Richard Dreyfuss (left) and Lee Evans will team up on stage

Dreyfuss, 56, who is preparing to star on the London stage in musical The Producers, told Radio Times magazine he "lost the habit" for movie acting.

"I want to do something else. I'll only live once and I'm 10 years out of the hospital or retirement home," he said.

"I'm not seeking to do any more movies, and they're not seeking me. I'm quite happy with that situation."

Dreyfuss became a Hollywood star in the mid-1970s, appearing in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and winning an Oscar for best actor for The Goodbye Girl in 1978.

'Indifferent'

After a publicised drug problem, he re-established himself in the 1980s with roles in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Stand By Me and Nuts.

His second Oscar nomination came in 1996 for Mr Holland's Opus.

He told Radio Times he had enjoyed making most of his 40 films but added: "I can grow indifferent very quickly."

He said he had watched only The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter in the last four years, adding: "I've lost the habit."

Addictions

Dreyfuss is about to star alongside comedian Lee Evans in the West End version of The Producers, the show that was a huge hit on Broadway.

"I love theatre," he said. "There's a point at which you can walk across the stage and feel the audience. When you make them laugh, you go to heaven. It's a gift."

Of his personal problems, he told the magazine: "It's been known for 30 years that I'm a drug addict, and you also know I am far more than that.

"If you ask if I'm an alcoholic, I'd need medical credentials to answer. But I deal with it every day and night in one way or another for a number of complex reasons. Boy, should you be curious."