Oldfart
09-11-2014, 06:01 PM
Richard Kiel, the giant actor best known as Jaws in the James Bond movies, has died at the age of 74.
Kiel, who had reportedly broken his leg last week, died in hospital in Fresno, California.
He starred in two films in the 007 franchise - The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker - as a villain with metal teeth trying to kill the British agent.
Kiel's agent Steve Stevens paid tribute to the actor, calling him "a very loyal friend and client for over 35 years, a terrific husband and father... not only a giant actor but a giant man".
An imposing figure who stood at an unforgettable 2.17m tall, Kiel had a career on both the big and small screens spanning almost half a century.
His other credits included a role in the classic Jerry Lewis comedy The Nutty Professor as well as parts in Cannonball Run 2, Pale Rider and Happy Gilmore.
Richard Dawson Kiel was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1939.
His considerable height was the result of a condition known as acromegaly, which produces excessive growth hormones in the pituitary gland.
Kiel worked as a nightclub bouncer and cemetery plot salesman before landing some minor acting roles on television. One became one of the most loved episodes of The Twilight Zone, in which he played an enigmatic alien who lands on Earth.
His big break came in 1977 when he was cast as the metal-mouthed Jaws opposite Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me. It was a part he reprised two years later in Moonraker.
In an interview with 702 ABC Sydney in June he described what it was like to wear the metal teeth on set.
"They were like a boxer's mouthpiece, except they went up in the roof of your mouth.
"They were made out of chromium steel, so kind of like swallowing a bumper. They didn't hurt but they could only be in there for like a minute or two."
Kiel also revealed the secret behind the famous scene where he bit through a cable car cable.
"They made it out of liquorice. Quite tasty."
And for his co-star Roger Moore, he had nothing but praise.
"A terrific guy, team player. He couldn't care less if you stole the scene, he would help you steal the scene."
However, despite all the recognition the character brought him, he told Entertainment Weekly he did not consider Jaws to be his greatest on-screen achievement.
"My best part would probably be Captain Drazak in Force 10 from Navarone," he said.
"A lot of people don't even know it's me because I had a big beard and a great costume.
"As Jaws, I start off as a bad guy and turn into a good guy whereas in this I appear to be a good guy and turn into a really nasty guy."
In 1992 Kiel suffered a serious head injury in a car accident which left him needing to walk with a cane.
The actor was a born-again Christian, who credited his conversion with saving him from alcoholism.
In later years he co-wrote a novel, Kentucky Lion, about the slave abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay.
Kiel, who had reportedly broken his leg last week, died in hospital in Fresno, California.
He starred in two films in the 007 franchise - The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker - as a villain with metal teeth trying to kill the British agent.
Kiel's agent Steve Stevens paid tribute to the actor, calling him "a very loyal friend and client for over 35 years, a terrific husband and father... not only a giant actor but a giant man".
An imposing figure who stood at an unforgettable 2.17m tall, Kiel had a career on both the big and small screens spanning almost half a century.
His other credits included a role in the classic Jerry Lewis comedy The Nutty Professor as well as parts in Cannonball Run 2, Pale Rider and Happy Gilmore.
Richard Dawson Kiel was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1939.
His considerable height was the result of a condition known as acromegaly, which produces excessive growth hormones in the pituitary gland.
Kiel worked as a nightclub bouncer and cemetery plot salesman before landing some minor acting roles on television. One became one of the most loved episodes of The Twilight Zone, in which he played an enigmatic alien who lands on Earth.
His big break came in 1977 when he was cast as the metal-mouthed Jaws opposite Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me. It was a part he reprised two years later in Moonraker.
In an interview with 702 ABC Sydney in June he described what it was like to wear the metal teeth on set.
"They were like a boxer's mouthpiece, except they went up in the roof of your mouth.
"They were made out of chromium steel, so kind of like swallowing a bumper. They didn't hurt but they could only be in there for like a minute or two."
Kiel also revealed the secret behind the famous scene where he bit through a cable car cable.
"They made it out of liquorice. Quite tasty."
And for his co-star Roger Moore, he had nothing but praise.
"A terrific guy, team player. He couldn't care less if you stole the scene, he would help you steal the scene."
However, despite all the recognition the character brought him, he told Entertainment Weekly he did not consider Jaws to be his greatest on-screen achievement.
"My best part would probably be Captain Drazak in Force 10 from Navarone," he said.
"A lot of people don't even know it's me because I had a big beard and a great costume.
"As Jaws, I start off as a bad guy and turn into a good guy whereas in this I appear to be a good guy and turn into a really nasty guy."
In 1992 Kiel suffered a serious head injury in a car accident which left him needing to walk with a cane.
The actor was a born-again Christian, who credited his conversion with saving him from alcoholism.
In later years he co-wrote a novel, Kentucky Lion, about the slave abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay.