Remembering the ‘Jaws’ Cast Members We’ve Lost: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and More
Paying tribute to the shark's first victim, the creator of 'Jaws' and more—50 years later
Steven Spielberg‘s Jaws, released 50 years ago, may have been about a killer great white shark on the hunt off of Amity Island, but the heart of the film is undoubtedly its cast of characters who made the film real for filmgoers.
Whether it was Roy Scheider’s police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss‘ marine biologist Matt Hooper, sent to investigate the situation; Robert Shaw‘s Quint, the shark-hunting World War II survivor; Susan Backlinie as Chrissy Watkins, the swimmer who becomes the beast’s first victim in the film’s opening moments or Lee Fiero’s Mrs. Kitner, mourning the loss of her son, also killed by the shark—each one of them grounded what could have just been an effective horror film.
Over time—it has, after all, been half a century since Jaws was released—a number of the people who appeared in the film are no longer with us. But even with that in mind, some of the losses may be surprising to you, which you’ll discover as you read.
Roy Scheider (Chief Martin Brody)
Background: Roy Richard Scheider was born on November 10, 1932, in Orange, New Jersey. His father was an auto mechanic and his mother was a homemaker. Growing up, Scheider was athletic and academically inclined, excelling in baseball and boxing—he even won several amateur boxing matches as a young man. After graduating from Columbia High School, he served three years in the United States Air Force before pursuing an acting education at Rutgers University and Franklin & Marshall College. His early work included stints with the New York Shakespeare Festival and numerous appearances in theater before transitioning into film with roles in The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964) and Klute (1971). His breakthrough came with The French Connection (1971), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Character: Scheider played Martin Brody, the small-town police chief trying to protect Amity Island from a massive great white shark. Brody was an outsider to the island and an everyman caught between political pressure and rising panic.
Life after Jaws: Scheider reprised the role in Jaws 2 (1978), though reluctantly. He would go on to star in All That Jazz (1979), playing a version of choreographer Bob Fosse, a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Other notable credits included Blue Thunder (1983), 2010 (1984), 52 Pick-Up (1986) and the sci-fi TV series seaQuest DSV (1993–1996), where he played Captain Nathan Bridger. Though never comfortable with fame, Scheider maintained a steady career for decades, often gravitating toward intelligent thrillers and character-driven work.
Personal: Scheider was married twice. His first marriage was to Cynthia Bebout in 1962, with whom he had one daughter, Maximillia. The couple divorced in 1986. In 1989, he married documentary producer Brenda King, and they had one son, Christian, and adopted a daughter named Molly. Known to be intensely private, Scheider often tried to shield his family from the public spotlight. He lived a relatively quiet life offscreen, splitting his time between New York and Sag Harbor.
Death: Roy Scheider died on February 10, 2008, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. He had been battling multiple myeloma for several years and ultimately succumbed to complications from a staph infection. He was 75 years old.
Robert Shaw (Quint)
Background: Robert Archibald Shaw was born on August 9, 1927, in Westhoughton, Lancashire, England. His father, Dr. Thomas Shaw, was a physician and his mother, Doreen, was a former nurse. Shaw’s early life was marked by tragedy, with his father dying by suicide when Robert was just 12 years old. After attending Truro School in Cornwall, he studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before joining the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. He built a strong foundation on the stage before moving into British film and television in the 1950s. His first major attention came from the BBC series The Buccaneers (1956), and his international breakthrough came with the second James Bond film, From Russia with Love (1963), and A Man for All Seasons (1966), the latter of which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. By the time he joined Jaws, Shaw had become known for playing gruff, commanding characters.
Character: As Quint, the shark hunter with a haunted past, Shaw gave Jaws its most enigmatic and unpredictable character. Gruff, obsessive and mesmerizing, Quint stole scenes with his wild charisma and dark humor. His most famous moment—the chilling USS Indianapolis monologue—was largely rewritten by Shaw himself, who was also an accomplished novelist and playwright. That performance added a harrowing depth to a film that could’ve easily been just another monster movie.
Life after Jaws: Shaw continued acting in high-profile projects, including Robin and Marian (1976) with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn, Black Sunday (1977) and The Deep (1977). He also played the lead in Force 10 from Navarone (1978), a sequel to The Guns of Navarone. Despite his success, Shaw’s off-screen life was plagued by heavy drinking, which occasionally interfered with his work. Still, he remained a respected figure in the industry.
Personal: Shaw was married three times. His first marriage to Jennifer Bourke produced four children before ending in divorce. He later married actress Mary Ure, with whom he had one son; they had a famously tempestuous relationship until she died in 1975 from an accidental overdose. Shaw’s third marriage was to Virginia Jansen, with whom he had one daughter. In total, he had 10 children—some biological, some adopted. He lived for many years in Ireland, where he relished the quiet and privacy far from Hollywood.
Death: On August 28, 1978, while driving to his home in County Mayo, Ireland, Shaw suffered a fatal heart attack near the town of Tourmakeady. He was just 51 years old. His sudden death came only three years after Jaws and shocked the acting world, as many believed he was just entering his prime as a major screen presence.
Murray Hamilton (Mayor Larry Vaughn)
Background: Murray Hamilton was born on March 24, 1923, in Washington, North Carolina. His father owned a pharmacy and while there were no entertainers in the family, Hamilton gravitated toward the stage early. After graduating high school, he headed to New York City in his late teens to pursue acting. World War II delayed his career ambitions slightly—he was turned down for military service due to bad hearing—but he quickly became a fixture in theater circles. His early break came on Broadway in the 1940s and by the 1950s he had transitioned to television and film, earning a reputation as a reliable character actor. Throughout the 1960s, he worked steadily in both mediums, building toward some of his most recognized roles.
Character: Hamilton played Mayor Larry Vaughn, the image-conscious, tourism-obsessed politician who famously resisted closing Amity Island’s beaches despite the growing shark threat. Hamilton made the character memorable with his blend of charm and infuriating denial, as well as his flashy anchor-patterned jackets, which became an unlikely pop culture touchstone.
Life after Jaws: Hamilton returned as Mayor Vaughn in Jaws 2 (1978), though his role was smaller. He also continued working in both film and TV throughout the 1970s and ’80s. Among his notable later roles were appearances in The Amityville Horror (1979), Brubaker (1980) and as Blanche Devereaux’s suitor in a 1985 episode of The Golden Girls. By that point, he was often cast as politicians, doctors or other authority figures—characters with just a bit of moral ambiguity. Despite a long and prolific career, he never quite achieved household-name status, but remained a steady and respected presence in the industry.
Personal: Hamilton was married to artist Terri DeMarco, the two having one son, David Hamilton. Unlike many of his peers, Hamilton preferred a low-profile personal life. He was known for being private, soft-spoken, and deeply devoted to his family. Much of his time away from work was spent quietly at home or traveling with his wife and son.
Death: Murray Hamilton died on September 1, 1986, from lung cancer at the age of 63. His death was mourned by those who had worked with him and admired his consistent excellence, even in smaller roles. Today, he remains best remembered for his portrayal of Mayor Vaughn, a character whose stubbornness has become synonymous with political denial in crisis.
Susan Backlinie (Chrissie Watkins)
Background: Susan Backlinie was born on September 1, 1946, in Miami, Florida. Before entering the world of film, she led an adventurous life working as an animal trainer and stunt performer—a rarity for women in the field at the time. She specialized in training wild animals, including lions and bears, and also worked as a mermaid performer at Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida. Her background in water performance and animal handling made her a natural choice when casting director Shari Rhodes and Steven Spielberg were looking for someone who could convincingly portray a shark attack victim in the opening scene of Jaws.
Character: Backlinie played Chrissie Watkins, the ill-fated young woman whose midnight swim leads to one of the most iconic openings in movie history. The scene—filmed with her rigged to underwater pulleys that violently yanked her side to side—was genuinely harrowing, both to film and to watch. Her screams were real, as Spielberg wanted her to feel disoriented to capture a convincing performance. That opening, with no music and no shark visible, set the tone for the film’s suspense and terror.
Life after Jaws: While she didn’t pursue a major acting career, Backlinie did appear in a few more films, most notably Steven Spielberg’s 1941 (1979), where she parodied her Jaws scene in a comedic context. She also had a minor role in Day of the Animals (1977) and performed stunts in several low-budget movies. Eventually, she stepped away from Hollywood and returned to a quieter life, continuing to work with animals and later shifting into the tech field as a computer specialist.
Personal: Susan Backlinie was married to Harvey Swindall, and they remained together until her passing. The couple kept a relatively private life, away from the media spotlight. While she had no children of her own, Backlinie often spoke fondly of her extended family and her love of animals.
Death: Susan Backlinie passed away on May 11, 2024, at the age of 77. Though her screen time in Jaws lasted only a few minutes, her contribution became legendary—widely regarded as one of the most effective and memorable openings in film history.
Lee Fierro (Mrs. Kintner)
Background: Elizabeth Lee Fierro was born on February 13, 1929, in New York City. She studied acting at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and later moved to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. While she had no prior Hollywood experience before Jaws, she was deeply involved in local theater. Fierro was a prominent figure at the Island Theatre Workshop, where she taught and directed for over 40 years. It was through that community involvement that she came to the attention of casting director Shari Rhodes and director Steven Spielberg, who were looking for locals to fill small but important roles in the film.
Character: Fierro played Mrs. Kintner, the grieving mother of young Alex Kintner, the boy killed by the shark during a crowded day at the beach.
Life after Jaws: Fierro didn’t pursue a screen acting career after Jaws, though she reprised the role of Mrs. Kintner briefly in Jaws: The Revenge (1987). Instead, she remained dedicated to teaching and directing community theater on Martha’s Vineyard.
Personal: Lee Fierro was married and raised five children. She lived much of her adult life in Massachusetts, where she was known not only as a teacher and performer but as a warm and nurturing figure in the community. Later in life, she moved to an assisted living facility in Ohio to be closer to family.
Death: Lee Fierro passed away on April 5, 2020, at the age of 91 due to complications from COVID-19. Her death came early in the pandemic and was widely reported in the press, reminding fans of her powerful and lasting contribution to one of the most influential films of all time.
Chris Rebello (Michael Brody)
Background: Christopher Rebello was born in 1963 and grew up on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He wasn’t a professional actor—in fact, he had never acted before being cast in Jaws. Director Steven Spielberg and casting director Shari Rhodes were specifically looking for local kids to play the Brody children.
Character: Michael Brody was the older of the Brody children, the one who came the closest to real danger during the shark attacks. He has a particularly tense scene in the pond area when the shark swims directly beneath him.
Life after Jaws: Rebello didn’t pursue acting after the film. Instead, he returned to a quiet life on the Vineyard, where he later became a high school football coach and eventually a police officer.
Personal: Chris Rebello was married and had at least one child, though he kept his personal life largely private. He remained in his hometown and built a life centered around public service, athletics and family.
Death: Chris Rebello died of a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 37. His death was sudden and unexpected, and it saddened the close-knit Martha’s Vineyard community.
Craig Kingsbury (Ben Gardner)
Background: Craig Kingsbury was born in 1912 and spent most of his life on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. A true local character, Kingsbury was a fisherman, goat farmer and amateur philosopher known for his thick New England accent, colorful personality and offbeat sense of humor. Though he had no acting experience prior to Jaws, he was well known on the island for telling wild stories and spinning yarns in his distinctive Vineyard dialect.
Character: Kingsbury played Ben Gardner, one of the local fishermen whose disappearance provides one of Jaws’ most memorable jump scares. Off camera, his mannerisms and speech patterns helped shape Shaw’s portrayal of Quint, making his contribution more significant than his screen time suggests.
Life after Jaws: Kingsbury never acted again, nor did he seek further fame. He returned to his everyday life, raising goats, making homemade wine and entertaining locals with his endless stories.
Personal: Kingsbury was married and had several children, though details about his family life remain largely unknown.
Death: Craig Kingsbury died in 2002.
Peter Benchley (TV Reporter/author of Jaws)
Background: Peter Bradford Benchley was born on May 8, 1940, in New York City, into a distinguished literary family. His father, Nathaniel Benchley, was a novelist and children’s author, and his grandfather, Robert Benchley, was a celebrated humorist and founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. Peter was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and later Harvard University, where he honed his skills as a writer. After college, he worked as a reporter for The Washington Post, an editor at Newsweek and even served as a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson. His fascination with the ocean and storytelling came together in the early 1970s when he began work on a novel about a rogue great white shark attacking a beach community—a book that would change his life.
Character: Though best known as the author of Jaws, Benchley made a brief on-screen cameo in the 1975 film as a television reporter delivering a news segment from the Amity Island beach. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it role, but a fun nod to his involvement in the story’s origins.
Life after Jaws: The success of Jaws turned Benchley into a bestselling author overnight. The film adaptation—directed by a young Steven Spielberg—became the first summer blockbuster and changed Hollywood forever. Benchley continued to write ocean-themed thrillers, including The Deep, The Island and Beast, several of which were adapted into movies or television films. However, as time went on, he grew uneasy with the negative impact Jaws had on the public perception of sharks. He devoted much of his later life to marine conservation, working with groups like the Wildlife Conservation Society and WildAid. He became a vocal advocate for shark preservation, writing and speaking often about the real nature of sharks and the ecological importance of protecting them.
Personal: Peter Benchley was married to Winifred “Wendy” Wesson, with whom he had three children. The couple remained together until his death. He divided his time between homes in Princeton, New Jersey, and coastal areas where he could be near the ocean.
Death: Peter Benchley died on February 11, 2006, at the age of 65 from complications related to pulmonary fibrosis. Though he regretted the way Jaws had helped instill fear in sharks, he spent decades trying to correct that narrative.
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