Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss pulled out of SharkCon at the weekend after he was hospitalised with viral bronchitis.
The 77-year-old, who also starred in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Stand By Me, was due to make an appearance at the Florida event, but in a recent video message posted to the convention’s Instagram account, said that he would not be in attendance after being diagnosed with viral bronchitis.
“Hello, fellow Cons. I am very, very sorry to tell you that I’ve been diagnosed with viral…viral…What is it?” he said.
Dreyfuss’s wife, Svetlana Erokhin, can then be heard off-camera, reminding him that he had contracted bronchitis.
“I’ve been told by my doctors I cannot fly, and I would have to fly five hours to get [to SharkCon],” he added.
“I’m terribly sorry because I had planned to be there and had been looking forward to it. But I’m unable to do so. I don’t want to get anyone else sick, and I don’t want to get sicker myself. I feel terrible about not showing up, and I feel worse about exposing you to this, apparently, very viral illness.”
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Dreyfuss had been scheduled to appear at the event with fans for solo photo opportunities in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jaws, as well as cast photos with co-stars Carla Hogendyk, Jeffrey Voorhees, and brothers Jonathan and Steven Searle.
He starred as marine biologist Matt Hooper, who offers to help his town’s police chief track down and capture a killer shark in the 1975 film directed by Steven Spielberg.
SharkCon has also offered an apology to fans, and confirmed: “All prepaid autographs and photo ops will automatically be refunded. There is no reason to reach out.
“It will take 5-10 business days plus what your bank takes for them to be processed. We are so sorry for any inconvenience. Thank you.”
Elsewhere, Jeannot Szwarc, director of Jaws 2, passed away earlier this year at the age of 85.
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