THE SONS OF JAWS — The Daily Jaws

Whether it’s Mrs Kintner publicly confronting Chief Brody about the death of her son or Mayor Vaughn reminding Martin that his “… kids were on that beach too.”, the theme of family runs through Jaws just as much as fear, corruption and duty. And like Mrs Kintner and Mayor Vaughn, the 3 stars of Jaws have families of their own - 15 children between them. In this article, we take a look at the lives and careers of three of those children, Ben Dreyfuss, Christian Scheider and Ian Shaw.

Ben Dreyfuss

Ben Dreyfuss was born on the 14th June 1986 to Jaws actor Richard Dreyfuss (Matt Hooper) and American screenwriter, producer and philanthropist Jeramie Rain. He is the middle brother to Emily and Harry Dreyfuss.

In his first year of life he underwent 23 eye operations, including two corneal transplants, for Peters' anomaly, a rare genetic eye disorder. Eventually, Dreyfuss lost all sight in his left eye.

Following in his parents footsteps, Ben has worked as an actor, starring as the younger version of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Maddocks (also played by father Richard Dreyfuss) in the same ABC miniseries.

Ben’s main career focus has been journalism; a highlight being senior editor for Mother Jones, which during his tenure saw a 200% plus increase in traffic. Ben also has his own blog Good Faith with Ben Dreyfuss. Ben talks to his father Richard about his ‘groundbreaking’ Jaws theory in The Truth About Jaws

When not acting or working as a journalist, Ben works hard to support various child blindness charities.

You can follow Ben on Twitter

learn about hooper

Christian Scheider

Christian Verrier Scheider was born on 20th January 1990 in New York City to parents Roy Scheider (Chief Brody) and Brenda Siemer Scheider. He is the older brother of Molly Scheider, born 1995.

Christian graduated from Bard College with a degree in philosophy in 2012 where he served for three years inside maximum security prisons as a writing tutor with the Bard Prison Initiative.

Christian with his parents, Jaws actor Roy Scheider and Brenda Siemer Scheider.

Following Bard, Scheider studied at the Stella Adler and Scott Freeman acting schools, and worked for many years as an actor, known for Words and Pictures (2013), The Tree Prophet (2017) and Chronicles of Shpongle (2021).

Scheider now writes, produces and directs original works for theater and film.

You can learn more about Christian by visiting his website: https://christianscheider.com

learn about chief brody

Ian Shaw

Ian Shaw was born on 18 December (same date as Jaws director Steven Spielberg) in 1969 to parents actress Mary Ure and Jaws actor Robert Shaw.

One of 10 children, Ian Shaw is a stage and screen actor and writer, known for Johnny English Reborn, EastEnders and hit West End Jaws inspired stage play The Shark Is Broken.

After studying American Studies at Sussex University, Shaw trained as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art leading to a very successful career.

Ian has performed at the National Theatre, playing Friedrich in War Horse as well as several plays in Rep at the Royal Exchange Manchester.

His first television work started in 1993 with a part in an episode of British TV show Casualty. Since then he has appeared in the films Century (1993), Moondance (1995), The Boys From County Clare (2003), The Contract (2006), and Johnny English Reborn (2011). He has also appeared in many TV series including EastEnders, Soldier, Soldier, The Bill, The Queen, Sharpe, Ultimate Force, Ghosts, Silent Witness and Medics.

A young Ian sneaks a peek at Bruce the mechanical shark during the making of Jaws (1975)

Sadly, Ian and his siblings lost their father in 1978 (when Ian was just 8 years old) when Robert died of a heart attack in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, Ireland.