"I'm not a women's libber. Having a pretty girl running down the beach, then having her torn apart by a shark, is a lot better than having a flabby guy running down the beach and getting torn up. I don't think women are exploited as much as some women think they are."
-- Actress Susan Backlinie
-- Actress Susan Backlinie
While I've always said here on SciFiHistory.Net that not all of us have to agree, I do believe I'm right when I say that actress Susan Backlinie delivered one of filmdom's most iconic deaths.
In 1975's Jaws, the actress and stuntlady was given the task of kinda/sorta loosely introducing the world to the menace that was the Great White Shark. Her wonderful dip and tragic death truly set the stage for the thrill ride that was the entire run for one of the screen's biggest blockbusters. It was terrifying in all the right ways, and it certainly helped underscore the film's genius tagline that gets quoted from time-to-time decades later: "You'll be afraid to go back in the water."
In fact, it was such a memorable scene in Jaws that director Steven Spielberg kinda/sorta satirized it just a few years later. Backlinie was back in the water -- perhaps to all of our surprise -- -only this time should found herself hoisted up the periscope of a Japanese submarine lurking just off the coast of California. Yes, it was all for a laugh, but none of it would've worked unless Backlinie's earlier oceanic exploit hadn't meant so much to so many.
Alas, none of us lasts forever; and word reached the Information Superhighway over the weekend of the lady's passing.
Our warmest prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Susan Backlinie.
May she forever rest in peace.
-- EZ
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