Richard Dreyfuss hospitalized with viral bronchitis

Richard Dreyfuss won’t be making the five-hour flight to SharkCon this year due to a viral bronchitis diagnosis. The 77-year-old actor was scheduled to appear at SharkCon in Tampa, FL, this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jaws, but doctors’ orders precluded him from appearing because of how serious his infection is. In an Instagram video explaining his absence, Dreyfuss gave fans an update from his hospital bed, saying that he was in “a lot of pain and that [his health] needs to come first.” The actor said he was “terribly sorry” for missing the event, but he doesn’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.” Dreyfuss had been booked to take part in autograph signings and pictures with fans. On SharkCon’s Instagram page, along with Dreyfuss’ video, the convention explained that all prepaid autograph and photo ops will be refunded automatically.