Jeffrey Voorhees, who played the ill-fated Alex Kintner in the iconic film ‘Jaws’, is still reaping the rewards of his brief but memorable role 50 years on. At just 12 years old, Jeffrey’s character met a bloody end at the jaws of the great white shark, a scene that left audiences reeling and became one of cinema’s most shocking moments.
Half a century later, Jeffrey is a star attraction at Jaws conventions worldwide, leads tours on the island where the movie was filmed, and crafts personalised videos for die-hard fans. His website is a treasure trove for enthusiasts, offering signed photos of his grisly demise alongside merchandise like t-shirts, mugs, and even signed replica rafts for £107 each.
Now 62, he told The Mirror: “It pays to die. I was a 12-year-old kid who was in the movie for like a minute, but there are some real Jaws fanatics out there.”
He revealed the extent of his post-Jaws success: “One guy in England just bought 125 photos. I do signings. They fly me all over the world and pay me in cash at those things – around £10,000 a time.”
The actor also hosts special events, saying: “There are Jaws tours and people pay double if I’m on them and next month I’m appearing at three Meet, Greet and Mingle Parties.”
Even TV reruns continue to line his pockets, as he shared: “I still get paid every time the film appears on TV. My brother lives in Portugal, and I’ll get texts from him going: ‘Good news, you just died on TV over here. You’ll get another cheque.'”
Until recently, Jeffrey was running a restaurant where he sold Alex Kintner burgers and fans would pay him to record personal Cameo videos.
He recalled: “I did one yesterday from the beach where I died and said: ‘Hey! From your dear wife and the dead Alex Kintner – happy birthday!”People seem to like it, although I had a strange one last year. A family got in touch and said: ‘Our father was a big Jaws fan and he died on the couch watching the movie, can you send your regrets.'”
He added: “I thought: ‘What on earth is this?’ But I decided I’d do it and went down to the beach to record it.
“I said: ‘Hey, your father and I had a little something in common. He died watching me die. This is the dead Alex Kintner, Jeff Voorhees, here on Martha’s Vineyard – Amity Island. Just want to say – have a Jawesome funeral.'”
“I thought they’d be upset, but they gave me a five-star review.”
Released in June 1975 and based on the Peter Benchley novel, Jaws was an immediate blockbuster. The story of a terrifying man-eating great white shark caused a significant drop in beach attendance worldwide.
It rapidly became the highest-grossing film ever. Almost a third of America’s population rushed to the cinema to see it – more than 67 million people – and an audience of 23m tuned in when it was shown for the first time on UK television in 1981.
Jeffrey snagged the iconic part quite serendipitously, initially signing on as an extra, but swiftly found himself rubbing shoulders with Tinseltown titans such as director Steven Spielberg, on the cusp of blockbuster fame, and stellar actors Richard Dreyfuss, playing marine biologist Matt Hooper, and Robert Shaw, cast as shark hunter Quint.
However, Jeffrey recollected that Shaw, a known heavy drinker, was less than thrilled to be performing alongside youngsters.
According to Jeffrey: “Spielberg felt bad for all the kids because we were freezing cold and he set up some cook-outs and baseball games, so we’d be out there playing baseball with Richard Dreyfuss. Robert Shaw would be sitting over by the fire, far away from everyone. We were just little kids and we went: ‘Oh, let’s go say hello to him.'”
“We all ran up and he sounded just like he did in the movie. We could smell booze and he went: ‘Get away from me you little s***s!’ He wanted nothing to do with us!”
After starring in Jaws, Jeffrey went on to appear in the hit American TV series Santa Barbara and the movie One More Shot before taking the helm at a seafood restaurant.
He hung up his hat last year, yet his role in Jaws continues to reel him into the spotlight. Recalling a fan encounter, he shared: “I went to a fan convention in Manchester a few years ago. There was a man who’d been waiting there since 2am and had Jaws tattoos all over him. He said he had one spot left and asked me to sign inside the shark’s mouth. He then went off to get my autograph tattooed there permanently.”
Despite Jaws celebrating its 50th anniversary, the film’s chilling impact lingers. Reflecting on its influence, Jeffrey revealed: “My nephew watched Jaws when he was 10. We went to the water a couple of weeks later and he said: ‘I’m not going in there; I don’t want to be eaten by a shark.’ He wouldn’t go in the sea for a whole summer!”