Susan Backlinie, first shark attack victim in Jaws, dies at 77

Susan Backlinie, the actress and stuntwoman whose portrayal of a violent death as the first shark attack victim in the opening scene of the blockbuster film “Jaws” terrified moviegoers, died Saturday at her home in California. She was 77.

Her agent, Sean Clark, confirmed the death and said she had suffered a heart attack. He did not specify where in California she lived.

“Jaws,” the 1975 Steven Spielberg film, memorably features Ms. Backlinie in a scene in which she plays nude bather Chrissie Watkins, running along the beach and jumping into the water for an evening swim.

The tranquil scene is shattered when she is suddenly pulled underwater. She screams as she’s violently beaten by an unseen great white shark and tries desperately to hold on to a clanging buoy, only to be dragged underwater one last time.

According to The Daily Jaws, a website dedicated to the “phenomenon, history, legacy and craft” of “Jaws,” Ms. Backlinie was attached to a harness for the crime scene. The Palm Beach Post reported that Ms. Backlinie was wearing jeans with metal plates sewn into the sides and cables attached.

“To create the effect of being dragged through the water, Susan was tethered to a line anchored to the seabed below her, intentionally leaving her initially unsure as to when she would submerge in order to create a more authentic surprise The Daily Jaws reported.

In a 2017 interview with The Post, Ms. Backlinie recalled Mr. Spielberg telling her, “When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with popcorn and gum.”

She said, “I think we did that.”

In the documentary “Jaws: The Inside Story,” Mr. Spielberg described the sequence as “one of the most dangerous” stunts.

“She was actually being pulled left and right back to the bank by ten men on one rope and ten men on the other, and that was the reason she was moving the way she was,” he said.

Richard Dreyfuss, who played the lead role of oceanographer Matt Hooper in the film, explained in the documentary how Ms Backlinie and Mr Spielberg added to the horror of the scene by later recording their screams.

Mr. Spielberg “made her tilt her head back and pour water down her throat while she screamed, in what is now known as waterboarding,” Mr. Dreyfuss said.

Ms. Backlinie worked with Mr. Spielberg again in the 1979 spoof war film “1941,” in which she spoofed her “Jaws” character by going swimming late at night. When the thrilling score from “Jaws” played, she saw the rising periscope of a Japanese submarine instead of a shark.

Susan Backlinie was born on September 1, 1946. At age 10, while living in West Palm Beach, Florida, she swam miles offshore and at local pools, The Post reported. In high school, she was a cheerleader and state champion in freestyle swimming.

She performed as a mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, a tourist attraction on Florida’s west coast, and eventually moved to California.

Ms Backlinie is survived by her husband Harvey Swindall, Mr Clark said.

After Jaws, she continued to work in films, appearing in the horror film Animal Day (1977) and as a water ballet actress in Jim Henson’s The Great Muppet Caper (1981). She also appeared in a 1982 episode of The Fall Guy, the television series in which Lee Majors appeared as a stuntman.

But it was the opening scene of Jaws that would be best remembered.

In an interview with The Post, she recalled how fans attending film conventions would talk to her about their fear of swimming because of that scene.

“One of the main comments I get from everyone is, ‘You know you kept me out of the water,'” she said.