17 Facts About Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley is best known for his bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb.

Later in life, Benchley expressed some regret for his writing about sharks, which he felt indulged already present fear and false belief about sharks, and he became an advocate for marine conservation.

Contrary to widespread rumor, Peter Benchley did not believe that his writings contributed to shark depopulation, nor is there evidence that Jaws or any of his works did so.

Peter Benchley's younger brother, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor.

Peter Benchley was an alumnus of the Allen-Stevenson School, Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University.

Peter Benchley wanted to be near New York, and the family eventually got a house at Pennington, New Jersey in 1970.

Peter Benchley worked by winter in his Pennington office, and during summer in a converted chicken coop at the farm of his in-laws in Stonington.

Peter Benchley made a cameo appearance in the film as a news reporter on the beach.

Peter Benchley developed his second novel, The Deep, published in 1976, after a chance meeting in Bermuda with diver Teddy Tucker while writing a story for National Geographic.

Peter Benchley visited the wreck of the Constellation which he described as having sunk on top of two other wrecks, the Montana and the Lartington.

Peter Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the 1977 movie release, along with Tracy Keenan Wynn and an uncredited Tom Mankiewicz.

Sea of Cortez indicated Peter Benchley's increasing interest with ecological issues and anticipated his future role as an advocate of the importance of protecting the marine environment.

Peter Benchley resumed nautical themes for 1991's Beast written about a giant squid threatening Bermuda.

Also in 1994, Peter Benchley became the first person to host Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

In 1999, the television show Peter Benchley's Amazon was created, about a group of airplane crash survivors in the middle of a vast jungle.

Peter Benchley was one of the founding board members of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

In 2006, Peter Benchley died of pulmonary fibrosis at his home in Princeton, New Jersey at the age of 65.