"A shark, not THE shark": The tale of 'Oscar' the Tiger shark in JAWS
In "Jaws," two sharks take the spotlight: Bruce and Oscar. ‘Bruce’, the Great White primary antagonist, was portrayed by animatronic sharks, while the red herring of the picture, ‘Oscar’ was the real deal.
As Universal Studios busied themselves around Edgartown Harbor filming their fictional shark hunt, a group of actual Vineyard anglers embarked on a similar venture. Rumors circulated that Jaws was after a real shark - one that could appear on camera as the prized catch of the profit-hungry locals vying for Mrs Kintner’s $3000 bounty (payment method tbc’d).
Steven Spielberg inspects Oscar the Tiger shark
Unfortunately for the filmmakers, the fishermen returned to port either empty-handed or with modest catches of locally common species, like six-to-eight-foot threshers and blues. While these were potentially dangerous to swimmers, they lacked the imposing presence of the suspected Island terror. So stuntman Teddy Grossman (the estuary victim) embarked on a trip to Florida. He returned with Oscar, a thirteen or fourteen foot Tiger shark.
Oscar’s crate. (Photo via JAWS: Memories of Martha’s Vineyard)
On May 12, a chartered FedEx plane delivered Oscar to Martha's Vineyard airport, where it was swiftly transported to a refrigeration unit at Norton & Easterbrook's dock. The following day, the shark was prepared for its on-screen debut, hanging by its tail and "wounded" with an array of theatrical harpoons, knives, and guns.However, Oscar's authenticity came with a price - a pungent odor that quickly emerged once he was hoisted onto the docks in Edgartown for filming. Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb vividly recalled the scene, describing the nauseating smell that permeated the air, causing discomfort among the onlookers.
The Tiger shark that Hooper dissects was a very basic model constructed by JAWS SFX wizard Roy Arbogast.
“What everybody lost track of is that sharks are a very simple protein. The meat of a shark is biologically different than the meat of a fish and decays very quickly. Also, when we hauled the shark up, gravity pulled its stomach and everything down so that it was all just bulging out of the mouth. It was quite horrifying. Once the shark was up in the air we couldn’t take it down again because there was too much fear about putting the hook through the tail too many times and the whole thing just coming apart. So the shark stayed up and immediately started to spoil.
Of course, the next day there was sunshine, and like any rotten fish times eight hundred pounds, it really reeked. If you look closely at the faces of the crowd in that scene, you can see people struggling not to gag. It was horrible. The decomposition was not just internal. The shark had to have makeup applied to cover its decaying face. It was like a zombie movie. Del Armstrong was the makeup artist, and he had to work awfully hard at keeping the shark at least somewhat photogenic. It was an awful ordeal for the people that had to get up close to it. Thankfully, my character never had to get too close, and I could position myself upwind of it.”
Make up artist Del Armstrong working to keep ‘Oscar’ looking fresh
Del Armstrong, the makeup artist, had the challenging task of concealing the shark's decaying features to maintain its appearance. The process resembled something out of a zombie movie, requiring significant effort to keep the shark looking presentable.
The climax of this scene. is the appearance of retired actor Lee Fierro, cast in the memorable role of Mrs. Kintner, the vengeful sponsor of the hunt. Her arrival on the dock coincided with Hooper's revelation that the bounty hunters might have targeted the wrong shark. So many things happen in what could have been a farly unremarkable scene, proving the storytelling effectiveness of Gottlieb and Spielberg.
Amidst the challenges posed by Oscar's presence, the set also featured notable figures. Director Steven Spielberg, donning his signature hat and glasses, can be seen inspecting the shark in one photo, while Richard Dreyfuss, portraying ichthyologist Matt Hooper, strikes a pose for the camera in another.
Words by Ross Williams
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