Susan Backlinie

Early life

Susan Jane Myers was born in Miami on September 1, 1946; some sources say she was a native of Washington, D.C.

Career Clarence the Lion, and Judy the Chimp, who Backlinie worked with as a trainer in the early 1970s. In the early 1970s, when she was 23 years old, Backlinie was working at Africa USA, riding on the back of a 300-lb water-skiing lion named Zamba (also an animal actor). She also appeared nude in the February 1977 issue of Mayfair. As a stuntwoman, she played a dead prostitute floating down the river in The Blue Knight (1973), and was seen in a falling elevator in The Towering Inferno (1974). Attached to her cut-off jeans were metal plates that anchored ropes pulled by groups of men in opposite directions, giving the appearance of being dragged by an unseen force underwater. Other than flippers to help her, she stayed afloat only by the strength of her swimming. The iconic scene opens the film. Although the movie poster shows the character of Chrissie, Susan is not the one depicted. The painting was originally the book cover art by Roger Kastel, who hired a 24-year-old model named Allison Maher. She was in Spielberg's 1979 film 1941, parodying her role in Jaws: The scene has been described as the best joke in what is otherwise widely considered one of Spielberg's least successful films. She danced a water ballet with Miss Piggy in The Great Muppet Caper (1981).

Year Title Role