The stars of Jaws 50 years later and their bittersweet fates revealed — where’s the shark now?

Susan Backlinie played Chrissie Watkins, aka the very first victim of the titular shark in the movie’s haunting opening scene. The stuntwoman-turned-actress was cast in the role because she could swim and was willing to appear nude. Susan briefly continued her career in acting and stunts, most notably appearing in Spielberg’s film 1941 to parody her gruesome death. 

She tied the knot in 1996 with her second husband, Harvey Swindall, and had a daughter, turning to a life as a computer accountant and making frequent appearances at Jaws fan conventions. She passed away in May 2024 aged 77 from a heart attack.

Roy Scheider was already a successful actor by the time he made Jaws, but his career continued to skyrocket for decades after thanks to credits like Marathon Man (1976), Sorcerer (1977), All That Jazz (1979, which earned him his second Oscar nomination), and The Rainmaker (1997), plus the TV series seaQuest DSV.

After his divorce from Cynthia Bebout in 1986, he married actress Brenda Siemer in 1989, welcoming two children with her, including a son named Christopher, now also a writer, filmmaker and actor. Roy passed away after a years-long battle with cancer in 2008 aged 75.

An Oscar nominee by the time he made Jaws, Robert Shaw’s career took off tremendously in 1975, thanks also to the release of the film version of his acclaimed novel and play The Man in the Glass Booth. He also starred in Robert and Marian (1976) and The Deep (1977) soon after.

After his second wife, Mary Ure, passed in 1975, Robert tied the knot with Virginia Jansen in 1976, welcoming a son of their own and adopting her son from a previous relationship. Sadly, his success was short-lived. Robert died in August 1978 from a heart attack aged 51, his final project being 1979’s Avalanche Express.

Just three years after Jaws, Richard Dreyfuss, now 77, won an Academy Award for Best Actor for 1977’s The Goodbye Girl, and has earned acclaim for other film projects like Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995), Stand By Me (1986), Nuts (1987), Always (1989), Postcards from the Edge (1990), What About Bob? (1991) and W. (2008). His latest film role was the 2025 panned shark disaster film Into the Deep.

Richard has been married three times and welcomed three children in the decades since. However, he has also courted controversy in recent years for his long-standing feuds on-set of Jaws with Robert Shaw and What About Bob? with Bill Murray. In May 2024, he further received backlash for a reportedly “transphobic, misogynistic and homophobic” outburst at a Jaws screening event.

Lorraine Gary, now 87, had a brief career after the making of Jaws, mainly tied to the franchise. She appeared in Spielberg’s 1979 film 1941 and reprised her role in the blockbuster’s panned final sequel Jaws: The Revenge in 1987, her final film role. She stepped away from acting after, although was more active behind-the-scenes, owning New Hope Productions. 

Lorraine has actively worked in the human rights space, specifically the rights of women, a member of the Human Rights Watch Women’s Rights Advisory Committee. Up until his 2019 death, she was married to entertainment industry exec Sidney Sheinberg, and they welcomed sons Jonathan and William, both of whom are now film producers.

And what about the shark itself? Initially, the film’s producers intended to train a live great white, but quickly dropped that idea in favor of three full-size pneumatically-powered prop sharks named “Bruce.”

While the other two versions have been lost to time, the third version of Bruce has been restored to its full glory and now welcomes visitors to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.