As 'Jaws' Marks 50 Years, Montauk 'Monster Shark' Fisherman Who Inspired 'Quint' Remembered

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LONG ISLAND, NY — For the more than 67 million who sat, terrified, as "Jaws" captivated moviegoers after the film opened on June 20, 1975, the 50th anniversary has brought back that creeping fear of the surf, the dread of inflatables in the crashing waves, the chill of the iconic words spoken, as blood soaked the sun-splashed water on that long-ago July 4: "The beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time."

Who can ever forget Roy Scheider's incomparable performance of Police Chief Martin Brody in the blockbuster film, adapted from the novel by Peter Benchley?

And, too, the persona of Captain Quint's character, brought to glorious life by a booze-swilling, shanty-singing Robert Shaw, his piercing eyes as blue as the petulant, vast ocean he navigated, will live forever in hearts and memories.

But what locals on the East End of Long Island and beyond know is that Quint's character was based on real-life "monster" fisherman Frank Mundus of Montauk, whose life was spent on the open seas, his daughter Pat Mundus, who lives in Greenport, told Patch.

Reflecting on her father, Mundus said in reality, the character of Quint was nothing like the man who shaped her life.

"The whole staunchly independent character that my father developed was kind of his charter shtick, to sell more charters," Mundus said. "He was definitely of the philosophy that any news was good news. So he was kind of a prankster, always pulling these antics because it got him a lot of press."

Her father, she said, had a rich legacy with the sea and water long before "Jaws" immortalized the line: "You're gonna need a bigger boat," and the "Jaws" theme music, composed by John Williams, took an incomparable two-note motif and created possibly the most frightening cinematic score of all time.

"His shark fishing was going on for decades before Peter Benchley wrote his book and the movie was made," Mundus said.

Certain parts of the film were very real, she said. "The fish portrayed in 'Jaws' was a 4,500 lb. white shark my father had caught. It was harpooned very close to the ocean beach in 1964."

Way before "Jaws," her father also harpooned another 3,000 lb. white shark that was caught in 60 feet of water off Amagansett in 1961, she said. Frank Mundus was most famous, besides his skill at catching "monster giant white sharks," for his legend amongst fishermen for light tackle records, where anglers catch large fish on relatively light fishing lines, she said.

Her father, she said caught a rod and reel 4,500 lb white shark on a 150 lb. test in 1965, a 1,080 ft. mako on a 50. lb test in '79, and his "biggest one", a 3,427 lb. white shark on a 150 lb. test, in 1986.

The movie, she said, barely made a wave in the vast seas of her father's life.

"Frankly, 'Jaws' kind of came and went it didn’t affect him in the least," Mundus said. "He had his own program when 'Jaws' came out and it was kind of laughable to him. It was just Hollywood."

When asked what drew her father to a life on the water, Mundus said he was very sick when he was a child living in Brooklyn. He'd fallen while jumping from one rooftop to another onto the concrete. He broke his arm and developed an infection of the bone marrow called osteomyelitis.

"He was home in bed for a long time. They thought he was going to die," she said. "The doctors told his parents, 'You have to move to the country so he has a shot at getting strong.' So they moved to the Jersey Shore and he fell in love with the beach and the water. He became a local fisherman there. He came back with a real vigor — he was so happy to be alive. That really shaped his life."

Her father, Mundus said, never graduated 8th grade until he was 17, due to his illness. "But he was an incredibly bright and astute person. Which was a drag for me growing up, because who wants to have a father who can see every transparent thing about you?" she laughed.

Remembering that summer when the iconic film was released, Mundus said: "After 'Jaws' came out, I went to see the movie with him at the East Hampton theater. He was shaking his fist at the scene, saying, 'No way! That's not possible, that's bull----!'" she said.

With no formal education and no high school diploma, her father thought "books were nonsense and fiction was a lie," she said. But his carefully concocted image was nothing short of brilliant, she said. "He hammed that up, too, letting people think he couldn't read or write, because it all fed into his shtick."

And, while some elements of 'Jaws' were based on true events, much of Quint's character in the film was pure fiction, Mundus said. "The whole thing in 'Jaws,' about him revenging some evil for his shipmates" — Quint had a standout film moment during which he told a story about servicemen who were attacked by sharks following the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, after delivering explosive components before the Hiroshima bombing — "that was all nonsense," Mundus said.

In reality, only about 150 men were attacked and killed by sharks in 1945, historical accounts indicate. But more importantly, Mundus said: "My father was never in the Navy. He had nothing in his personality that had any revenge in his mission to catch sharks. There was nothing evil like that at all. He was just a hell of a fisherman — and he learned he could make a good living at it, and was supporting his family."

But while Mundus the shark hunter did not see his personal life, or boat, rocked by the film's release, his daughter said the movie immortalized her father for eternity. "Everyone else talked about it," she said. "Everyone who knows fishing knew that character was based on my father."

And yes, some parts of the movie really happened. "There really was a 4,500 lb. white shark. They harpooned it, it had two harpoons, they were trailing two barrels, the boat broke down — it was all the same stuff."

While that storied shark tale unfolded long before the internet, "Anybody who could do any research could find that story out in a hurry," Mundus said.

The film did leave her father awash with emotion, she said. "My father resented the fact that he'd spent his whole career branding himself and then someone else came along and stole his whole identity and made millions of dollars," she said.

And, too, after "Jaws" was released: "He was absolutely appalled at all the newbie rodeo shark catchers that came out of the woodwork," she said.

Because truth be told, her father, who'd carefully crafted his image as a monster shark hunter with an eye toward selling charter boat tours, was in his heart, turning toward shark conservation years before the world signed on.

"He had already been promoting circle hooks," she said. "He started catch and release and shark tagging in the 60s, way before anybody started talking about shark conservation. But people don’t ask those questions an they don't want to know the truth of who he was — they want to talk about the 'Jaws' hyberpole," she said.

In fact, after "Jaws," her father used to attend shark tournaments where he'd set up a card table and give circle hooks away. "He'd try to tell people how important it was," she said.

A regular hook will tear into the stomach of a fish, that's why it's called "gut hooking," she said. Even if a fish is released, the hooks still remain in sharks and they might die of infection, she said. Circle hooks land in the sharks' jaws, so they will survive, she said. "It's not going to kill you," she said.

"He just was appalled at the total commercialism of catching boatloads of blue sharks every day. You have to remember, when he started his career in 1951, there were more animals than people. After "Jaws," the ratio flipped, with more people and less animals," Mundus said. "He was an early conservationist, even though he was throwing tons of fish on the dock every day to sell charters."

Her father, Mundus added, was still was working with natonal fisheries. "He donated all those big fish to science. He was tagging and releasing. He kept copious logbooks on feeding grounds and migration. That’s the story of him that I try to tell, because I want people to undestand who he was as a human being — not as a 'Jaws' character."

Her father believe sharks were critical to the ecosystem; he and his second wife Jeannette even wrote a book about conservation, "White Shark Sam Meets the Monster Man," she said.

While he did establish himself by catching so many Great White sharks, "top-tier predators," his life largely changed course as time passed. "Later in his life, he started feeling bad about the human population destroying sharks."

Her father lives in legend as a "monster shark hunter" but in his heart, his own, singular mission was laser-focused, Mundus said: "He was making money to support his family. He had to do the only thing he was good at doing."

Reflecting on the enduring legacy of "Jaws," Mundus said: "I think the movie was a brilliant thriller. Also, it was filled with darkness and scary music, as a substitute for the shark, because the mechanical shark broke down so much — and they had to keep the production schedule."

Laughing, Mundus explained that the mechanical shark in the film, dubbed "Bruce," was in the shop most of the time. "But the shark was a key to the movie. It really tapped into people’s fear of the deep — and that’s what made the movie such blockbuster. The movie tapped into a very primeval kind of fear."

If she could talk to her father about the shark frenzy surrounding the 50th anniversary of "Jaws," Mundus said she'd ask him, "Can you believe this is still going on, 50 years later?"

Frank Mundus died in 2008 at 82 years old.

"He's been dead since 2008, but to me, it feels like he's still alive," Mundus said. "Because every single day, even before the 50th anniversary of 'Jaws,' everyone would say, 'Oh, Mundus. Are you related to that shark guy in Montauk?'"

Her father's passion with the sea lives on in her very own storied life: Pat Mundus, who served as the grand marshal of the 2015 Greenport Maritime Festival, began charter sailing in the Caribbean in the 70s and taught community sailing programs in East Hampton. Later, she attended the NY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler and crewed on Bride of Gastonia from eastern Long Island to Newfoundland and Labrador, she told SoutholdLocal in 2015.

She’s sailed commercially as a ship deck’s officer, cruised a 17-foot sailing kayak throughout the Exuma chain in the Bahamas, and owns of East End Charters, LLC, specializing in brokering classic charter yachts.

Along with the European circuit, she’s participated in New England classic regattas and events such as the annual NYYC Cruise, annual IYRS Cruise, Opera House Cup, Newport Classic, and the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta.

Mundus holds a Chief Mate Any Ocean/Any Tonnage license and a 1,600 ton Master’s license. As a ships’ officer she has transited both the Suez and Panama Canals over a dozen times each and sailed trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific and trans-Indian oceans.

Mundus has said that her father’s life lessons resonate still. “My father taught me that fear simply comes from not understanding something. If one wants to get comfortable with something, diving in and learning about it is the best way to get there. Also, by his example, I saw that what other people think of you is really none of your business. That makes life easier.”

Her father shaped not just her own journey, but the lives of the many he touched, Mundus told Patch. "He captured people's imagination. He epitomized a man's man during a time where society was changing. So he had a big following of macho men who wanted to be like him."

Of the film's 50th anniversary, her father would surely say, "'It's still bull----,'" she laughed.

Her father, she said, "made fun of the young, macho fishermen, who just wanted to be big shots. "He'd say, 'All they do is talk about it. Lie, lie, lie. Talking about 'the big fish that got away.' He had just one comment: 'Stop talking about it and throw the fish on the dock.'"

Mundus spoke on a Zoom Tuesday night hosted by the Cutchogue Library about her father's enduing legacy. She has also helped curate an exhibit about her father, "Frank Mundus: The Man and the Monsters," currently on view at the East End Seaport Museum and Marine Foundation in Greenport.