Where is “Jaws” star Bruce the shark now? The answer is a little complicated.
Fact: three animatronic sharks were created for the making of Steven Spielberg's 1975 horror classic, all of which have since been destroyed. But not so fast! One other “shark” was made from the same original mold created by production designer Joe Alves and Oscar-nominated special effects designer Roy Arbogast, and that one's still in existence. The location: the self-service yard at Aadlen Brothers Auto Wrecking in Sun Valley, California.
While this fourth shark wasn't used in the film, it hung at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park from 1975 to 1990 before eventually landing at Aadlen Brothers. It's a little worse for wear — or at least it was in 2010, when NPR reporter Cory Turner (who tracked it down for a story) described it this way: “Its skin was cracked; its color badly faded. Instead of rows of menacing teeth, it had harmless wooden dentures” — but I have confirmed with the yard that it's still hanging there, out in the elements, awaiting your photo ops:
For more information, check out the original NPR story here and a Facebook page dedicated to restoring and rebuilding the last remaining copy of Bruce here.
“Jaws” turns 40 years old this Saturday.