Susan Backlinie, first victim in ‘Jaws’ shark attack, dies at 77

Susan Backlinie is no more.

Backlinie, who portrayed the first shark attack victim in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, died at the age of 77.

Convention All Stars owner Sean Clark confirmed to Variety that the actress passed away at her California residence due to a heart attack Saturday morning.

Backlinie, who was also a former stunt woman, was a client to the company.

The actress was mostly famous for her role as Chrissie Watkins in Jaws, who is killed by a killer shark being dragged to her demise, in the 1975 movie’s classic opening scene. Backlinie was also an expert swimmer besides being a stunt performer.

She appeared in several different movies until the early 1980s, especially in Jim Henson-directed infamous movie The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and Spielberg’s 1941 (1979).

She also appeared in the Jaws parody scene in 1941, where faces a Japanese submarine, not a great white shark.

Backlinie has a few television series on her credits list, including The Quest, Quark and The Fall Guy. Other movie credits include The Grizzly & the Treasure (1975), A Stranger in My Forest (1976) and Day of the Animals (1977).