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3 unusual facts about Peter Benchley


Hopewell Valley, New Jersey

Peter Benchley, who drew from the names of local streets and roads in creating the fictional town of Amity in his 1974 novel Jaws.

Les Hill

He also starred in Peter Benchley's The Beast alongside fellow Home and Away star Laura Vasquez, playing one of the divers that was killed by the giant Skid.

Patonga, New South Wales

Patonga provided the setting for the fishing village of Graves Point in the 1996 television movie loosely based on Peter Benchley's novel, 'The Beast', a sci-fi horror-drama in which a rare giant squid threatens a small seaport community.


1992 cageless shark-diving expedition

In fact Askew had proposed, in an article (the first of its kind), entitled "Myth or Maneater?", published in the UK magazine Underwater World back in 1978, that Great Whites did not deserve the horrific image and reputation that Jaws author Peter Benchley and film director Steven Spielberg had imprinted in peoples minds.

Matawan Creek

This account, in addition to a number of other shark attacks in the local area, are believed to have been the inspiration for the popular novel Jaws, written by Peter Benchley, who in turn co-wrote the screenplay for the blockbuster film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg.

Thomas Congdon

(March 17, 1931 – December 23, 2008) was an American book editor who worked on Russell Baker's memoir Growing Up, Peter Benchley's bestselling novel Jaws, and David Halberstam's 1986 work The Reckoning, ultimately establishing his own publishing house.


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