Jaws actress Susan Backlinie who played the vicious shark's first victim in the iconic movie has passed away aged 77 her agent has confirmed.
The star also worked as a stuntperson and played a skinny dipper who went for a late night swim near Amity Island where she met her grisly death in the Steven Spielberg flick. Her agent Matthew Templeton confirmed that she passed away at her home Ventura, California, on Saturday to The Daily Jaws website.
Susan was a professional diver and nationally ranked swimmer when she was hired to take on the role of Chrissie in Jaws. She was 28 years old at the time and had previously worked as an animal trainer and performed as a mermaid.
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Susan Backlinie during production of Jaws on the island of Martha's Vineyard on July 15 1974
The iconic 1975 movie became a cult classic (Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)Talking about picking Susan for the role Steven told Laurent Bouzereau in his 2023 book Spielberg: The First Ten Years that she was chosen because she was "up to the challenge." He said: "I didn’t want an actor to do it.
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"I wanted a stuntperson because I needed somebody who was great in the water, who knew water ballet and knew how to endure what I imagined was going to be a whole lot of violent shaking. So, I went to stunts to find her, and Susan was up to the challenge."
Susan previously spoke about working with the iconic director telling the Palm Beach Post in 2017: "The first thing Spielberg said to me was, 'When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with the popcorn and bubblegum'."
In 2023 she also gave further details on how the gruelling scenes had her in the water filming for up to 14 hours a day for three days in Martha’s Vineyard. She said: "We would film anywhere from 6 or 7 in the morning until 9, because of the light. I’ll tell you, I was exhausted at the end of the day."
Susan played Chrissie in the iconic movieSusan was born on September 1 1946 and moved from Washington to West Palm Beach, Florida, with her family when she was 10. She attended Forest Hill High School where she was a cheerleader and state swimming champion. She graduated in 1964 and went on to attend nursing school for a year.
When she met Spielberg she told him: “If you use me, you could get close-ups during the stunt itself. If you use an actress, she’ll have to hide her face.’” The 2010 documentary Jaws: The Inside Story saw her give further insight on how she played the role admitting “as I would feel my hips go to one side, I would just throw my arms in the opposite direction as hard as I could."
She added: “I also had a pair of fins on because when they would pull me to one side, I would go under, so I had to kick with all my strength to stay above the water. It took a lot of energy, but I was in pretty good shape back then.”
Susan lived on a houseboat in Ventura with her husband Harvey.
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