LORRAINE GARY: THE PERFECT CHOICE FOR ELLEN BRODY IN JAWS
Lorraine Gary's Ellen Brody plays a pivotal, grounding role in Jaws, as the wife of Amity Island's new police chief, Martin Brody.
She was also the first actor to be signed to the film. Spielberg hired her after seeing her in Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders, where she played a character called Ruth Gardner (no relation to Ben).
Gary - real name Lorraine Gottfried - brought a natural charm to the film as Ellen Brody, something which first struck Spielberg in the Kojak episode.
That episode was directed by Joseph Sargent, who would later helm Jaws the Revenge, which would be Gary's final acting role. That film would see her nominated for both a Saturn and a Razzie award in the same year.
Lorraine's role may not have been huge in Jaws but was hugely memorable, especially as her character wasn't seen on screen after the first half of the film.
She makes a real impact and her role is full of humour, heart, warmth, great timing and she proved a great foil for Brody, with whom she has a terrific onscreen chemistry. You may never be an islander, but we still love you Mrs Brody.
Gary was also the wife of Spielberg’s mentor and then Head of Universal Studios, Sid Sheinberg, who sadly passed away in March 2019.
“Jaws freed me to discover that a successful movie didn’t make a damn bit of difference to my life.”
Of course, there will be those that said that can’t have not but helped in securing that role, but Gary was an established actress in her own right.
Gary would go onto reprise her role in Jaws 2 and Jaws the Revenge, she would also appear in Spielberg’s World War 2 comedy, 1941. That also featured fellow Jaws alumni, Murray Hamilton and Susan Backlinie.
And although Lorraine is best known for the Jaws series, her name is also part of another Universal franchise, Back To The Future. The character of Lorraine McFly - Marty's mum was named after her.
And that character is played by Lea Thompson, who played Kelly in Jaws 3D. The Back To The Future series was executive produced by Steven Spielberg, and even featured a Jaws cameo, advertising the 'forthcoming' Jaws 19, which riffs on the the Jaws The Revenge tagline with 'This time it's really, really personal.'
Words by Dean Newman
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