Jaws actress Susan Backlinie dies aged 77-Josie Copson-Entertainment – Metro

Susan Backlinie died after a fatal heart attack (Picture: Bobby Bank/Getty Images)

Susan Backlinie has died aged 77.

The actress, who played the first victim of the killer shark in Jaws, had a fatal heart attack. Backlinie was at home in Ventura, California.

Her iconic role as Chrissie Watkins in Steven Speilberg’s 1975 film came when Backlinie was 28. She spent three days in rehearsal before being thrown around the sea by the fictional great white shark and then dragged under the waves.

As well as acting, she was a stuntwoman, nationally ranked swimmer and diver,animal trainer and mermaid performer at tourist attractions. This unique set of skills is partly what led Spielberg to cast her.

‘I didn’t want an actor to do it. 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,’ he said.

In Laurent Bouzereau’s book Spielberg: The First Ten Years (via Hollywood Reporter), Spielberg added: ‘So, I went to stunts to find her, and Susan was up to the challenge.’

Spielberg cast Backlinie in Jaws (Picture: Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

In the opening scene, Chrissie is chased along the beach by a guy she likes after attending a bonfire. He is so drunk that he falls asleep before joining her in the water, and fails to hear her screams.

‘The first thing [Spielberg] said to me was, “When your scene is done, I want everyone under the seats with the popcorn and bubblegum” so, I think we did that,’ she told Palm Beach Post.

The gruelling filming process meant that she would start at 6 or 7am in the morning, and not wrap until 9pm. Backlinie revealed to Remind magazine that she was given a shot of liquor by a nurse on set straight after filming to warm her up from the freezing conditions.

‘I was home an hour later, in the tub, just… singing,’ she recalled.

Backlinie with Spielberg on the set of Jaws (Picture: Louis Goldman/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock)

They created the look of a shark attack by attaching her to cables and pulling her to each side. Backlinie was not warned when she would be pulled underwater, leading to a more genuine reaction in the terrifying scene.

‘At night I’d stop and think, “You know, that’s exactly what calls sharks to you: flailing, stopping, flailing.” I kind of felt like shark bait,’ she remarked.

While applying for the job, Backlinie submitted nude photos but in the end, it was not required for the film. She later posed for Penthouse and Mayfair magazines.

Jaws was released in 1975 (Picture: Chris Polk/FilmMagic for Universal Studio Home Video)

‘She was the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life.’ (Pitcure: Bobby Bank/Getty Images)

Backlinie also starred in Spielberg’s 1941, where she filmed a parody of her Jaws scene. However, this time she was picked up by a Japanese submarine.

She also has credits in the films Day of the Animals, Two-Minute Warning, and The Great Mupper Caper. Her TV work includes Quark and The Fall Guy, which a recent Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt film was loosely based on.

Backlinie’s husband, Harvey Swindall, confirmed her passing and called it ‘unexpected’.

‘She was the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life. And I’ve never loved anybody like her,’ he told Fox News.

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