Richard Dreyfuss On Life And Bernie Madoff

Actor Richard Dreyfuss joins us on his new role as Ponzi scheme villain Bernie Madoff and a career of being Dreyfuss.

Bernie Madoff was the biggest swindler with the biggest Ponzi scheme in American history. Now he’s in prison but back in the public eye in a new made-for-TV drama, played by one of the longest-running marquee names in Hollywood. Actor Richard Dreyfuss made his name as the star of "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Mr. Holland’s Opus" and more. Now he’s Madoff. And with us. This hour On Point, actor Richard Dreyfuss on a life in film, and the Bernie Madoff story.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Keri Geiger, reporter on the financial investigations team at Bloomberg News. (@GeigerWire)

Richard Dreyfuss, Oscar-winning film and television actor. He stas in the new ABC mini-series, "Madoff." Known for his roles in "Jaws," "American Graffiti," "Mr. Holland's Opus," "The Goodbye Girl" and many more. (@richarddreyfuss)

NPR News: Richard Dreyfuss: Like It Or Not, There's A Bit Of Bernie Madoff In All Of Us — "If you know the story, you can't really pull for him. If you don't know the whole story, you're taken by his charm. He has to be a guy who you really like or else he wouldn't have been successful, you know, taking your money. Everyone liked him ... until they hated him."

New York Times: In ‘Madoff,’ What He Was Thinking — "What the production lacks in moral dimension or psychological acuity it occasionally makes up for in entertainment value. The first night, especially, offers some snappy comedy as it delineates how Mr. Madoff and a few trusted employees carried out their titanic fraud under the noses of the rest of his firm’s employees, including his two sons."

The Atlantic: ABC’s Madoff Is a Bad Investment — "Madoff keeps things oddly light-hearted, considering the weight of the ex-financier’s crimes. To be sure, Dreyfuss excels at disguising Bernie’s worst traits beneath an avuncular, if tetchy, public persona. But the show is overlong at four hours, and only really at its best when it’s focusing on the mechanics of the biggest financial fraud in American history."