Christopher Shaw Myers, an author who spent most of his life working in tech, never considered writing a book about his uncle, Robert Shaw, who played Captain Quint, the Narragansett crushing, salt encrusted shark hunter in the 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws. But after years spending time with his uncle and discovering new family stories, he decided there was another story to be told.
Mr. Myers grew up in Philadelphia with his mother Joanna, who was the actor’s younger sister. Although Mr. Shaw lived in Ireland, whenever he was in the United States he would make a point to visit his sister and her young family.
“I was like a fly on the wall listening to the two of them laugh out loud at all the fun they had as kids, despite the traumatic childhood,” said Mr. Myers.
Mr. Myers published Robert Shaw: An Actor’s Life on the Set of Jaws and Beyond last spring, and he will be at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on June 21 to talk about his uncle and discuss his experience writing the book, which he said is less of a traditional autobiography and more a literary family portrait.
The early years in which Robert and Joanna spent on the island of Orkney, off the northern coast of Scotland, reads like a Celtic fairy tale. There were voyages to nearby islands with their father, who was the town’s only doctor, as he would make his rounds treating patients around the area, and countless adventures exploring the ruins, which decorated the archipelago.
But this upbringing was not without its difficulties. As Mr. Shaw’s father devolved into alcoholism, his mother decided to take the children to Cornwall on ‘mainland’ England, where they endured the harsh realities of a world entangled in another world war.
For Mr. Myers, this came as a surprise during his research for the book.
“I had no idea that their childhood included an alcoholic father who killed himself and the trauma of watching the towns around them be firebombed during World War Two,” said Mr. Myers. “I learned all these things that I sort of heard about, but never really focused on, and it was sort of a twofold learning experience for me.”
Gradually, Mr. Shaw made a name for himself on the silver screen, often cast in roles of con-men, pirates, rakes or toughs. Off-screen he was a Renaissance man with a big personality, but bolstered by the women in his life.
“Robert’s mother and sister had a huge influence on him, you know, from way back, right from the beginning, and he was very fortunate to have such a strong woman around him,” said Mr. Myers.
Mr. Myers said to understand what spending time with his uncle was like, one only had to watch the scene in Jaws where he delivers the Indianapolis speech.
“It’s just like being on a stage where all the lights go down and it’s just on him,” Mr. Myers said. “And he unburdens himself and tells you why he’s got this obsession, and what it meant to him, and you go just like you did with Hamlet; oh my goodness, I get him now.”
As a young man, Mr. Myers was able to watch a private screening of Jaws with his mother before the movie was released and quickly became a worldwide phenomenon. He said the movie, in particular because of his personal connection, changed the way he thought about swimming in the ocean forever.
The last time Mr. Myers saw his uncle was in Philadelphia. Mr. Shaw had just appeared on a talk show and decided to take the family out to one of the city’s fanciest restaurants.
“It’s one of those restaurants that, if you’re the child of a working couple and not a movie star, you never go there,” said Mr. Myers.
It was a smorgasbord of food, he recalled, and throughout the entire meal the family listened as Robert and Joanna told stories about their childhood together and Mr. Shaw’s life as an actor.
“Each of them were barely able to talk because they were laughing so hard about all the shenanigans that happened during the filming of [Jaws],” remembered Mr. Myers. “That’s my last memory of Robert, is having that lunch with him.”
Mr. Shaw died in 1978 at the age of 51, just three years after the release of Jaws, when he had a heart attack while driving from Castlebar, County Mayo to his home in Tormakeady, Ireland.
During his short life, Mr. Shaw left an impressive body of work. In addition to his acting roles, he wrote five novels and three plays, one of which was an adaptation of his 1967 novel, The Man in the Glass Booth.
“I think Robert was one of those people who is not just a movie star, but a real actor with a different accent and a different facial expressions and a different persona in every role,” said Mr. Myers. “What you can see in every one of his roles is the enormous energy and passion, and just, you know, love of life.”
Christopher Shaw Myers will discuss his book at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on Sunday, June 21 as part of the museum’s ongoing Jaws celebrations. The book talk is from 1 to 2 p.m. He will also participate in the Wharf’s celebration on Saturday, June 20.
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