The legacy of “Jaws” lives perpetually for Wendy Benchley.
Benchley, the widow of “Jaws” creator Peter Benchley and an government producer on the brand new documentary “Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,” solely informed The Submit in regards to the particular connection she nonetheless has to the long-lasting movie.
“So my wonderful husband, John Jeppson and I, we’ve been married for 12, 13 years, and we’ve been summering in Martha’s Vineyard every August,” Wendy defined of the Massachusetts island the place “Jaws” main filmed.
“Yeah, so Martha’s Vineyard is very much dear to our hearts and part of our life,” she added. “We see all these sites all the time.”
Wendy’s late husband wrote the bestselling novel about an important white shark that was changed into a thriller movie by Steven Spielberg. Peter died in 2006 at age 65.
Being concerned in “Jaws @ 50” gave Wendy new perception into the unbelievable success of the 1975 movie.
“Peter and I, after ‘Jaws’, went on to live our life,” she recalled. “Peter went on write more novels, we did a lot of expeditions with National Geographic, and we got into working with ocean conservation issues, and I did a lot of work with non-profits, and I have not been intimately connected to all of the fan clubs of ‘Jaws,’ and all of that happened afterwards.”
“So for me,” she continued, “there was that added fun and joy of reacquainting myself with the nuances of ‘Jaws’ and how brilliant Spielberg was with the techniques which the movie directors talked about. But also, I thought he was brilliant the way he had the local people and gave that great depth of character and all the wonderful faces that you saw and the people you got to know. I think that is one of the most powerful aspects of the film.”
Wendy added, “And that’s also what Peter did in his book. The book was about a great white shark, but it was also about the people who lived on this island who needed to make money to get through the winter and about how there are different approaches to this menace that they couldn’t control. So that is I think very much the heart and soul of what the book and the movie is about.”
The ocean conservationist advocate was “moved” by Spielberg’s retrospective feedback about “Jaws” within the documentary.
“That was wonderful to listen to him talking about it and in such a personal way,” Wendy said. “And honestly, I had not known and I don’t think anybody really knew how traumatizing it was to him to make this film and to have the shark breaking down and to have it over budget. And I’m so glad that David Brown and Richard Zanuck just stuck with him and that he was able to finish it off.”
“Jaws @ 50” premieres July 10 on Nationwide Geographic and can stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
