Susan Backlinie
Encyclopedia
Susan Backlinie is a former actress and stuntwoman. She is known for her role as Chrissie Watkins, the first victim in Steven Spielberg
's 1975 blockbuster Jaws
.
.
parodying her role in Jaws
. Instead of being attacked by a shark during a midnight swim, she's "picked up" by a Japanese submarine. Backlinie also appeared in the film The Day of the Animals, regarded by some as a Jaws clone about nature gone bad.
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.
Originally, the shot of the shark attack in which Backlinie was involved had to be shot several times, because she was unable to produce the intended reaction. Therefore, the next filming day, the attack scene was shot again, only this time, Backlinie was not told when she would be "attacked". When the diver below her grabbed onto, and pulled her leg to pull her under, she gave a genuine scared reaction, and the shot was left into the final product, as it was exactly what Spielberg was looking for.
magazine.
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's 1975 blockbuster Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
.
Personal life
Along with being a stuntwoman specializing in swimming work, she was also an animal trainer. She currently works as a computer accountant in her birthplace of Ventura, CaliforniaVentura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
.
Career
Backlinie also appeared in Spielberg's film 19411941 (film)
1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd...
parodying her role in Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
. Instead of being attacked by a shark during a midnight swim, she's "picked up" by a Japanese submarine. Backlinie also appeared in the film The Day of the Animals, regarded by some as a Jaws clone about nature gone bad.
When Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
co-star Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
saw a daily of her performance of being attacked by the shark, he told her it absolutely terrified him.
Originally, the shot of the shark attack in which Backlinie was involved had to be shot several times, because she was unable to produce the intended reaction. Therefore, the next filming day, the attack scene was shot again, only this time, Backlinie was not told when she would be "attacked". When the diver below her grabbed onto, and pulled her leg to pull her under, she gave a genuine scared reaction, and the shot was left into the final product, as it was exactly what Spielberg was looking for.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Jaws Jaws (film) Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,... |
Christine 'Chrissie' Watkins | |
| The Grizzly and the Treasure The Grizzly and the Treasure The Grizzly and the Treasure is a 1975 film. It is narrated by an elderly man with the accent of an old woodsman or prospector of 19th century gold rushes, much in the same style as early Disney nature specials... |
Eve | ||
| 1976 | Grizzly Grizzly (film) Grizzly is a 1976 horror film directed by William Girdler. The film is about an 18-foot man-eating Grizzly bear that terrorizes a National Forest. The film stars Christopher George, Andrew Prine and Richard Jaeckel... |
Victim | (uncredited) |
| Two-Minute Warning Two-Minute Warning Two-Minute Warning is a 1976 suspense and action film directed by Larry Peerce and starring Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges, Jack Klugman, Gena Rowlands, and David Janssen. It was based on the novel of the same name written by George La Fountaine, Sr... |
Pretty blonde woman in crowd | (uncredited) | |
| 1977 | Day of the Animals Day of the Animals The Day of the Animals is a 1977 American horror film thriller directed by William Girdler and based on a story written by Edward L. Montoro... |
Mandy Young | |
| 1979 | 1941 1941 (film) 1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd... |
Polar Bear Woman | |
| 1981 | The Great Muppet Caper | Charkie's Water Ballet Performer | |
| 1988 | A Stranger in My Forest | Unknown | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1976 | The Quest | Girl in Brawl | (1 episode) |
| 1978 | Quark Quark (TV series) Quark is an American science fiction situation comedy starring Richard Benjamin broadcast on NBC. The pilot first aired on May 7, 1977, and the series followed as a mid-season replacement in February 1978. The series was cancelled in April 1978. Quark was created by Buck Henry, co-creator of the... |
Guard #1 | (2 episodes) |
Other
She appeared in her own pictorial ("The Lady and the Lion") in the January 1973 issue of PenthousePenthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
magazine.