Martha’s Vineyard locals reflect on ‘Jaws’ 50 years later

JAWS DIDN’T JUST CHANGE cinematic history. The summer blockbuster also transformed Martha’s Vineyard. Long before the Clintons, Obamas, Oprah, and Larry David moved in to make it the starriest second-home locale on the Eastern Seaboard, the tranquil New England island was everything Hollywood wasn’t. In fact, prior to director Steven Spielberg and crew setting up cameras to create the definitive shark thriller, the last movie to shoot there was in the silent era.

“Jaws put us on the map,” explains Martha’s Vineyard Museum research librarian Bow Van Riper. “It was what really kicked off the world coming to the Vineyard, and certainly nowadays it’s nothing to see cars from every state in the country over the course of the summer and people from all over the globe planning pilgrimages to see Amity in person.”

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the movie, which premiered June 20, 1975, we talked to current and former locals about the massive impact it had on its shooting location. And how, in turn, Martha’s Vineyard helped define one of the box office’s biggest hits.

There’s the harbormaster who helmed 20 boats for Universal Pictures, and the local child actor who (fictionally) lost his life to the great white. A swim on extra, and Deputy Hendricks himself, star Jeffrey Kramer. They share their memories of how it all went down, from food fighting to a faulty animatronic shark. Plus, their thoughts on the ensuing tourist frenzy, and what it means for their slice of sandy paradise today.

Jeffrey Kramer

Deputy Hendricks in Jaws

“My grandparents came here many, many years ago, in the early 1900s. We were the first Jews of the Vineyard. When Jaws came to town, it was such a big thing, but nobody really knew what to make of it. I had my agent call [casting director] Shari Rhodes, and we became great friends. She was so smart and so dear. She’s the one who hired all of the [local] people here, and that made such a difference. Because they were real.

[Production designer] Joe Alves chose the Vineyard only because the boats weren’t running to Nantucket that day. So he said, ‘Well, I’ll take it where it’s going.’ And he came over to the Vineyard. The first day of principal photography was the [scene where] I find a hand on the beach. I was so nervous, I could have probably thrown up.

[The filmmakers] often added me to scenes, because the [animatronic] shark [named Bruce] wasn’t working. But you had no choice, you had to keep trying to shoot something. They were masterful in keeping the production going. What an effort it was. The rumors were that they were going to pull the plug. That this was never going to work. That they were going to just eat their losses and say no more. But it was a perfect creative storm. The music, the editing—everything came together. You couldn’t see it then, but Jaws reshaped the way movies are made. It was a Hollywood invasion that worked.”

Jean Wong

Director of Marketing at Harbor View Hotel

“[There was a] legendary food fight that happened among the crew in what’s now Bettini Restaurant at Harbor View Hotel. Between the weather, the constant issues with the shark, and the long hours, emotions were running high. That food fight was a bit of catharsis. A chaotic, silly moment that helped break the tension. It wasn’t planned, but it’s now part of the hotel’s lore and one of those only-on-Martha’s-Vineyard stories.” 

Bow Van Riper

Research Librarian at Martha’s Vineyard Museum

“I was on the beach watching them [film] and the assistant director said, ‘Hey, we need 100 brave people to go in the water and pretend to be the crowd.’ So my friend and I waded in. There we were in water a bit above our waist, pretending that we were swimming in water above our head. We did it and then we did it again and again. The water was really cold. By the time we were done, we knew why he said 100 brave people.”  

Charlie Blair

Former Harbormaster of Edgartown, Massachusetts

“The [Jaws] Teamsters gave up the water because they didn’t have anybody that could do it. They wrecked a couple of boats and lost a lot of gear, including a camera. We met with the bosses that evening, and they brought me on to manage all the small boats. I ended up working 20 to 22 hours a day for Universal. These people knew nothing about the water. Absolutely nothing. They didn’t know about currents or tides. I [was overseeing] 20 boats. Every day, somebody would wreck a boat or sink a boat. They didn’t have a clue.

I escorted [star Robert Shaw] off the beach every morning in pitch dark. [He would] have a little nip of Wild Turkey as we idled to the dock. His makeup guy was mixing martinis out of a sterling shaker. By the time he got to breakfast, he was on fire. More credit to him, because he never missed a line.”

Jeffrey Voorhees

Alex Kintner in Jaws and former Wharf Pub manager

“A couple months before they were shooting, my family moved up to the island. I was 12, and [the filmmakers] said we’ll pay you $40 a day to be an extra. [My friends and I] all said, ‘Let’s do it.’ We went down to this hotel where they showed us the paperwork. They called a few people back, and said, ‘You’re getting a speaking part.’ Spielberg [told me] there was a barrel full of blood [for when Alex Kintner gets eaten by the shark], but the first time we tried shooting, he was like, ‘No, your arm came out of the water a little.’ It took seven or eight hours for the blood to clear out of the water and start over. By day five, Spielberg finally goes, ‘This is taking too long. This time, when that thing explodes, you have two guys in wetsuits on the water. They’re each going to grab one of your legs and pull you down in the water a few times.’

You get Jaws tours all the time down here. Through the years, [when I managed] the Wharf Pub, I hid from [my part in the movie], until I finally started doing signings. You get Jaws nuts. This one girl goes, ‘Can he sign anything?’ And she starts pulling her shirt up, and security is like, ‘No private parts.’ So I signed her collarbone, and then she got [my signature] tattooed. It makes some people so happy. I just did a Cameo [an app offering personalized videos from celebrities] this morning for like $40. I got a strange [Cameo request] last year from someone who said, ‘Our father was a big Jaws fan, but he died watching the movie on the couch.’ Holding my phone up, I go, ‘You know, your father and I had a little something in common. He died watching me die.'” 

Erica Ashton

Executive Director at Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce

“Jaws and Martha’s Vineyard will always be inseparable. The film captured not only the suspense of the sea, but also the soul of this place: its harbors, its people, its character. Martha’s Vineyard didn’t just host the film. We helped shape it, and it shaped us in return. It also made this small community think about sharks in a different way. I think that that was one of Stevens Spielberg’s regrets, because sharks are beautiful. They’re predators, obviously, but these are their waters.”