Woman who towed Bruce the Shark for JAWS has died

Susan Murphy, who has died aged 74 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital, played a crucial role in bringing Bruce, the mechanical shark, to life for Steven Spielberg's iconic film, JAWS.

In 1974, Ms. Murphy and her husband, Lynn, were brought on board to tow the 25-foot-long shark through the waters around Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and Katama during the movie's production.

Their task wasn't just to transport the shark but also to collaborate with the special effects team to make sure its movements were as realistic as possible.

Despite having no prior boating experience, Ms. Murphy served as first mate, assisting her husband by operating both the boat that towed the shark and the one that ferried the crew between the shore and set.

The Murphys' boat was connected to the shark by a series of hydraulic cables, positioned so that neither the boat nor its wake would appear on camera - like when the great white first passes by the Orca to its stunned crew of Quint, Brody and Hooper.

Susan Murphy and her husband Lynn towed the shark during filming. (image credit Maria Thibodeau)

Reflecting on the film's production to The Vineyard Gazette just last nonth, Ms. Murphy noted that the shark's limited screen time actually enhanced the movie's suspense.

"I think because we had difficulties with the shark, it made a better, more suspenseful movie," she said. "They had to be stingy with it."

"None of us working on the movie had any idea in the world that it was going to be as big as it was," she added. "For most of us, it was the very first movie we really had anything to do with."

And Susan and Lynn - who passed away in 2017 - continued their association with the film through their appearance in the book Memories from Martha's Vineyard, several JAWS documentaries and through them buying Orca II.

Perhaps hard to believe now, but Lynn paid Universal a nominal amount of $1 to buy the fibreglass stunt boat that was used when the Orca was sinking and could be submerged on command as part of its design.

Speaking to Mental Floss, Susan said: “It was simply a prop. It had no bottom. There was nothing that could make it float. It was not seaworthy. The only thing that made it seaworthy was the tanks that were filled to keep it floating. That’s how it could sink on cue. The only reason he got it is because they practically gave it to him.”

Towing it to their private beach front, that is where Orca II remained, the stunt boat destroyed by fame hungry JAWS fans and souvenir collectors who illegally entered onto the Murphy"s land and stripped it. What remained is now being being taken by the elements.

Ross Williams, founder of The Daily Jaws, the world"s number one JAWS fan site, said: 'Susan's contribution to the making of JAWS and its continued legacy will live on in the hearts of fans and in her quotes, interviews and photos featuring her and her late husband, Lynn, who also served as part inspiration for Quint.

"Such sad cast and crew losses are invertible for a film that was released 50 years ago next year, with the JAWS community losing another Susan earlier this year, Backline, who played Chrissie Watkins, the first shark victim.

"It's a reminder that we need to cherish these people and their stories that bring JAWS and its making of so vividly to life."

Words by Dean Newman

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