Peter Bradford Benchley, writer, born May 8 1940; died February 11 2006, Available for everyone, funded by readers. [2], Once Johnson's term ended in 1969, the Benchleys moved out of Washington, and lived in various houses, including an island off Stonington, Connecticut where son Clayton was born in 1969. He was 65. All rights reserved. All market data delayed 20 minutes. "His nonfiction ideas did not seem very promising, but at the end of the meal, I said, `Have you ever thought of writing a novel?' The story of a Nazi-created genetically engineered shark/human hybrid, it failed to achieve popular or critical success. He was also one of the founding board members of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI). [11], In light of Peter Benchley's lifelong record of shark conservation and educating the public about sharks, the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards have been instituted by Wendy Benchley and David Helvarg as his legacy. Before Benchley became a fiction writer, he was an editor at Newsweek and worked as a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson.. 2. The cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and a fatal scarring of the lungs, said his wife. Much of the work had to be rewritten as the publisher was not happy with the initial tone. [6], Benchley estimated that he earned enough from book sales, film rights and magazine/book club syndication to be able to work independently as a film writer for ten years.[7]. "There was no particular influence. Peter Benchley was born in New York City in 1940. Coronavirus Update. He spent most of his life trying to explain to people that if you are in the ocean, you're in the shark's territory, so it behooves you to take precautions," Wendy Benchley said. The cause of death, she said, was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and fatal scarring of the lungs. Benchley served on the national council of Environmental Defense, and received the David B. By then Benchley was in New York, working as television editor for Newsweek. Prolific writer Peter Benchley, whose 1974 novel Jaws scared people out of the water, died Saturday night at his Princeton, N.J. home, according to Wendy Benchley, his wife of 41 years. “We were thrilled, excited.”. All rights reserved. But the film version of The Island, starring Michael Caine and co-starring David Warner, failed at the box office when released in 1980. Congdon loved the idea, but said Benchley was reluctant to start the book because he couldn't afford time away from his journalistic work. Required fields are marked *. He returned to nautical themes in 1991's Beast written about a giant squid threatening Bermuda. While Peter Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for "Jaws," and authored several other novels, including "The Deep" and "The Island," Wendy Benchley said he was especially proud of his conservation work. (Benchley made a cameo appearance as a reporter in the film). Peter's cause of death was ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis. [citation needed] Sea of Cortez signposted Benchley's growing interest in ecological issues and anticipated his future role as an impassioned advocate of the importance of protecting the marine environment. This idea had been developed by Benchley since he had read a news report of a fisherman catching a 4,550 pounds (2,060 kg) great white shark off the coast of Long Island in 1964. ©2020 FOX News Network, LLC. Stone Award for distinguished service to the environment and the community. It changed the way people looked at sharks.". 1974-01-16 "Jaws" by Peter Benchley is published by Doubleday; 1975-06-20 "Jaws", based on the book by Peter Benchley, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider is released Peter's cause of death was ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Benchley wanted to be near New York, and the family eventually got a house at Pennington, New Jersey in 1970. scrollbar: true, color: '#ffffff', Rummies (also known as Lush), which appeared in 1989, is a semi-autobiographical work, loosely inspired by the Benchley family's history of alcohol abuse. My idea was to tell my first novel as a sort of long story ... just to see if I could do it. Jaws is a 1974 novel by American writer Peter Benchley.It tells the story of a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town and the voyage of three men trying to kill it. Your contribution is much appreciated! He attended the elite Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, then graduated from Harvard University in 1961. Benchley, the grandson of humorist Robert Benchley and son of author Nathaniel Benchley, was born in New York City in 1940. links: '#ffffff' Born Peter Bradford Benchley, May 8, 1940, in New York, NY; died of pulmonary fibrosis, February 11, 2006, in Princeton, NJ. he recalled. }, It was the first movie to reach the coveted $100 million mark at the box office, and won three Academy Awards (Best Film Editing, Best Original Music and Best Sound). Text us for exclusive photos and videos, royal news, and way more. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. If you would like to opt out of browser push notifications, please refer to the following instructions specific to your device and browser: this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Steven Spielberg, who would direct the film version of Jaws, has said that he initially found many of the characters unsympathetic and wanted the shark to win. He is known as the author of the bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its film adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. new TWTR.Widget({ Peter passed away on February 11, 2006 at the age of 65 in Princeton, New Jersey. Comment document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ab6734e1e6828a91d1081539e510de9d" );document.getElementById("f4432e7d3d").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. He worked at The Washington Post and Newsweek and spent two years as a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson, writing some “difficult” speeches about the Vietnam War, Wendy Benchley told the Associated Press. Nathaniel Benchley's information is not available now. The experience was told in his first book, a travel memoir titled Time and a Ticket, published by Houghton Mifflin in 1964. background: '#000000', She recalled a trip to Guadeloupe, Mexico last year for their 40th wedding anniversary, when the two went into the water in a special cage. "But Peter kept telling people the book was fiction, it was a novel, and that he no more took responsibility for the fear of sharks than Mario Puzo took responsibility for the Mafia.". His younger brother, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor. Beast was brought to the small screen as a made-for-television film in 1996, under the title The Beast. It eventually grossed over $470 million worldwide. 1. Jaws was published in 1974 and became a great success, staying on the bestseller list for 44 weeks. Later in life, Benchley came to regret writing such sensationalist literature about sharks, which he felt encouraged excessive fear and unnecessary culls of such an important predator in ocean ecosystems and became an advocate for marine conservation. Following his return to America, Benchley spent six months reserve duty in the Marine Corps, and then became a reporter for The Washington Post. In 1999, the television show Peter Benchley's Amazon was created, about a group of plane crash survivors in the middle of a vast jungle. He served on the national council of Environmental Defense, hosted numerous television wildlife programs, gave speeches around the world and wrote articles for National Geographic and other publications. He worked at The Washington Post and Newsweek and spent two years as a speechwriter for President Johnson, writing some "difficult" speeches about the Vietnam War, Wendy Benchley said. Peter Benchley was born on May 31, 1940 and died on February 11, 2006. It was also turned into a made-for-television film titled Creature, with Christopher Lehmann-Haupt of the New York Times saying it "looks more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than any fish". or redistributed. Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis on February 12, 2006 in Princeton, New Jersey. Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz. … theme: { Get push notifications with news, features and more. } During this period, when Benchley would later declare he was "making one final attempt to stay alive as a writer", his literary agent arranged meetings with publishers. Several more of his works were also adapted for cinema, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, and White Shark. While the first half of the novel is a relatively straightforward account of a suburbanite's descent into alcoholic hell, the second part, which takes place at a New Mexico substance abuse clinic, is written as a thriller. "[9] It details the ways in which man seems to have become more of an aggressor in his relationship with sharks, acting out of ignorance and greed as several of the species become increasingly threatened by overfishing. His bestseller prompted a 1975 summer movie that also put its young director, Steven Spielberg, on the map. "Spielberg certainly made the most superb movie; Peter was very pleased," Wendy Benchley told The Associated Press. Peter Bradford Benchley, a bestselling author who terrified millions of swimmers with his novel, “Jaws,” died on Feb. 11 of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and a fatal scarring of the lungs. loop: false, Peter was 65 years old at the time of death. Directed by Peter Yates and starring Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, The Deep was a box office success, and one of the top 10 highest-grossing films in the US in 1977, though its box office tally fell well short of Jaws. The shark novel eventually attracted Doubleday editor Thomas Congdon, who offered Benchley an advance of $1,000 leading to the novelist submitting the first 100 pages. And at times we would have 4 or 5 of the most gorgeous female torpedoes drifting by the cage. In fact, he was quite at ease around sharks, his widow said. This work, which had editions in 2001 and 2003, was written to help a post-Jaws public to more fully understand "the sea in all its beauty, mystery and power. He was 65. There were no jokes. Benchley was a member of the National Council of Environmental Defense and a spokesman for its Oceans Program: "[T]he shark in an updated Jaws could not be the villain; it would have to be written as the victim; for, worldwide, sharks are much more the oppressed than the oppressors."[10]. shell: { At heart, Benchley, who has died aged 65, knew that he had been unfair to a creature which is in fact rather fussy in its eating habits, and in recent years, in print and on film, he was prolific in a campaign to show the world that human life is dependent upon the oceans and all they contain. Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis in 2006. [3], By 1971, Benchley was doing various freelance jobs in his struggle to support his wife and children. Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz. 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