The Vaughn Identity
It almost seems that Mayor Vaughn from Jaws and Jaws 2 has never left our social media feeds this year, with the Jaws and Covid-19 parallels.
For many it is he, and not the shark, that is the true villain of Jaws, but that's only thanks to the fantastic portrayal by Murray Hamilton. He makes such a memorable impact that belies his screen time of just 10 minutes in the whole film.
The amazing Murray Hamilton was Steven Spielberg’s first choice for the role of Mayor Vaughn in Jaws, he was the only actor considered for the role and - along with Lorraine Gary - was the first to be cast in the film.
In Hamilton's hands he's more than just a greedy mayor, he's rounded and dare we say it, likable. We can almost see why he got re elected by the time of Jaws 2. He believes every word he is saying, and he genuinely looks knocked for six when Brody is talking to him in the hospital and finally gets him to hire Quint to kill the shark.
Hamilton plays the role to darkly comic perfection, that unfortunately seems to become more dark and less comic as the years go by.
Hamilton was a lovely man off screen, Jeffrey Kramer couldn't say enough kind words about him in our recent Zoom interview, and he would often take time between filming to walk round Martha's Vineyard saying hello to people on the island. All of which must have been wonder bizarre if he was wearing Vaughn's jackets as well.
Although he was referred to as the mayor of shark city in the film, it wasn't sharks that Hamilton had to be cautious of on the island, it was skunks.
The story goes that after a busy day of filming, Hamilton took an evening stroll back to his hotel and went to pet what he thought was a cat on a fence, he was met with the spray of a skunk. Apparantly his clothes stank so much that he had to burn them the next day.
Key appearances prior to Jaws include Anatomy of a Murder (1959), as the key witness to the crime who keeps quiet out of misguided loyalty; as cocky Kentuckian millionaire Findley who thinks he can win against Paul Newman's Fast Eddie in The Hustler (1961); and Anne Bancroft's husband, Mr.Robinson, in The Graduate (1967). The latter which featured an uncredited appearance by Richard Dreyfuss. These, including Jaws, were all nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Hamilton would go onto appear in Jaws 2 (1978), The Amityville Horror (1979) and Brubaker (1980). He'd reunite with Jaws alumnus Spielberg, Lorraine Gary and Susan Backlinie in 1941 (1979).
His final role would be in the TV movie, The Last Days of Patton (1986), starring his good friend George C. Scott. Scott got him the role when his failing health meant roles were harder to come by.
It was planned for Hamilton to reprise his role as Mayor Vaughn one final time in Jaws The Revenge but he passed away prior to production commencing. Hamilton died on September 1, 1986 aged 63.
His role as Mayor Vaughn means he will never be forgotten, and we couldn't, even if we tried to, especially in those anchor and deckchair jackets.
Written by Dean Newman
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