Susan Backlinie

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Susan Backlinie
File:Susan Backlinie.jpg
Backlinie in 2023
Born Susan Jane Myers
(1946-09-01)September 1, 1946
Miami, Florida, U.S
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Ventura, California, U.S.
Occupation
  • Actress
  • stuntwoman
Years active 1973–1982
Notable work Christine "Chrissie" Watkins in Jaws (1975)
Spouse(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Monty Cox
  • Harvey Swindall (m. 1995)

Susan Jane Backlinie (September 1, 1946 – May 11, 2024) was an American actress and stuntwoman. She was known for playing Chrissie Watkins, the first shark attack victim in Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws.[1][2][3]

Personal life

From the age of ten, Backlinie had lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she swam for miles off the coast and in local pools.[4] In high school, she was a cheerleader and a state freestyle swimming champ.[4] She performed as a mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, a tourist attraction on Florida's west coast, and eventually moved to California.[5]

Along with being a stuntwoman specializing in swimming work, she was an animal trainer.[2] In her later life she worked as a computer accountant in Ventura, California.

Death

She died from a heart attack at her home in Ventura, California, on May 11, 2024, at the age of 77.[6][7][4]

Career

Backlinie 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.[8] She also appeared nude in the February 1977 issue of Mayfair ("Susan Backlinie - The nude from Jaws", vol. 12, issue 2, pages 40–43).[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] When Jaws co-star Richard Dreyfuss saw a daily of her performance of being attacked by the shark, he told her it absolutely terrified him.[11] In the final edit of the film, Backlinie is the first victim of the monstrous shark.[4]

Backlinie also appears in Spielberg's film 1941 parodying her role in Jaws:[2] instead of being attacked by a shark during a midnight swim, she is "picked up" by the periscope of a Japanese submarine.[12] The scene has been described as the best joke in what is otherwise widely considered one of Spielberg's least successful films.[13]

Backlinie also appeared in the 1977 film Day of the Animals, regarded by some as a Jaws clone about nature gone bad.[14]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1975 Jaws Chrissie Watkins
The Grizzly and the Treasure Eve
1976 A Stranger in My Forest Susan also Trainer
Two-Minute Warning Pretty blonde woman in crowd Uncredited
1977 Day of the Animals Mandy Young
1979 The Villain n/a Stunt performer
1941 Polar Bear Woman
1981 Image of the Beast n/a Stunt performer
The Great Muppet Caper Charkie's Water Ballet Performer
1984 Terror in the Aisles Chrissie Watkins Archival footage
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1976 The Quest Girl in Brawl 1 episode
1977 The Return of the Incredible Hulk n/a TV film
Animal Trainer
1978 Quark Guard #1 2 episodes
1982 Catalina C-Lab Diver With Bends TV film
The Fall Guy Tammy 1 episode

References

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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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