Christopher Shaw Myers wrote his book, “Robert Shaw,” to mark the 50th anniversary of the famous British actor/playwright/novelist’s best-known film. But what he really compiled was a wide-ranging family history that shows Shaw — Myers’ uncle — as a devoted brother, father and friend.
“He deserves some more attention,” Myers said. “He was in some really big movies like ‘The Sting’ and ‘A Man for All Seasons.’ He was the first Bond villain in ‘From Russia With Love.’” He was nominated for a Tony Award as a writer.
The book’s release was timed by its publisher Citadel Press to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of “Jaws” this past summer. The cover has the subtitle “An Actor’s Life on the Set of ‘Jaws’ and Beyond,” plus a photos of Shaw as Quint. But it’s much more than that and will outlast the current fervor over the shark movie’s half-century celebration.
Myers wrote “Robert Shaw” in a distinct style that reads more like a novel than a biography. He recreates lengthy conversations as entertaining dialogues. He uses family stories to humanize Shaw’s work in theater and films. The stories are deeply felt and warmly expressed, probably because Myers heard them his whole life.
Courtesy of Christopher Shaw Myers
Robert Shaw (left) and his friend Sean Connery in the James Bond film “From Russia With Love.” Shaw’s career and family life is captured in a new book by his nephew Christopher Shaw Myers. (Courtesy of Christopher Shaw Myers)
Myers is the son of Shaw’s sister Joanna, who left England when she was in her 20s. She started a family in the United States and had a long career as an educator. Joanna is as big a character in the book as her famous brother Robert. After the book describes Robert Shaw’s death in 1978 at the age of 51, there are a couple more chapters which explain what became of Joanna as well as the siblings’ mother who is referred to throughout the book as “Mrs. Shaw.”
Myers majored in English Literature at Trinity College in Hartford in the late 1970s. There’s an anecdote in the book about his mother not wanting him to go there because “no one has heard of Trinity.” Joanna changed her mind when, shortly after that discussion, she and Christopher went to a special pre-release private screening of “Jaws” and heard a character announce “I am a student at Trinity College in Hartford.”
In the book, Myers writes “Now Joanna could hear Chris chuckling in the dark. ‘Everyone will have heard of Trinity now,’ he whispered.”
Myers eventually settled in Connecticut, living in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. His children also went to Trinity.
Courtesy of Christopher Shaw Myers
Bridgeport resident and Trinity College alumnus Christopher Shaw Myers, author of “Robert Shaw” (Courtesy of Christopher Shaw Myers)
The “Robert Shaw” book references another Connecticut icon, the playwright Thornton Wilder who spent most of his life in New Haven and Hamden. Wilder, who was in his 70s then, visited Robert Shaw in Martha’s Vineyard during the filming of “Jaws.” Shaw and Wilder and knew each other’s work and had great mutual respect. Wilder gave Shaw some timely advice about trust and inspiration and appeared to indirectly help Shaw find the key to his big “U.S.S. Indianapolis” speech in the movie.
Myers has been holding book signings readings since “Robert Shaw” was published in June, including numerous events in Connecticut. The next one is on Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Harry Bennett branch of Stamford Public Library. He is also speaking at the Bloomfield Public Library on Dec. 20 at 12:30 p.m.
“It’s been a fun summer for me, the pleasure of sharing my family’s story,” Myers said. “In Westport, 300 people wanted to hear about the book. I was in Martha’s Vineyard in the summer,” right where his uncle filmed “Jaws” 50 years ago.
The book features exchanges between Shaw and his co-stars Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider, as well as a moment when Shaw defended the film’s young director as “a genius.”
Citadel Books
Christopher Shaw Myers’ book about his uncle Robert Shaw.(Citadel Books)
“A lot of people tell me they thought they knew Robert Shaw before they read the book, but now they really do,” Myers said. “I like to tell people this is not your typical biography. It’s not a Wikipedia reporter’s view of his life. I consider it a family history. It’s about the hidden figures in his life who shaped him.
“These are the stories I grew up with. A few years ago I told my mother ‘Can you tell me more?’ I spent 100 hours with her. It’s a cool thing for any child.”
“Robert Shaw” isn’t the only recent project to depict him as the multifaceted, multi-talented person he was. Shaw’s son (and Myers’ cousin) Ian Shaw wrote and starred in a popular play about the making of “Jaws” called “The Shark is Broken.” West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park staged the New England premiere of the play last year.
Myers is in touch with some of the other members of the extended family, but most of them live in Britain and Ireland, or on the other side of the U.S.
Peacock/Universal Pictures via AP
This image released by Peacock shows, from left, Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss in a scene from “Jaws.” (Peacock/Universal Pictures via AP)
Despite the degree in English from Trinity, “I did not become a writer then,” Myers said. “I went into international business.”
“Robert Shaw” is his first book. He’s already at work on his next books — several books, actually. He’s writing fiction this time, a series of young adult novels with sports themes.
When he decided to write a biography of his uncle “I was already I’m a big fan,” Myers said. “My mother was, so I was.That’s not true of all the Shaw family. People could hate him or love him, but the people who loved him understood how loyal he could be to his friends and family. At heart he was a family man. He paid for my mother to get her PhD.
“I grew up very interested in him. There are two standard biographies of him. I’d read those. I rewatched his interviews on TV. I read all his novels and plays. I didn’t have to do a lot of research.
Myers remembers “Jaws” being released and how excited he was to have his uncle starring in the biggest movie of the year. But it was his mother and grandmother who actually visited Shaw in Massachusetts while “Jaws” was being filmed on Martha’s Vineyard.
“He died when I was 21,” Myers said of his famous uncle. “I was just a kid. But my mother brought him to life for me.”
Christopher Shaw Myers will discuss his book “Robert Shaw: An Actor’s Life on the Set of ‘Jaws’ and Beyond” on Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at the Harry Bennett branch of Stamford Public Library, 115 Vine St., Stamford. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. fergusonlibrary.org.
