Richard Dreyfuss Sues Own Father, Uncle

LOS ANGELES — Richard Dreyfuss is suing his father and uncle over an $870,000 loan he claims was never repaid. The lawsuit centers around a loan Dreyfuss claims he made to his relatives in 1984, who owned an interest in a downtown Los Angeles office building.

Roughly 24 years later, Dreyfuss says that loan _ and interest _ remains unpaid.

In his lawsuit filed Friday, Dreyfuss says his uncle, Gilbert Dreyfuss, has repeatedly refused to turn over records that would show its financial status.

Phone and e-mail messages left for Gilbert Dreyfuss were not immediately returned. A woman who answered the phone at an address registered to Dreyfuss' father, Norman, said he could not be reached there.

Dreyfuss alleges his uncle and father, Norman Dreyfuss, have acted with "fraud" and "malice." He is seeking a repayment of the loan, plus interest and punitive damages.

Comments

[ChiGuy]

Speaking from first-hand experience, never mix family and money.
EVER!!!

[gifu]

None of you people know what the details of this dispute are. Your harsh opinions of Richard Dreyfuss or the other family members involved are unfounded and petty. Get a life.

[Melissa]

Someone told me many years ago that you don't lend money to friends or relatives. If you have the money and you want to help them out just give it as a gift. Sometimes they will pay it back and if they do not, since you don't expect them to, the friendships and families are not torn apart.

[DogLeg]

So, in 1984, Richard Dreyfuss, one of my favorite actors, is definitely in his prime earning years. He feels he's flush and can afford to break the maxim of not loaning money to family or friends. Since it maybe he is as I am, one who repaid a loan to the parents, he is doing it on principle rather than need. I doubt he needs the money, but $870,000 is a lot to anybody who has to work to earn it, irrespective of the mentality of those who think being involved in the arts is not work. Calluses form, no matter what.

[Harrier]

I would agree and your comments are very well said. As a person who has loaned a lot of money out to friends and family, I have for the most part been paid back. One of the things everyone has to consider is as we all get older, most people first go to all the available resources they have before going to family and friends. And when they come to you, it's generally as a last, not first alternative. The people who have turned them down before you are those who base their decisions on statistically ability to get payment back and they all have decided the likelihood of those people paying you back are slim to none. When you give out money under those conditions, those who do must understand there is a strong likelihood that money will not be returned. It's that simple.

In this case, Dreyfuss gave a lot and the guy who received it is basically a Bogarting him (Always finding a reason not to follow through with his commitment). Regardless of his kindness, it's clear his uncle appears to Dreyfuss as a guy who may have had no intention to pay a dime back and take advantage of him. His uncle appears to need the day of reckoning. Good for Dreyfuss

[renatam]

The bad PR is worth more than the amount of the LOAN. For those of us who never thought Dreyfuss was that good of an actor -- and simply playing himself ad nausum in every movie -- it looks like Mr. Publisher's Clearinghouse again. He is tapped out due to lack of projects to buttress an out-of-control lifestyle and a change in talent perception/box office -- so, now he goes back a generation to sue two elderly gentlemen who, even it the debt is real -- do not deserve to be treated in this manner -- or else the loan never should have been made in the first place.

Dreyfuss was LUCKY and, as w/many whose ascendancy is more due to good fortune (Spielberg seeing Dreyfuss as his own reflection/stand-in in his own pictures aka walk-ons for Hitchcock) -- wasn't prepared for that moment in time when the Spielberg relationship wouldn't continue to carry him. He began to BELIEVE his own PR.

It would have been better for Dreyfuss to follow other aging actors and do commercials -- than sue his elderly father and uncle, even if they are wrong. Elevated self-worth, arrogance and narcissism makes him think somehow HE won't be ridiculed in the same manner anyone else would be for doing such a thing.

He is WRONG. Now, even his further commercial viability (figuratively and literally -- aka insurance, mobility units, etc.) is TAINTED.

[johnnygoodwud]

hmmm, maybe richard is short on $$$$, when in doubt sue.

[jsinclair]

Well, isn't 25 years long enough to wait for someone to start paying back a near-million dollar loan?

[SEQUOIABISON]

Sounds like another typical American dysfunctional family.

[BarackMan]

$870,000 makes for a lot of dysfunction.

[protagonia]

Richard is a Canadian.

[marymansour]

Who knows what lurks in the heart of 'families'. I do know one thing though - Richard Dreyfuss has always been one of my favorite actors.

[iblis]

This guy is a jerk. He's a millionaire many times over. 1 million is probably just loose change for this guy. He should write of the loan as a bad debt, and if his dad and uncle(probably in their 80s) did cheat him, just keep his distance from them.

[jhoughton1]

What do you know about RD's finances or degree of wealth? Nothing.

[sisterdebmac]

A millionaire many times over? Oh yeah, I forgot about that action hero period Dreyfus had where he was making $20 million a pic right alongside Tom Cruise & Will Smith. Of course, he's got a million bucks right there in his back pocket.

Geez, you obviously know nothing about what people actually make in the film industry. I'm sure RD has been part of back-end deals that earned him some decent money. And I'm sure he's not hurting. But I also doubt that he has ever earned more than a $2 million dollar paycheck for any one movie in his entire career. He's a great actor, not a superstar. There's a BIG difference.

[truthyguy]

I wonder what is really behind this.

[TheSecularist]

Me, too. Is this part of a larger ongoing dispute? I'm always surprised at family suing family over small (comparatively) things; especially "small" sums of money. Everybody knows there's no such thing as lending money to family. Family seems to always think it's a gift and are feel not moral responsibility to repay the "loan". So this dispute must be about something else.

[Bettysdad]

Whenever I've seen any sort of interview with him, he always seems to be a really unpleasant egomaniac.

[dadw5boys]

You can pick your friends, you can pick corn, you can pick cotten you can even pick your nose.

But your don't get to pick your family.

[loki]

doing business deals with family are the ones that get the nastiest and the ones that are most likely to cause problems. I know way to many family businesses and business deals that have ended in law suits and the breaking up of families. Like the old saying goes, " if you cant Skrew family, who can you skrew"
Its more true than not, no matter how well you think you know your relative.

[Theda]

What took him so long to sue? 24 years is a long time. But his father and uncle are probably really old now.

[Azmom]

Why is this *news*?

[InstantDogma]

and the winner of today's Trivial Crappola Award goes to...