What happened to the kid actors in Jaws?

It was revealed that Jonathan Searle, who played one of the children with the cardboard fin in Jaws has now become the chief of police in Oak Bluffs, part of Martha's Vineyard where the classic 1975 Steven Spielberg was filmed.

Searle featured in the scene with his brother Steven, but has now gone from shark hoaxer to upholder of the law and becomes a real life Chief Brody in June.

Amazingly, he even stopped a shark hoaxer on Martha's Vineyard earlier in his career. Read the full story here.

But what about the other child actors that featured in the shark film classic?

As with many of the supporting cast, they were islanders and ended up being part of the then highest grossing film of all time, and the first to chew through the $100 million box office barrier in the US.

Where are the child actors from Jaws now? As well as a tale of success, it is also one of tragedy, scandal and reuniting with onscreen Jaws mum.

Chris Rebello as Michael Brody

Chris was born in Oak Bluff in August 1963 and played the eldest child of Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and Ellen Brody (Lorraine Brody). He almost becomes another victim of the great white shark whilst in the pond.

Michael is a recurring character in Jaws 2 and takes the lead character role in Jaws 3D and Jaws the Revenge. He is played by a different actor in each of the subsequent films.

Jaws was Rebello's only film and he remained an islander. He graduated from Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in 1981, where he excelled in varsity football, baseball, and basketball.

In fact, he returned to his high school as a successful coach, leading his team to a place in the State Superbowl in the 2000 season. 

It was a game he would never get to see, as days before what should have been a celebration, Rebello died aged just 37 after having a heart attack whilst on a hunting trip.

He was married and had three children.

The New Haven Register says that Rebello recounted his role in the movie classic, 25 years after its release.

He said: "I was supposed to act scared when I was out on that little sailboat with the shark cruising around, but I was freezing my baby buns off.

"When you're a little kid you have no real idea about the film business or movie stars, so these celebrities didn't mean much to me like Bobby Orr or Carl Yastrzemski might have. I was just excited to get my 138 bucks a day, which seemed like a million."

Rebello's legacy and love for him continues through Jaws and his great natural performance as Michael, made all the more poignant by him leaving us far too soon.

Jay Mello as Sean Brody

Jay was born on 16 June, 1968, and played the younger Brody brother to Rebello's Mike. He has the iconic hand gesture copying scene opposite Roy Scheider, which is perhaps one of the most delightful and pleasing moments of cinema.

It certainly showcased how Spielberg, even in those early days, had a great eye for getting great performances from children. Something he'd continue to do in the likes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978), E.T. - the extra-terrestrial (1982), Empire of the Sun (1987) and Jurassic Park (1993).

Mello never made another film, but has continued to be a part of the Jaws legacy, appearing at JAWSFest and also being interviewed for The Shark Is Still Working.

Of the former, he told Pat Jankiewicz in his book Just When You Thought It Was Safe:  A Jaws Companion, that: "This JAWSfest is just fantastic...this was really special, to see all these people I have not seen on thirty years."

FromPage2Screen.com reported that Mello was given a probation on a lewd act charge, after being accused by a nine-year-old girl in 2009

According to Jankiewicz's book, Mello is now designing and building cabinet furniture in Vermont.

Jeffrey Voorhees as Alex Kintner

Steven Spielberg had balls, one moment in Jaws, the shark had eaten a dog (Pipit RIP) and the next he has devoured young Alex Kintner on a yellow inflatable in broad daylight on a packed beach.

Kintner was played by Jeffrey Voorhees, who was born on August 22, 1962. Like Rebello and Mello, Voorhees has never appeared in another film.

But, don't worry, the actor who played the boy with the pruned fingers is still alive and kicking (just not on a lilo to certain doom) and is still playing an active part in the Jaws community and in life on Martha's Vineyard.

He manages the Wharf Restaurant, can often be found meeting Jaws fans and even has an Alex Kintner burger on the menu.

Famously, his screen mum visited the restaurant one day and ordered that very meal, not realising that her former screen son ran it.

Voorhees recounted the story to Australian publication The New Daily in 2012.

He said: One time this lady came in with her friend and I recognised instantly it was my mother from the film.

So I said approached her table and said ‘Can I ask you a very personal question, if you think this is a little odd tell me to go away, but do you believe in reincarnation, because I think I died years ago and you look like my mother from a previous life’.

And Lee realised who I was and so she went along with the joke and said ‘Oh my god, I had a son that died years ago in the ocean!’ And everyone in the restaurant, including her friend were just wondering what the hell was going on!

Words by Dean Newman

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