Susan Backlinie

Susan Backlinie (born Susan Jane Swindall on September 1, 1946) is a former actress and stuntwoman.[1] She is known for her role as Chrissie Watkins, the first shark victim in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Jaws (1975).[2]
== Personal life ==
Along with being a stuntwoman specializing in swimming work, she was also an animal trainer.[2] 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.[3] Backlinie also appeared in Spielberg's film 1941 parodying her role in Jaws.[2] Instead of being attacked by a shark during a midnight swim, she's "picked up" by the periscope of a Japanese submarine.[4] The scene has been described as the best joke in what is otherwise widely considered one of Spielberg's least successful films.[5] Backlinie also appeared in the 1977 film Day of the Animals, regarded by some as a Jaws clone about nature gone bad.[6]
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.[7]
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. [8]
== Filmography ==
Film 	Film 	Film 	Film
Year 	Film 	Role 	Notes
1975 	Jaws 	Chrissie Watkins 	
1975 	The Grizzly and the Treasure	Eve 	
1976 	A Stranger in My Forest 	unknown 	
1976 	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	Television 	Television 	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.