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Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley

3 movies on Netflix

Biography

Peter Benchley was an American author best known for his novel Jaws, a bestseller published in 1974 that became the 1975 film Jaws, whose screenplay he co-wrote with Carl Gottlieb and in which he appeared as a beach reporter. Born in New York City in 1940, he graduated from Harvard University in 1961, traveled for a year, and wrote Time and a Ticket, a travel memoir, before working at The Washington Post as a reporter and at Newsweek as its television editor. The Deep followed as his second novel in 1976, and he co-wrote its 1977 film adaptation, while The Island appeared as a novel in 1979 and as a film in 1980. Beast and White Shark were adapted into television movies, and in 1994 he was the first host of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.

65years old at death

  • Born New York City
  • Died Princeton
  • Star sign: TaurusThe sign runs April 20 to May 20
  • Peter Bradford Benchley (birth name)

Movie Career

Films
3
Career span
32 years1975 to 2007

Every film, newest first

  1. 2007The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of 'Jaws'IMDb rating 7.6
  2. 1995The Making of 'Jaws'IMDb rating 7.9
  3. 1975JawsIMDb rating 8.1

Genres

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  1. A first

    In 1994, Benchley took on the job of host for Discovery Channel's Shark Week, and he was the first person ever to do so.

  2. Getting ready for a role

    Benchley came up with the idea after reading a news report about a fisherman who caught a 4,550-pound great white shark in 1964 off Long Island.

  3. Behind the camera

    Benchley's second novel, The Deep, came out in 1976. He wrote it after meeting diver Teddy Tucker by chance in Bermuda while he was working on a story for National Geographic.

  4. Behind the camera

    Benchley's book Q Clearance came out in 1986 and drew on what he had lived through as a staffer in Johnson's White House.

Peter Benchley movies on Netflix

Most often with

Five actors appear in three of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.

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Richard Dreyfuss, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Richard DreyfussRoy Scheider, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Roy ScheiderCarl Gottlieb, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Carl GottliebLorraine Gary, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Lorraine GarySusan Backlinie, 3 films togetherSee the 3 films with Susan BacklinieSteven Spielberg, 2 films togetherSee the 2 films with Steven Spielberg

Films together

Awards

One award and honor.

Top of the page, the section list
Peter Benchley's awards and nominations, grouped by award
YearAwardFilmResult
Other honors
2018New Jersey Hall of Fame (posthumous)Won

Online

Official profiles and reference pages.

Top of the page, the section list