Robert Shaw

Robert Shaw sat at a typewriter in his trailer during the filming of Jaws in 1974. He rewrote the monologue about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis because Peter Benchley's original script didn't convince him. That five-minute scene ended up defining the film's tone and his own legend on screen.

He was born in Lancashire in 1927 and grew up with the discipline of someone who knows talent is worthless without an iron will. Before becoming a Hollywood star, he spent years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. There he learned to use his imposing physique to intimidate an audience without ever having to shout.

He was a man who wrote as much as he drank.

A Novelist with Iron Fists

In 1963, he played Donald Grant in From Russia with Love. His fight with Sean Connery in a train car remains a textbook example of dry, brutal physical choreography. But Shaw didn't want to be just another villain in a spy saga.

He published complex novels such as The Hiding Place and stage plays that won literary awards long before his face was on movie posters everywhere. Writing gave him the freedom the studio system denied him. So he juggled film shoots with late nights, coffee and blank pages.

He received an Oscar nomination for his role as Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons in 1966. He brought a dangerous energy to a character other actors might have played with dull solemnity. He accepted commercial roles to fund his life as a literary author in Ireland.

The industry feared him and needed him in equal measure.

The Price of Tension on Set

In 1973, he joined Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting to play gangster Doyle Lonnegan. During filming, Shaw injured his leg, but he chose to work the limp into the character rather than ask for time off. That professional stubbornness was his most distinctive trait and also the most exhausting for his co-stars.

The filming of Jaws in 1975 was a logistical disaster that Shaw got through on whiskey and constant arguments with Richard Dreyfuss. That animosity was not feigned. Shaw had no patience for the inexperience of young actors and never hesitated to let them know it in front of the cameras.

He never sought the approval of critics or the affection of his colleagues.

But the physical strain and heavy drinking took their toll far too soon. In 1978, while driving through County Mayo in Ireland, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He pulled over near his home in Tourmakeady and stepped out of the car to try to catch some fresh air before collapsing onto the grass.

He died of a heart attack at age 51 on August 28, 1978. He left behind nine children and a bank account depleted by British taxes. His last film was Avalanche Express, which was released posthumously in 1979 after his weakened voice was dubbed over.