JAWS 2 making-of author remembers director Jeannot Szwarc
Hello, Islanders!
While it’s good to be back, my heart is heavy as I share some thoughts about filmmaker Jeannot Szwarc, who passed away yesterday (January 15th) at the age of 85.
A lot was made of the fact that Steven Spielberg was just 27 years old when he undertook the filming of JAWS. An amazing achievement, no matter what age. But not a lot of credit is given to Mr. Szwarc who was given the unenviable job of directing the sequel to the most popular film of all time. But first some background.
Born in Paris in November 1939, Szwarc came to the U.S. by way of Argentina where he earned a Masters degree in Political Science at Harvard University. He returned to Paris and began work at a local film production company, leaning his craft by working on commercials and documentary films.
In the early 1960s he returned to America and found work as a freelance writer, penning a couple of episodes of the popular Raymond Burr drama “Ironside.” He also began directing episodic television, putting his mark on such classic shows as “It Takes a Thief,” “The Virginian” and “The Bold Ones.” As the 1970s began, he found himself based at Universal Studios where he shared a bungalow with two other up and coming directors you may have heard of: John Badham and Steven Spielberg. While he continued with episodic television, directing multiple episodes of shows like “Marcus Welby M.D.,” “Night Gallery,” “Kojak,” “Baretta” and “The Rockford Files,” most of his time was spent on movies for television, including “Night of Terror,” “The Devil’s Daughter,” and “Lisa Bright and Dark.”
In 1975 his first feature film, “Bug,” was released in early June. Two weeks later another film, JAWS, changed Hollywood forever. A sequel was put into production under director John D. Hancock, ironically also a Harvard graduate. When Mr. Hancock was removed from the project, production designer Joe Alves recommened a director he had worked with numerous times on “Night Gallery,” Jeannot Szwarc.
Most directors spend up to six months planning before the start shooting a film. Szwarc only had weeks. As he concentrated on one of the film’s big showcase scenes, the attack of the water-skier, newly hired Carl Gottlieb would write day and night in his hotel room. Szwarc could handle a temperamental shark. It was a temperamental actor that caused him the most distress. Unhappy at having to be in the film, Roy Scheider had many opinions of Mr. Szwarc and would berate him with everything from Szwarc only being a “T.V. director” to complaining that his co-stars were getting more closeups then he was. Things escalated to a point where Szwarc and Scheider had to be physically restrained from attacking each other.
Despite all of the negatives, Szwarc turned in one hell of a film, one that only faces criticism because it has the word JAWS in its title. JAWS 2 was a boxoffice success and Universal rewarded Szwarc by telling him he could make anything he wanted. That film is the beautifully crafted period romance “Somewhere in Time.” Other films followed, including Supergirl, Santa Claus: the Movie” and “Enigma.”
He returned to Paris in the early 90s and spent a few years directing episodic television again. Once back in the states, he continued doing excellent work on television. It was Szwarc who convinced Jeffrey Kramer to return to the cast of JAWS 2 (the actor had quit due to the way his character was being used) and the two became fast and lifelong friends. Szwarc eventually directed multiple episodes of both of the Emmy winning series Kramer produced, “Ally McBeal” and “The Practice.” He began the new century by helming dozens of episodes of such shows as “JAG,” “Smallville,” “Bones” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”
It was Jeff Kramer (Deputy Hendricks in JAWS & JAWS 2) who informed me of Mr. Szwarc’s passing, and it was Mr. Kramer who reached out to Mr. Szwarc on my behalf when I was researching my book, “Jaws 2: the Making of the Hollywood Sequel.” He shared some great stories about filming on the water and dealing with Scheider’s hijinks, telling each story in great detail. After our last conversation he said he had only one request: “Please don’t make me look foolish.” I told him there was no fear of that. I’d like to imagine him tonight seated at a table in heaven, along with Roy Scheider, Verna Fields and David Brown, having a drink and getting along swimmingly.
There was a fun story Mr. Szwarc told me that, since it wasn’t JAWS 2-centric, wasn’t in the book. I had commented that, while he is credited on most of his work from the 1970s on as Jeannot, his given first name, I had noticed that a lot of his earlier television episodes were credited to “Jean” Szwarc. He explained that he had gone by the nickname Jean for some time, until he got a call from a Woman’s Rights Organization who wanted him to address their group as “Jean” was one of the few female directors in Hollywood. He politely explained the misunderstanding and began using Jeannot. Great story. Greater person. You will be missed. Rest well, sir.
Words by Michael A Smith. Michael is co-author of Jaws 2: The Making Of The Hollywood Sequel. You can order the book by contacting Michael at OsFanMike@aol.com.
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