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Classic film Jaws is credited with the invention of the modern blockbuster as we know it, launching Steven Spielberg as a major Hollywood player and making Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfus two of the most sought-after stars of the decade.
But it wasn’t just the main cast members that reaped the rewards, with five days of shooting and one minute of screen time amounting to a lot more for child actor Jeffrey Voorhees.
Vorhees might have had a tiny role in the film, playing the doomed Amity local Alex Kintner (aka “Second Child Killed by Shark”), but his brief, tragic appearance has proved unexpectedly lucrative five decades on.
Thanks to his involvement with the movie, Voorhees, now 62, is regularly flown around the world to appear at fan conventions, for which he is paid $10,000 a pop.
The love for Jaws has also seen obsessives chomping at the chance to acquire personal clips from him on celebrity video-sharing website Cameo. Voorhees charges £26 ($35) for messages and can receive up to 25 requests a day on occasions such as Mother’s Day.
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Former child star makes regular appearances at signings and conventions (Jeffrey Voorhees)
It took Voorhees some convincing to jump on the nostalgia train, but he decided to give the Jaws fan circuit a go in 2017 after years of being persuaded and offered flights, hotels and money to attend conventions.
“I used to say, ‘I don’t have time for this,’ and then I said: ‘OK, I’ll try it once,’” he told The Independent.
“The first one I ever did was in New York, and someone’s at the airport holding your name up and the photos. You make good money at those things and you go all over the world and meet up with real actors.”
The enduring legacy of his character inspired him to launch his own website, where he sells inflatable life rafts with a huge shark bite mark in them (retailing for $289), mugs ($30-$60), posters ($35), and T-shirts (up to $70).
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Jeffrey Voorhees with signed editions of his fleeting part in the film (Jeffrey Voorhees)
“I kind of retired because it’s like I make more money off of Jaws stuff now,” Voorhees, who ran his own restaurant business, aded.
Voorhees’ home is covered with Jaws merchandise – and he is still sent gifts from fans.
“I’ll be walking down the street sometimes and I can hear people saying, ‘That’s the dead Alex Kintner over there!’ It’s surreal,” he said.
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Former child star is still inundated with gifts and merchandise linked to the movies (Jeffrey Voorhees)
“There was a 14-year-old girl crying because her parents drove her five hours down from Chicago and she was so moved to see me. I’m in the movie for one minute!”
The 62-year-old said the enduring love has given him a sense of purpose, and a documentary about his story is currently in the works.
“You get a little high off of that,” he said. “You make some good money, and you make some people really happy, so why not?”
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Voorhees was 12 when he starred in the movie (Universal Pictures)
Jaws is currently in cinemas again for a 50th-anniversary re-release.