Actress and stuntwoman Susan Backlinie, perhaps best known as the first shark attack victim in ‘Jaws,’ has died.
Backlinie, 77, suffered a fatal heart attack at her home in Ventura, California.
In addition to her career on the silver screen, Backlinie was a nationally ranked swimmer and professional diver.
Before she was brought onto ‘Jaws’ at 28 years old, she had worked as an animal trainer and performed as a mermaid.
She played Chrissie Watkins in Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1975 film and spent three days rehearsing the opening scene in which she is thrashed around by a great white before vanishing beneath the waves.
Actress Susan Backlinine, perhaps best known for her appearance in ‘Jaws,’ died Sunday at 77 years old
She portrayed Chrissie Watkins in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 flick and is remembered as the first shark attack victim whose death shocked millions to the core
She worked as an animal handler and performed as a mermaid before landing her first film role
She later appeared in Spielberg’s ‘1941’ to parody the scene that launched her into stardom. This time, instead of being eaten by a shark, she is picked up by a Japanese submarine.
Some of her other credits include ‘Two-Minute Warning,’ The Great Muppet Caper,’ ‘Day of the Animals’ and the television series ‘The Fall Guy.’
Speaking at a Canadian fan convention held in 2017, Backlinie recalled how she landed her role in ‘Jaws’.
She shared how she submitted a nude photo of herself in her application, since she assumed the movie would call for her to strip down. To her relief, that didn’t turn out to be necessary.
‘I do about for our five [conventions] a year, it’s fun to go out and meet all the fans,’ Backlinie told the interviewer at the time.
‘They all have the same thing to say and the main thing they say all the time is: “You’ve kept me out of the water.”‘
Backlinie and her family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, when she was 10 years old.
While attending Forest Hill High School, she was a cheerleader and state swimming champion who won the Class A 500-yard freestyle title in 1962, according to record archives.
The next year, she participated on the 200-yard medley team that secured the Class 2A state title for the Falcons. After graduating high school, she attended nursing school for a year.
Backlinie (pictured on the set of ‘Two-Minute Warning’ in 1976), died at her home in Ventura, California, her booking agent confirmed
The actress (pictured on set with Steven Spielberg) is survived by her husband, Harvey Swindall, who described her as ‘the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life’
Wanting to do something ‘more athletic,’ Backlinie worked as a mermaid at the Weeki Wachee Springs and an animal handler at Ivan Tors Studios in Miami.
After Ivan Tors shuttered, she moved to California to work with Africa U.S.A., a wildlife tourist attraction that was open until 1961.
She was shooting on location with a tiger in Canada when the ‘Jaws’ team first made contact with her.
DailyMail.com caught up with the actress in June 2022, when she was spotted running errands days before the 47th anniversary of the release of ‘Jaws’.
Backlinie is survived by her husband, Harvey Swindall. The pair lived together on a houseboat off the Ventura coast.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Swindall said her passing was ‘very unexpected’.
He described his wife of nearly three decades as ‘the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life. And I’ve never loved anybody like her.’
Backlinie’s booking agent, Matthew Templeton, confirmed her death and asked that fans respect the family’s privacy.