This year, the modern blockbuster trend in filmmaking Jaws gave birth to turns 48. In the time since, bombastic and bold movies made in the same vein have all tried to take their bite out of the box office and, while some have earned hit sequel after hit sequel, others have only disappointed. The Jaws franchise began this trend also with Jaws 2 and, today, many wonder what became of its cast and crew.
As the project features a large roster, we are only going to look at the principal characters and the performers people would likely be able to name on a whim if asked. Like the first film, this 1978 sequel follows the Brody family and their friends on Amity Island. Roy Scheider (Martin Brody), Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody), Murray Hamilton (Mayor Larry Vaughn), and Jeffrey Kramer (Deputy Jeff Hendricks) return as their characters from the earlier epic release. Mark Gruner (Michael Brody) and Marc Gilpin (Sean Brody) make their first appearances in the franchise.
Roy Scheider
Before he was the heroic small-town cop who showed the king of the seas a thing or two, Roy Richard Scheider was a New Jersey-born actor and at times an amateur boxer. He got into film after the Second World War with a debut in a horror piece titled The Curse of the Living Corpse in 1964, and, after an Oscar nomination for The French Connection and his turns in Jaws and Jaws 2, he continued his career (though not at the same heights) with work in content like John Grisham’s The Rainmaker and The Punisher in 2004 as Frank Castle’s father. He left behind a wife, ex-wife and two kids at the time of his death from cancer in 2008.
Lorraine Gary
Born Lorraine Gottfried, Gary of course played Scheider’s wife in the franchise and had the misfortune of closing out its current run of films with Jaws: The Revenge in 1987. She has not acted in anything since and before this did enjoy a modest career on film after the original Jaws while also popping up in TV like Ironside, Kojak, and the television film Crash – about the downing of a plane in Florida back in 1972. These days, Gary is 85 and has two sons who are both film producers.
Murray Hamilton
In the sequel to the original movie, Hamilton’s character is bafflingly still in his role as mayor of Amity Island despite the tragedy which unfolded. Hamilton began acting during the Second World War before making a jump to television in 1962. On shows like The Fugitive and B.J. and the Bear he was often in a law enforcement or antagonistic role and while he would complain about being typecast, he would break out of this mold on occasion in comedies like 1941 and an episode of Mama’s Family in 1984. Hamilton died of lung cancer after starring in some 70 movies.
Jeffrey Kramer
Like any sequel which mainly just repeats the exact same beats of the original, Kramer did not get much to do here. His character is a sidekick to Scheider’s Brody, and given his lack of depth we would not be surprised if this is what motivated Kramer to move behind the camera. Since 1997 he has been a producer on projects like Ally McBeal and The Practice after his earlier turns on The Incredible Hulk and Laverne & Shirley. His page on IMDb lists a television series called H-TOWN as coming up, though there is nothing tied to it save for a synopsis.
Marc Gilpin
Being a member of the fictional Brody family is apparently not a springboard for soaring success. Like Gruner, Gilpin has not done much after being the younger Brody in this sequel to a Spielberg classic. Before Jaws 2, he was in an American children’s show titled Thunder on NBC and after he did a number of named and bit parts with his last being in 1989’s She’s Out of Control. He announced last year two tumors were found in his brain and you can help him out if you wish here.
This sums up but a few of the players in this sequel to a franchise which began with so much promise and has also been stacked historically with a lot of other talented actors doing what could be argued as slumming for a paycheck. The Jaws 2 release also had former Mr. Goodwrench Barry Coe as a diving instructor, Michael Caine routinely brags about the house Jaws: The Revenge bought and — while the franchise is on ice for now — those involved with it will never be forgotten, and it just may return one day.
Spielberg himself has indicated he is open to coming back to the series if he could do a prequel about the U.S.S. Indianapolis as mentioned by Quint (Robert Shaw) in the first movie. Shaw’s grandson Ferdia has said he would take the role, so, there just may be some hope. If ever the stars did align, fingers crossed it would be a good experience for the young actor and not something so miserable he would fight with Spielberg like Scheider did with Jaws 2’s director in part due to not wanting to be in the movie at all.
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