who played the lead in close encounters of the third time
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For the concept from which this film derives its name, see Close encounter. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, FranÃ§ois Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey.