Introduction
She was born into Hollywood and chose to live away from it — and that quiet decision made her story even more compelling. Maximillia Connelly Lord was the only daughter of Roy Scheider, one of the most recognizable faces of American cinema in the 1970s. Her father fought a mechanical shark in Jaws, earned Oscar nominations for The French Connection and All That Jazz, and became a symbol of a golden era in Hollywood. But Maximillia walked a different path — private, away from cameras, building a life entirely her own. She was born on July 6, 1963, and died on August 2, 2006, at the age of 43, after a battle with leukemia. She predeceased her father by nearly two years, leaving behind a family story marked by both extraordinary achievement and quiet heartbreak. This is the complete story of Maximillia Connelly Lord — who she was, where she came from, and why her life deserves to be remembered beyond the footnote it often becomes in her father’s biography.
Who Was Maximillia Connelly Lord?
Maximillia Connelly Lord, also recorded in public documents as Maximillia Scheider Connelly Lord, was born on July 6, 1963, in the United States. She was the only child born to actor Roy Scheider and his first wife, Cynthia Bebout, during their marriage which began on November 8, 1962. Her full name reflects the layered identity she carried throughout her life. The surname Scheider connects her to her famous father. The names Connelly Lord came from her own adult life — specifically her marriage to Brian Alan Lord, which took place on June 24, 1998, in Kitsap County, Washington. In public records she appears under both names — sometimes Maximillia Scheider, sometimes Maximillia Connelly Lord — a reflection of a life lived between two identities, the one she was born into and the one she built for herself.
Her Father: Roy Scheider
To understand Maximillia’s place in history, you need to know her father. Roy Richard Scheider was born on November 10, 1932, in Orange, New Jersey. He was the son of Anna Crosson and auto mechanic Roy Bernhard Scheider, of German and Irish descent. Before he was a Hollywood star, he was a boxer — competing in the Diamond Gloves Tournament in New Jersey and posting an 11–1 amateur record before trading his gloves for a stage career. He studied drama at Rutgers University and Franklin and Marshall College, then served three years in the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant. His theatrical career earned him an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance in 1968. His film career ignited with The French Connection in 1971, earning him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Then came Jaws in 1975 — the film that made Roy Scheider a household name. His portrayal of Police Chief Martin Brody, a man terrified of the water forced to fight a killer shark, remains one of the defining performances of American cinema. He followed it with All That Jazz in 1979, Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece, which earned him his second Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actor. Roy Scheider was not just a movie star. He was a serious, classically trained artist who happened to become one of the most recognizable faces of a generation. Maximillia was his firstborn — and the child of the years when he was still climbing toward that peak.
Her Mother: Cynthia Bebout
Maximillia’s mother, Cynthia Bebout, is a significant figure in her own right — and one that most articles about Maximillia completely overlook. Cynthia Bebout was an off-Broadway actress in the early 1960s, performing in Love and Libel in 1960 and The Alchemist in 1964 alongside Roy Scheider himself — which is how they met and fell in love. They married on November 8, 1962, and Maximillia was born the following year. Cynthia later transitioned from acting to film editing, and her career in that craft is remarkable. She served as assistant editor on The French Connection in 1971 — the very film that launched her then-husband Roy Scheider to national fame. That film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, awarded to editor Gerald B. Greenberg, with Cynthia part of the team behind it. She continued editing through the 1970s and 1980s, working on The Seven-Ups in 1973, Sorcerer in 1977, and Breaking Away in 1979 — a film that won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. She and Roy divorced in 1986 after 24 years of marriage. Maximillia grew up between two parents who were both deeply embedded in the craft of cinema — one in front of the camera, one behind it.
Maximillia’s Private Life
Unlike her parents, Maximillia Connelly Lord did not pursue a career in entertainment. There are no film credits, no television appearances, and no public professional record attached to her name. She chose privacy at every turn. What is confirmed is her marriage. On June 24, 1998, Maximillia married Brian Alan Lord in Kitsap County, Washington. The marriage gave her the surname combination she carried for the rest of her life — Connelly Lord. She and Brian had children together. Roy Scheider’s IMDB trivia records list his grandchildren as a granddaughter named Sascha and a grandson named Tanner Orion Emile Connelly. Tanner died on February 8, 2017, at just 25 years old — a second devastating loss for a family that had already lost Maximillia.
Her Death and the New York Times Correction
Maximillia Connelly Lord died on August 2, 2006, at the age of 43. The cause of death was leukemia. Her death came during a period of particular sadness for the Scheider family. Her father Roy had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma — a cancer of the plasma cells — in June 2005, just over a year before Maximillia passed. Father and daughter were both battling serious illnesses at the same time, a detail no competitor article has ever covered. Maximillia’s passing preceded her father’s death by nearly two years. Roy Scheider died on February 10, 2008. The New York Times, in its obituary for Roy Scheider published on February 11, 2008, made a notable error — it listed Maximillia among his survivors. A correction was issued shortly after, clarifying that Maximillia Connelly Lord had in fact died in 2006 and was not a survivor. That correction, published by one of the world’s most authoritative newspapers, stands as an inadvertent but permanent acknowledgment of her existence and her place in her father’s story.
Her Half-Siblings
Maximillia was Roy Scheider’s only child from his first marriage to Cynthia Bebout. After their divorce, Roy married actress Brenda Siemer on February 11, 1989. Together they had a son, Christian Scheider, born in 1990, and adopted a daughter, Molly Scheider, born in 1995. Christian and Molly are Maximillia’s half-siblings — though they were born decades after her and grew up in a very different family context. Christian was 16 and Molly was just 11 when Maximillia died in 2006.
Legacy
Maximillia Connelly Lord did not leave behind a filmography or a professional record. Her legacy is quieter than that. She is remembered as the daughter who chose her own path while carrying an extraordinary family name. She is remembered as a woman who built a private life, married, raised children, and faced serious illness without ever seeking the spotlight that surrounded her family. She is also remembered in the genealogical record — in Find a Grave entries, Ancestry records, and the permanent correction filed by the New York Times — as proof that behind every famous name is a family whose full story is almost never told. Maximillia Connelly Lord’s story is worth telling completely. Not because of her father’s fame, but because she was a real person with a real life — and she deserves more than a footnote.
FAQs
Q1: Who was Maximillia Connelly Lord?
Maximillia Connelly Lord was the only daughter of Hollywood actor Roy Scheider and his first wife, film editor Cynthia Bebout. She was born on July 6, 1963, and died on August 2, 2006, at the age of 43 from leukemia. She married Brian Alan Lord in 1998 and lived a private life away from the entertainment industry.
Q2: How did Maximillia Connelly Lord die?
Maximillia Connelly Lord died from leukemia on August 2, 2006, at the age of 43. Her death came approximately one year after her father Roy Scheider was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, meaning both father and daughter were battling serious illnesses simultaneously.
Q3: Who were Maximillia Connelly Lord’s parents?
Her father was Roy Scheider, the acclaimed Hollywood actor best known for Jaws, The French Connection, and All That Jazz. Her mother was Cynthia Bebout, an off-Broadway actress turned film editor who worked on The French Connection, The Seven-Ups, and Breaking Away.
Q4: Did Maximillia Connelly Lord have children?
Yes. Based on Roy Scheider’s records, Maximillia had at least two children — a granddaughter named Sascha and a grandson named Tanner Orion Emile Connelly. Tanner died on February 8, 2017, at the age of 25.
Conclusion
Maximillia Connelly Lord’s life does not fit neatly into a Hollywood story — and that is precisely what makes it worth knowing. She was born to a film editor mother and an actor father who would become one of the defining stars of American cinema. She grew up between two creative giants, chose a private life, built a family of her own, and faced illness and death with no press coverage, no tributes, and no ceremony. Her father Roy Scheider died in 2008, having outlived his firstborn daughter by nearly two years. The New York Times had to correct its own obituary to acknowledge that she was already gone. That correction — a quiet, factual line printed in black ink — may be the most honest tribute she received. It said, simply, that she existed. That she mattered. That leaving her out was a mistake worth fixing. Maximillia Connelly Lord was real. Her story was real. And it deserves to be told in full.