The cast of the original Jaws had no idea how big the movie was going to be; even Steven Spielberg, who directed it when he was 26, thought the mechanical shark looked “dumb.” But the 1975 beach thriller, made on a budget of roughly $12 million, would go on to gross more than $260.7 million in its initial domestic run (more than $1.5 billion when adjusted for inflation) and originate the idea of the “summer blockbuster.”
“I thought it was going to be a disaster,” Richard Dreyfuss, who played marine biologist Matt Hooper, has said of the film. “Because I couldn’t imagine how Steven was going to overcome all of the problems that he faced every day. I know I went on at least one talk show where I said this is a total disaster. And then I went back on that same show and pronounced myself the stupidest actor in America.”
While many of the film’s biggest stars are no longer with us, a handful of original cast members are still alive. Here’s who remains from the cast of Jaws—and what they’re doing more than 50 years after the movie catapulted them to fame.
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Who’s still alive from the Jaws cast?
Richard Dreyfuss (Matt Hooper)
Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper in Jaws.Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
Dreyfuss, now 78, is the most famous surviving member of the Jaws cast. Two years after he tried killing a blood-thirsty Great White with a poison-filled spear, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Goodbye Girl. He went on to star in films including Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), What About Bob? (1991) and Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995).
In 2025, Dreyfuss kicked up controversy for making derogatory comments about women and LGBTQ+ people at a post-screening Q&A for Jaws. Prior to that, he drew backlash for saying that inclusion initiatives implemented for the Oscars “make me vomit.”
More recently, Dreyfuss canceled an appearance at a fan event for undisclosed reasons. “It truly breaks my heart that I won’t be able to attend the reunion at The Hollywood Show,” he wrote on Instagram in May 2026.
“…My heart is absolutely with my fellow cast members who will be attending,” he added. “Sharing this journey with them has been one of the greatest blessings of my life, and I know they’ll make this celebration unforgettable.”
Related: Richard Dreyfuss Claims Bill Murray Was a ‘Bully’ on Set of ‘What About Bob?’: ‘Terribly Unpleasant Experience’
Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody)
Roy Scheider as Police chief Martin Brody and Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody in Jaws.Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Lorraine Gary, now 88, played Ellen Brody, wife of Police Chief Martin Brody. After reprising the role in both Jaws 2 and Jaws: The Revenge, and appearing in a handful of movies like Car Wash and 1941, she stepped away from acting to focus on production and human rights activism.
Carl Gottlieb (Ben Meadows)
Carl Gottlieb co-wrote the screenplay for Jaws with Peter Benchley, author of the novel it was based on, and nabbed himself the role of newspaper editor Ben Meadows.
Following the monster success of the picture, Gottlieb focused mostly on writing, including the Jaws sequels, the best-selling behind-the-scenes book The Jaws Log and the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. He also tried his hand at directing, including 1981 prehistoric comedy Caveman starring Ringo Starr.
Jeffrey Kramer (Deputy Hendricks)
As Deputy Leonard Hendricks, Jeffrey Kramer played Chief Brody’s eager-to-please second-in-command. He reprised the role in Jaws 2 before building a successful second act as a television producer and executive. He won multiple Emmys along the way, including for The Practice and Ally McBeal. Much to the delight of fans, he still shows up at Jaws reunions.
Reflecting on the movie 50 years later, he said, “You know that the rumors were going all summer that they were going to cancel it. It was never going to get finished. The shark didn’t work.”
Jeffrey Voorhees (Alex Kintner)
Jeffrey Voorhees was just 12 years old when he played Alex Kinter, the kid who begged his mom for more time in the water only to get eaten by a shark. He didn’t go on to pursue a career in Hollywood, but he happily embraces his place in film history at fan conventions and anniversary events. “Once there was an 11-year-old girl with a raft, crying because she didn’t care about meeting Richard Dreyfuss, she wanted to meet me,” he recalled. “So she did, and I signed her raft, and she walked away with a big smile. That feels good.”
Fun fact: Voorhees’s family had just moved to Martha’s Vineyard, where Jaws was shot, when he was cast to play ill-fated Alex.
Jay Mello (Sean Brody)
Jay Mello awaits filming during production of Jaws on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on July 15, 1974.Photo by Fairchild Archive/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images
Jay Mello wasn’t even going out for the role of Sean Brody, Chief Brody’s young son, when he got cast—he was tagging along on his big brothers’ auditions. “I had a habit of copying people,” he told People. “So when Steven Spielberg was interviewing them, I was copying him as he gave direction. When the interview was over, he said ‘You boys can go, we’re done. But the youngest can stay.’”
Mello, who was 6 in the movie, didn’t continue acting after Jaws (as of 2025, he was working at a maple syrup company in Vermont). But like Voorhees, he honors this part of his life story. “My kids and my grandkids and I all gather around the television around Christmastime and watch it,” he said. “Every year, I pick out something different to tell them. And I let them keep their eyes wide open.”
Who from the original Jaws cast has died?
Several of Jaws‘ most recognizable stars are no longer living:
Roy Scheider (Chief Martin Brody): died in 2008
Roy Scheider as Police Chief Brody in Jaws.Bettmann / Getty
After Jaws and its sequel, Roy Scheider scored his second Oscar nomination for All That Jazz (he’d previously been nominated for the 1971 movie The French Connection), returned to the stage, where he first started his career, and appeared in movies like Still of the Night and Naked Lunch. He died of a staph infection at 75 following a years-long battle with multiple myeloma.
Robert Shaw (Quint): died in 1978
Robert Shaw as Quint, the great white shark hunter, in Jaws.Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images
Just three years after the success of Jaws, Robert Shaw died of a heart attack on the side of the road in Ireland. He was 51.
Related: Robert Shaw’s Strange Reaction to the ‘Jaws’ Boat Sinking
Murray Hamilton (Mayor Larry Vaughn): died in 1986
Murray Hamilton, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss on the set of Jaws.Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
Martin Hamilton’s post-Jaws credits include The Amityville Horror, 1941 and guest appearances on TV shows like The Golden Girls. He died from lung cancer when he was 63.
Lee Fierro (Mrs. Kintner): died in 2020
Lee Fierro briefly reprised her role of the late Alex’s mother in Jaws: The Revenge (1987), but the bulk of her career was devoted to community theater on Martha’s Vineyard, where she spent more than four decades as the artistic director of the Island Theatre Workshop. She died from complications of COVID-19 in April 2020, while residing at an Ohio-based assisted living facility, at the age of 91.
Susan Backlinie (Chrissie Watkins): died in 2024
Susan Backlinie as a woman being attacked by a shark in Jaws.Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images
Susan Backlinie was a stunt woman with a speciality in swimming when Spielberg cast her to play the first shark attack victim in Jaws. (He needed someone who could handle the intensity of the scene, which called for getting jerked back and forth and dragged under water.) Her other credits include Spielberg’s 1941 and The Great Muppet Caper. After she retired from acting, she worked as a computer accountant in Ventura, Calif. She died of a heart attack at 77.
Next: Steven Spielberg’s Net Worth in 2026
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