Susan Jane Backlinie (born September 1, 1946) is an American former actress and stuntwoman. She is best-known for her role as Chrissie Watkins, the first shark victim in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spi ...

's blockbuster '' Jaws'' (1975).Tom Russo
"'Jaws': Shark tale still has plenty of bite"
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', August 4, 2012.

Personal life

Along with being a stuntwoman specializing in swimming work, she was an animal trainer. She currently works as a computer accountant in her home of Ventura, California.

Career

Backlinie's appearance in ''Jaws'' took three days to shoot, with Backlinie strapped into a harness while the crew struggled to get the desired effects. Contrary to rumor, Backlinie's startled reaction and screams of anguish were not due to her being injured by the harness that yanked her back and forth in the water. However, she was attached to a line that was anchored to the ocean floor beneath her, and she was intentionally not warned when she would be first pulled underwater; this helped provoke a more genuine expression of surprise from her initially – but the remainder of her performance was her own as an actress. When '' Jaws'' co-star

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including '' American Graffiti'' (1973), '' Jaws'' (1975), '' Close Encounters of th ...

saw a daily of her performance of being attacked by the shark, he told her it absolutely terrified him. Backlinie also appears in Spielberg's film ''

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

'' parodying her role in '' Jaws'': instead of being attacked by a shark during a midnight swim, she's "picked up" by the periscope of a Japanese submarine. The scene has been described as the best joke in what is otherwise widely considered one of Spielberg's least successful films. Backlinie also appeared in the 1977 film '' Day of the Animals'', regarded by some as a ''Jaws'' clone about nature gone bad.

Other

She appeared in her own pictorial ("The Lady and the Lion") in the January 1973 issue of '' Penthouse''. This was more than a year before she submitted a nude photo of herself to the ''Jaws'' production executive who brought her to Spielberg's attention for the role of Chrissie. She also appeared nude in the February 1977 issue of ''

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

'' ("Susan Backlinie - The nude from ''Jaws''", vol. 12, issue 2, pages 40–43).

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Backlinie, Susan 1946 births Living people American film actresses American stunt performers People from Ventura, California 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California 21st-century American actresses