Susan Backlinie - wikipedia Susan Backlinie Susan Backlinie Susan Jane Swindall ( 1946 - 09 - 01 ) September 1, 1946 ( age 72 ) Ventura, California Occupation Actress, stuntwoman Years active 1973 -- 1981 Notable work Christine `` Chrissie '' Watkins in Peter Benchley 's Jaws ( 1975 ) Spouse ( s ) William Seale ( ? -- present ) Monty Cox ( ? -- ? ) Susan Backlinie ( born Susan Jane Swindall on September 1, 1946 ) is a former actress and stuntwoman. She is known for her role as Chrissie Watkins, the first shark victim in Steven Spielberg 's blockbuster Jaws ( 1975 ). Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 Other 5 References 6 External links Personal life Along with being a stuntwoman specializing in swimming work, she was also an animal trainer. She currently works as a computer accountant in her birthplace of Ventura, California. Career Backlinie 's appearance in Jaws took three days to shoot, with Backlinie strapped into a harness while the crew struggled to get the desired effects. Backlinie also appeared in Spielberg 's film 1941 parodying her role in Jaws. Instead of being attacked by a shark during a midnight swim, she 's `` picked up '' by the periscope of a Japanese submarine. The scene has been described as the best joke in what is otherwise widely considered one of Spielberg 's least successful films. Backlinie also appeared in the 1977 film Day of the Animals, regarded by some as a Jaws clone about nature gone bad. When Jaws co-star Richard Dreyfuss saw a daily of her performance of being attacked by the shark, he told her it absolutely terrified him. Contrary to rumor, Backlinie 's startled reaction and screams of anguish were not due to her being injured by the harness that yanked her back and forth in the water. However, she was attached to a line that was anchored to the ocean floor beneath her, and she was intentionally not warned when she would be first pulled under water. This helped provoke a more genuine expression of surprise from her initially - but the remainder of her performance was her own as an actress. Filmography Film Year Film Role Notes Jaws Chrissie Watkins The Grizzly and the Treasure Eve 1976 A Stranger in My Forest unknown Two - Minute Warning Pretty blonde woman in crowd ( uncredited ) 1977 Day of the Animals Mandy Young 1979 1941 Polar Bear Woman 1981 The Great Muppet Caper Charkie 's Water Ballet Performer 1984 Terror in the Aisles Chrissie Watkins ( uncredited ) Television Year Title Role Notes 1976 The Quest Girl in Brawl ( 1 episode ) 1978 Quark Guard # 1 ( 2 episodes ) 1982 The Fall Guy Tammy ( 1 episode ) Other She appeared in her own pictorial ( `` The Lady and the Lion '' ) in the January 1973 issue of Penthouse magazine. References Jump up ^ `` Susan Backlinie Biography ''. IMDb. Retrieved 29 November 2013. ^ Jump up to : Tom Russo, `` ' Jaws ' : Shark tale still has plenty of bite '', The Boston Globe, August 4, 2012. Jump up ^ Andrews, Nigel ( 1999 ). Nigel Andrews on Jaws : A Bloomsbury Movie Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 45. ISBN 978 - 1582340425. Jump up ^ Fischer, Dennis ( 2000 ). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895 - 1998. McFarland & Company. p. 557. ISBN 978 - 0786460915. Jump up ^ Brode, Douglas ( 2000 ). The Films of Steven Spielberg. Citadel Press. pp. 84 -- 86. ISBN 978 - 0806519517. Jump up ^ Gambin, Lee ( 4 March 2018 ). `` Feeling the Fury of Mother Nature : Andrew Stevens Remembers Day of the Animals ( 1977 ) ''. Diabolique Magazine. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Jump up ^ Sturrock, Staci ( 20 June 2015 ). `` ' Jaws ' first victim : She went to Forest Hill High ! ''. My Palm Beach Post. GateHouse Media, LLC. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Jump up ^ Osborne, Hannah ( 31 May 2015 ). `` Jaws 40th Anniversary : 40 facts about Spielberg 's infamous shark movie and Great Whites ''. IB Times. Retrieved 17 May 2018. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Susan Backlinie Susan Backlinie on IMDb Susan Backlinie at AllMovie WorldCat Identities ISNI : 0000 0003 6262 6300 LCCN : no2012008886 VIAF : 224794633 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Susan_Backlinie&oldid=858124039 '' Categories : 1946 births Living people American film actresses American stunt performers People from Ventura, California 20th - century American actresses Actresses from California Hidden categories : Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Italiano 日本 語 Polski Edit links This page was last edited on 5 September 2018, at 06 : 33 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: who was the girl in the opening scene of jaws
Answer: Susan Backlinie