Novelist, screenwriter, and activist Peter Benchley passed away this past Saturday at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. The popular author, whose novels inspired many films (of varying quality), was 65 years old.
Mr. Benchley’s "Jaws" was a massive best-seller even before a young Steven Spielberg came along and created one heck of a beloved movie adaptation. The author received a screenwriting credit on the film, as he also did on subsequent adaptations of "The Deep" (1977) and "The Island" (1980).
In the mid-90s Mr. Benchley also wrote and produced a pair of ocean-bound mini-series, "The Beast" (1996) and "Creature" (1998), both of which were adapted from his own novels.
