![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_209766909-29ae.jpg\")
\n\t\tOne star of Jaws is still making a living off the 1975 adventure thriller (Picture: Universal\/Kobal\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tOne star of Jaws is still making a living off the 1975 adventure thriller (Picture: Universal\/Kobal\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, it\u2019s been 50 years<\/a> since the film we all blame for our fear of sharks was released\u2014Jaws, of course.<\/p>\n But still to this day, one of its child stars is making a pretty penny off his role, having been just 12 years old at the time of its cinematic release.<\/p>\n Now aged 62, Jeffrey Voorhees played Alex Kintner in the 1975 Steven Spielberg-directed adventure thriller<\/a>.<\/p>\n Like many of the characters, though, poor Alex didn\u2019t have much screentime, as he was brutally attacked and killed by a shark while floating on his raft. Naturally, things got rather bloody.<\/p>\n However, we\u2019re sure Jeffrey isn\u2019t too fussed about only playing a small part now, as he\u2019s forged a living off the film thanks to fan interest standing the test of time.<\/p>\n These days, he travels far and wide to meet people. He also sells personalised memorabilia and even hosts guided tours on the island of Martha\u2019s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where the movie was shot.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018It pays to die,\u2019 the actor previously said.<\/p>\n \u2018I was a 12-year-old kid who was in the movie for, like, a minute, but there are some real Jaws fanatics out there.<\/p>\n \u2018One guy in\u00a0England\u00a0just bought 125 photos. I do signings. They fly me all over the world and pay me in cash at those things\u2014around \u00a310,000 a time.<\/p>\n \u2018There are\u00a0Jaws\u00a0tours and people pay double if I\u2019m on them, and next month I\u2019m appearing at three Meet, Greet and Mingle Parties.\u2019<\/p>\n And that\u2019s not all, as Jeffrey is still paid each time Jaws airs on TV, anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n \u2018My brother lives in Portugal, and I\u2019ll get texts from him going, \u201cGood news, you just died on TV over here. You\u2019ll get another cheque\u201d,\u2019 he joked.<\/p>\n \t\t Furthermore, he\u2019s earned a killing with videos for fans on Cameo, with one family even paying for him to send a message after their loved one died while watching the film from his sofa.<\/p>\n \u2018I said, \u201cHey, 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\u2019s Vineyard\u2014Amity Island. Just want to say\u2014have a Jawesome funeral\u201d,\u2019 Jeffrey revealed.<\/p>\n \u2018I thought they\u2019d be annoyed, but they gave me a five-star review.\u2019<\/p>\n The former actor has learned not to be ashamed of his movie past, and, well, with the coin he\u2019s making off the back of it five decades later, we reckon that\u2019s wise.<\/p>\n \u2018At first, I used to hide from the fact that I\u2019d been in\u00a0Jaws,\u00a0and then finally I realised I could make some good money and make people happy.\u2019<\/p>\n Jaws has become one of cinema\u2019s most successful franchises, not only expanding into three sequels but also a theme park ride, video games, and various other crazy merchandise, all thanks to the 1974 novel of the same name.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t While characters come and go throughout the film series,\u00a0the Brody family is featured in every one as the primary antithesis to the great white shark attacking people in the US and the Bahamas.<\/p>\n The original Jaws movie was one of the first \u2018high-concept\u2019 films ever made, complete with that iconic, suspenseful theme tune, which, quite rightly, won an Oscar.<\/p>\n In total, the four Jaws movies have grossed over $800million (\u00a3590m) worldwide, even if commercial reception did wane with every new addition.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, author Peter Benchley has publicly expressed regret over ever writing the original book, since it encouraged a widespread fear of sharks. His interest in the creatures began when he spent summers in Nantucket.<\/p>\n \u2018What I now know, which wasn\u2019t known when I wrote Jaws, is that there is no such thing as a rogue shark which develops a taste for human flesh,\u2019\u00a0Benchley told the Animal Attack Files\u00a0in 2000.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018No one appreciates how vulnerable they are to destruction.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Consequently, he spent much of his life until he died in 2006 as an ocean activist and wrote books advocating shark conservation.<\/p>\n Even filmmaker Spielberg himself has admitted that Jaws became \u2018a living nightmare\u2019 due to the \u2018worst\u2019 filming conditions imaginable at the time.<\/p>\n He told Vanity Fair previously\u00a0that while it\u2019s now a fun movie for audiences to watch, life on set was very different.<\/p>\n \u2018It was made under the worst of conditions. People versus the eternal sea. The sea won the battle, but where we won was with audiences in every country.\u2019<\/p>\n Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Jeffrey](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_261919635-090e.jpg\")
\n\t\tJeffrey Voorhees had a small role in the original film, playing Alex Kintner (Picture: Zhivko Mironov)<\/p>\n![\"Jeffrey](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_261920618-e3b5.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe 62-year-old now travels the world, selling merch and meeting Jaws fanatics (Picture: Instagram)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shutterstock_editorial_14502957a-85b6.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe original author of the Jaws novel has admitted regret over even writing it (Picture: Universal\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n![\"Editorial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_258978036-7bff.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe film encouraged a widespread fear of sharks (Picture: Universal\/Everett\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SEI_249001677-aac1.jpg\")
\n\t\tUS director Steven Spielberg has said the first movie was made under the \u2018worst\u2019 conditions (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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