Peter Gimbel

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Peter R Gimbel February 14 1927 July 12 1987 was an American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist Born in New York City Peter was the son of Bernard Gimbel and heir to the Gimbels department store chain  After serving in the United States Army occupation force in Japan in 19461947 he graduated from Yale University in 1951 earning degrees in both English and economics  He spent ten years as an investment banker but after the death of his twin brother at age 29 he left banking to pursue a career in exploration He parachuted into the Peruvian Andes with G Brooks Baekeland grandson of Leo Baekeland inventor of Baekelite and Peter Lake in search of the lost Inca city of Vilcabamba He was the first to dive the wreck of the SS Andrea Doria and his photos of the ship were published in Life Magazine in August 1956  He produced two documentaries about the ship The Mystery of the Andrea Doria and Andrea Doria The Final Chapter  He opened the safe of the Andrea Doria on live television in 1984 Gimbel also directed and produced the 1971 film Blue Water White Death which was the first cinematic filming of the Great White Shark featuring Ron and Valerie Taylor Rodney Fox Stan Waterman and Peter Lake  The sharks attack on Lakes cage at the end of the film inspired Peter Benchleys book Jaws Description above from the Wikipedia article Peter Gimbel licensed under CCBYSAfull list of contributors on Wikipedia