Peter Benchley Biography
Written - January 10, 2005
Sharks have always played an important part in my life. I spent my young summers on Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts, and when, on calm days, I would go sailing or fishing – or even, sometimes, just swimming in the surf- the black dorsal fins of sharks could be seen slicing through the surface of the sea. I believe that, at one time or another, all young people are fascinated either by sharks, dinosaurs and/or pirates; my passion was for sharks.
It continued through my years at Phillips Exeter Academy (1957) and Harvard College (’61), and when I became a professional writer in the 1960’s, I took every opportunity to do articles about sharks. In 1964, I read a newspaper item about a fisherman who caught a 4,550-lb. Great White Shark not far offshore from Montauk, Long Island, and I wondered what would happen if such a huge shark were to appear in a seaside resort community. I did nothing with the idea then, but seven years later I began to weave it into the story that would become the novel ”Jaws.”
After graduation from college, I traveled around the world for a year and wrote a book about the trip(“Time And A Ticket”), served briefly in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and, at last, got a job and settled down as a reporter for The Washington Post. In 1964, I moved to Newsweek, where I was the Radio & TV editor, and then, in 1967, I was hired as a (very) junior speechwriter for President Lyndon Johnson. When President Johnson left office in January of 1969, I began a career as a freelance writer.
I wrote stories for dozens of newspapers and magazines, including National Geographic, The New Yorker, LIFE, and The New York Times. I wrote novels – seven more followed “Jaws,” including “The Deep” and “The Girl Of The Sea Of Cortez” – and when, occasionally, the novels were bought by movie companies, I wrote their screenplays.
Always, though, I continued to be interested in sharks and the sea, and my family and I have dived all over the world with wonderful creatures. I have written, narrated and been in dozens of television documentaries about marine life. These days, I am a full-time marine conservationist, writing and speaking about the issues facing our oceans and their precious inhabitants … including, of course, sharks.
Peter Benchley hosting ABC's American Sportsman in 1975
Peter and his wife,Wendy
Peter Benchley’s Commitment to the Ocean
Peter Benchley on Ocean Conservation
Benchley Heirlooms
Benchley - Speechwriter at the White House
Peter is pictured here in his office working as a speech writer for the White House in the old Executive Office Building
Peter's Mother at a White House Ceremony
In 1967, Peter and Wendy and his parents attended a ceremony at The White House when their friend Betty Furness was sworn in as Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs. Pictured (left to right): Peter's mother, Marjorie; President Lyndon Johnson; Peter's father, Nathaniel (blocking Betty Furness); Betty's daughter, Babbie Green; and Wendy.
Peter at a Meeting with President Lyndon Johnson
The Algonquin Round Table Cartoon
The infamous group portrait by master caricaturist Al Hirschfeld of the Algonquin Round Table. Pictured are: (background) actors Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt; Frank Crowninshield, Editor of Vanity Fair; Frank Case, Algonquin manager/owner and host to the Round Table gatherings; (around the table, clockwise, from far left): Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, Heywood Broun, Marc Connelly, Franklin P. Adams, Edna Ferber, George S. Kaufman, Robert E. Sherwood.
To see more of Al Hirschfeld’s amazing work, please visit http://www.alhirschfeldfoundation.org/
Four Benchleys Cartoon
Peter commissioned this portrait of his grandfather, father, brother and himself by the eminent caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld had many drawings he had made of Robert years before; Peter sat for the artist and brought him photographs of his father and brother.
With his typical flair, Hirschfeld made a statement about the degradation of attire through the generations. While the pictures he was given of Nathaniel G. and Nat were all in casual, collared shirts, Hirschfeld chose to dress the generations in descending/deteriorating states of dress: Robert wears a tuxedo; Nathaniel a jacket, tie and vest; Peter a collared shirt; and Nat is relegated to a tee-shirt.