Susan Backlinie

Backlinie has a strange and wonderful kind of immortality: she is the woman whose terrifying nighttime swim opens Jaws and arguably launched the modern blockbuster. That single sequence, with her being yanked around in the water by an off-camera crew of stuntmen, set the tone for the entire film and for decades of audiences afraid to go in the ocean. I love that she was a genuine athlete and animal handler rather than just a screaming starlet, and that Spielberg liked her enough to bring her back for a sly self-referential gag in 1941. She passed in 2024, but that opening will never die.

Susan Backlinie (September 1, 1946 - May 11, 2024) was an American stuntwoman and actress born in Miami, Florida. She is best known for playing Chrissie Watkins, the young swimmer who becomes the first shark victim in the opening scene of Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). A trained swimmer and animal handler, she went on to perform stunts and small roles in films and television, including a memorable cameo in 1941.

Name (English)

Susan Backlinie

Name (Japanese)

スーザン・バックリニー

Reading

すーざん・ばっくりにー

Born

September 1, 1946 – May 11, 2024

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Dog

Origin

Miami, Florida, United States

Occupation

Stunt performer / Film actor

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B6%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%90%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA%E3%83%8B%E3%83%BC

Tags

• From Florida
• Stunt performer
• Film actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.