing to me now compared to last time. I guess we all become more aware of how short life is as we age. The other day, during our family Chinese New Year reunion lunch, I was carrying my baby cousin. One of uncles said, ‘Do you realise, when she’s your age, you’ll be 51!’. My jaw dropped…and I couldn’t believe it. When she’s my age, she’ll probably regard me as one of those old aunties.

Anyway, I think I first noticed Roy Scheider in the sci-fi series Seaquest DSV, where he played the role of captain of the ship. I always have this image of Roy as a grandfatherly image, perhaps because that was his relationship in the series between himself and one of his co-stars, Jonathan Brandis (who committed suicide in 2003). Then later, when I watched Jaws again, I made the connection that it was the same guy in Seaquest.

It’s funny how people are overlooked in smaller roles, and then when they become famous, you watch them in those older films and then you’re like, ‘Hey, this is so-and-so!’. The actor that I remember is Pierce Brosnan. He only became more famous as his character as James Bond, as well as the suave thief in The Thomas Crown Affair. Later on, I watched Mrs. Doubtfire again, and then I noticed that the boyfriend of the wife was Pierce Brosnan!

I’m sure another actor that this will happen to is Eddie Cahill. He guest starred in Friends as Rachel’s boyfriend for a few episodes, but only hit the big time as a detective in CSI: NY.

Back to the topic of our mortality, it’s been mentioned time and time again, but we should all treasure each day, and treat it as if each day were our last day. I’m sure you’ve been asked the question, ‘If today was your last day on earth, how would you spend it?’. How different were your answers compared to how you spend each day at this point in time?

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