Richard Dreyfuss to Play Bernie Madoff in New ABC Drama

Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss will play Bernie Madoff in a multiple-episode drama on the ABC network.

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The drama will be based on the book “The Madoff Chronicles: Inside the Secret World of Bernie and Ruth,” the Hollywood Reporter wrote last week. ABC’s chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, wrote the book.

Several high-profile actresses are in the running to play Ruth, Madoff’s wife, who was the director of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

A premiere date and the number of episodes to be screened has yet to be determined.

In 2009, Madoff, 70, pleaded guilty to 11 felonies for fabricating nearly $65 billion in profits to attract investors. He is serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina.

His Ponzi scheme hit numerous Jewish philanthropies and investors particularly hard. Among those that suffered were Hadassah, the Elie Wiesel Foundation and the American Jewish Congress.