Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley was born in New York, New York, USA on May 8th, 1940 and passed away at the age of 65 on February 11th, 2006.

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Peter Benchley Stats: The highest rated book by Peter Benchley on Book Notification is Jaws, a Standalone novel. The second-highest rated book is Beast, a Standalone novel.

The most read book by Peter Benchley on Book Notification is Jaws, a Standalone novel. The second most read book is The Deep, a Standalone novel.

Below is a complete list of Peter Benchley books in publication and chronological order, broken down by series.

List of Standalone Novels in Publication Order

List of Non-Fiction in Publication Order

Peter Benchley: Biography

Peter Benchley (Peter Bradford Benchley) was born on May 8th, 1940. Peter passed away February 11th, 2006 at 65 years old. Peter Benchley was born in New York, New York, USA.

Peter Benchley (Peter Bradford Benchley) is probably best known for his Standalone Novels. There are currently 8 novels available. The first standalone was released in 1974 with the novel Jaws. The most recently released novel was White Shark / Peter Benchley's Creature which was released in 1994.

Peter Benchley also wrote the Non-Fiction series which has 5 books including Time and a Ticket and Ocean Planet.

Peter Benchley: TV/Movies Based on Books

The novel White Shark was turned into a TV miniseries in 1998 titled Creature. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Dr. Simon Chase and Kim Cattrall as Dr. Amanda Macy. It also featured Giancarlo Esposito, of later Breaking Bad fame, as Lt. Thomas Peniston.



Jaws was a 1974 novel by Benchley that became one of the most successful films of all-time. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Roy Scheider as Chief Martin Brody, Robert Shaw as Quint, and Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper.

The film opened with a then-record $7 million weekend and was able to recoup its production costs within the first ten days of its release. The initial release of the film $123.1 million. Multiple re-releases have lead to a gross of $476.5 million worldwide. Adjusted for inflation, it is one of the highest grossing movies of all-time. Jaws aired for the first time on television in 1979 and drew a Nielsen rating of 39.1 and attracted 57 percent of the total audience.

Jaws is perhaps most iconic for the score. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score as well as Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It was also nominated for Best Picture, but surprisingly Spielberg was not nominated for Best Director. A snub that looks even worse in retrospect. The movie has since been acknowledged as one of the greatest of all-time. In 2001, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The Beast was adapted into a 1996 made-for-TV movie that originally aired in two parts. The film starred William Petersen as Whip Dalton, Karen Sillas as Lt. Kathryn Marcus, and Charles Martin Smith as Schuyler Graves. The movie only made minor changes to the book such as moving the setting from Bermuda to the Pacific Northwest.

The Deep was a 1977 film based on the novel with the same name. Directed by Peter Yates, the film starred Robert Shaw as Romer Treece, Jacqueline Bisset as Gail Berke, Nick Nolte as David Sanders, and Louis Gossett Jr. as Henri 'Cloche' Bondurant. The success of Jaws lead to the rights of this novel being purchased before it was even released. The film ended up being a big success and was the eight-highest-grossing film of the year. The Deep featured an original song by Donna Summer (composed by JOhn Barry) called "Down Deep Inside (Theme From The Deep)" that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.



The Island is a 1980 film based on the novel of the same name. The film was directed by Michael Ritchie and starred Michael Caine as Blair Maynard and David Warner as Nau.

After the success of Jaws, Benchley got a tremendous deal on the movie. He was paid $2.15 million for film rights to the novel and a first draft screenplay. He also received a guarantee of 10 percent of the gross, five percent of the soundtrack sales, and Benchley had approval of the crew and locations. However, the film wasn't a commercial success and failed to even earn back its budget.

Peter Benchley: F.A.Q

When was Peter Benchley Born?

Peter Benchley was born on May 8th, 1940.

When did Peter Benchley die?

Peter Benchley died on February 11th, 2006 at 65 years old.

Where was Peter Benchley Born?

Peter Benchley was born in New York, New York, USA.

What was the first book Peter Benchley wrote?

The first novel written by Peter Benchley was Time and a Ticket, published in 1964.

What was the most recent book Peter Benchley wrote?

His most recently released work was Shark Life on January 3rd, 2002.

How many books has Peter Benchley written?

Peter Benchley has written 13 books. 8 Standalone Novels, 5 books in the Non-Fiction.

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