The legacy of “Jaws” lives forever for Wendy Benchley.
The widow of “Jaws” author Peter Benchley, Benchley, who also serves as an executive producer on the new documentary “Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,” shared with The Post the special bond she still feels with the legendary film.
“My wonderful husband, John Jeppson, and I have been married for 12, 13 years, and we spend our summers in Martha’s Vineyard every August,” Wendy said, referring to the Massachusetts island where “Jaws” was primarily 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 authored the bestselling novel about a great white shark, which Steven Spielberg adapted into a suspenseful film. Peter passed away in 2006 at the age of 65.
Being involved in “Jaws @ 50” gave Wendy new insight into the incredible success of the 1975 film.
“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 comments about “Jaws” in the documentary.
“That was wonderful to listen to him talking about it and in such a personal way,” Wendy stated. “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 National Geographic and will stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
