By Susan Backlinie, a stuntperson and actress who was famously the first person to die on screen in Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” has herself now passed away. She was 77.
Backlinie passed away at her home in Ventura, California according to The Daily Jaws website.
Backlinie was a 28-year-old animal trainer, professional diver and nationally ranked swimmer when she was hired to play ‘Chrissie’ in the opening sequence of “Jaws”.
In the scene she goes skinny dipping at night and is attacked and killed by the shark. To simulate her attack, she was strapped into a harness with two long wires on either side that led to the beach. Crew members on either side held the wires and pulled her back and forth.
Backlinie worked on the scene for three days in Martha’s Vineyard because of the light they only had a 2-3 hour window each day to film the scene.
The results speak for themselves with the scene now one of the most famous put to film and even turned sdome people off from swimming in the ocean ever again.
Other films she appeared in include Spielberg’s “1941,” along with “The Great Muppet Caper,” “Stranger in the Forest,” Two-Minute Warning,” “Day of the Animals” and an episode from “The Fall Guy”.
Source: THR
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