Richard Dreyfuss says Robert Shaw’s death sank ‘JAWS reunion’ dreams

It’s 1984 and Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss take final bows after a prolonged standing ovation for King Lear, Shaw in the titular role and Dreyfuss as The Fool. This was the first time the pair had joined forces since teaming up to kill a shark in JAWS (1975).

It’s a performance by the former Quint and Hooper actors that must remain as a tantalising what if…as Shaw had died of a heart attack in 1978, a little over three years since the release of the Steven Spielberg shark classic.

Dreyfuss revealed the poignant performances that could have been after the pair, during a break from film on Martha’s Vineyard – as fictional Amity Island – chatted about working together again.

Despite the longstanding perception that they had a difficult and complex working relationship – from numerous JAWS documentaries, Carl Gottlieb’s The Jaws Log and the Broadway and West End play, The Shark Is Broken – it was Shaw who struck up conversation about joining acting forces again.

In an exclusive two-part interview with the world’s number one JAWS fan site, The Daily Jaws, as part of the JAWS 50 celebration, the Matt Hooper actor said: “One afternoon Robert and I had taken a break and were laying on these bunks, and all of a sudden I heard Robert say I know, I'll play the ghost to your hamlet if you play the fool to my Lear.

“And I said You've got it, but not for 10 years. And he said why? I said because you'll blow me off the stage, that's why. And it would take ten years to build up the life experience necessary. That is a moment I'll never forget, because I knew that was not only predicting my future, but it was laying out a certain kind of trust in who were to one another as actors. And it was great "

Dreyfuss, the only surviving crew member of the Orca, also talks about vividly remembering hearing the news of Robert Shaw’s death in August 1978, and how deeply it impacted both him and director Steve Spielberg.

He said: I've never had such a loss, ever and I took that news and I drove over to Steven's house and I walked in and he was at the piano, playing. And he did not respond to me when I spoke to him, because he couldn't and at a certain point I realised he's not going to be answering in English. He's got something else going on, and he certainly did, he lost his Quint, way too soon!

“None of us knew that we were going to feel so deeply, personally the loss of one of us. It didn't seem to make sense that he was taken from us so early."

Dive into the exclusive The Daily Jaws two-part interview special with Richard Dreyfuss on all things JAWS, sponsored by Bigger Boat Solutions, by visiting thedailyjaws.com.