Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley

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 is known for writing in the Horror, Thriller, and Adventure Fiction genres.

Peter Benchley was an author best known for his novel Jaws, which became a cultural phenomenon and established him as one of the most successful debut authors in literary history. Published in 1974, Jaws told the story of a man-eating shark terrorizing a resort community on the East Coast. It spent over 40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was later adapted into a blockbuster film co-written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie's success ushered in a wave of thrillers about other dangerous creatures, such as rabid dogs and mutant rats.

Benchley's inspiration for Jaws came from reading about a 4,550-pound great white shark caught off the Long Island coast in 1964 and the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks. Initially, he pitched the concept to publishers alongside a non-fiction book idea about pirates. Thomas Congdon, an editor at Doubleday, offered him a $1,000 advance for the shark novel. Much of the manuscript was rewritten to refine its style, with Benchley working in his Pennington office during winter and in a converted chicken coop at his in-laws' farm in Stonington during summer.

Born into a literary family, Peter was the son of author Nathaniel Benchley and the grandson of Robert Benchley, founder of the Algonquin Round Table. He grew up in a creative environment, eventually becoming a bestselling author while his brother Nat Benchley pursued acting and writing. Peter began his career at The Washington Post and later became an editor at Newsweek. From 1967 to 1969, he served as a speechwriter in the White House during Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency.

Following the success of Jaws, Benchley continued to write novels, many of which drew upon his love for the sea and his fascination with its mysteries. In 1979, he published The Island, about the descendants of 17th-century pirates preying on Caribbean pleasure cruises, which was later adapted into a film. In 1982, he released Girl of the Sea of Cortez, a Steinbeck-inspired exploration of a man's complex relationship with the sea, which became a cult classic.

Benchley also ventured into marine conservation later in life, expressing regret that Jaws contributed to public fear of sharks. He became an advocate for oceanic preservation and used his platform to educate people about the importance of protecting marine ecosystems.

Among his other works, White Shark stood out as a suspenseful tale of a lethal creature threatening a small coastal community. Combining his knowledge of the sea, history, and science, Benchley crafted stories that resonated on a primal level, leaving readers both thrilled and chilled.

Peter Benchley: Lists & Other Mentions

• Jaws was the Jack Carr Book Club April 2026 Pick.
• Jaws has made several lists including:
  1. NPR: 100 Best Beach Books Selection in 2009.
  2. Publishers Weekly: Bestselling Novel in the United States in 1974.
  3. NPR: Top 100 Killer Thrillers Selection in 2010.
• The Deep was a Publishers Weekly: Bestselling Novel in the United States in 1976.

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.

Related Authors

Fans of Peter Benchley also enjoy these authors:

1. C.J. Box, author of the Joe Pickett Series.
2. Anne Hillerman, author of the Leaphorn & Chee Series.
3. Jason Rekulak, author of: Hidden Pictures.
4. Alex North, author of: The Whisper Man.
5. J.D. Barker, author of the 4MK Series.
6. C.J. Tudor, author of: The Chalk Man.
7. Peter Heller, author of: The River.
8. Richard Bachman, author of: Thinner.
9. Mira Grant, author of the Newsflesh Series.
10. Joe R. Lansdale, author of the Hap and Leonard Series.

Peter Benchley: F.A.Q