Richard Kiel - # 91

Richard Kiel, actor who played Bond villain 'Jaws,' dies at 74

He was number 91 on the list.

Richard Kiel, the actor best known for playing the James Bond villain "Jaws," died Wednesday at a Fresno, California hospital, St. Agnes Medical Center spokeswoman Kelley Sanchez said.

The cause of death for the 74-year-old actor has not been released.

The 7-foot-2-inch Kiel, who was born in Detroit in 1939, won over audiences worldwide in the 1970s as the steel-toothed character Jaws in the Roger Moore Bond classics "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker."

"I am totally distraught to learn of my dear friend Richard Kiel's passing. We were on a radio programme together just a week ago. Distraught," Moore tweeted early Thursday.

Kiel appeared in a handful of B-movies and of TV shows -- including four episodes of "The Wild Wild West" in 1965 -- in supporting, henchman roles that took advantage of his intimidating height. He first appeared as a metal-mouthed bad guy in "Silver Streak," the 1976 Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor train caper, but it was the Bond movies that made him most familiar to moviegoers.

Kiel first encountered Moore's James Bond in 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me," where his silent hitman Jaws repeatedly menaced Bond with his sharp metal teeth. Although repeatedly thwarted by the British spy, Jaws proved resilient and even sort of likable: Near the movie's end he survived a brush with a killer shark by biting the creature.

Jaws was such a popular character that the producers of the Bond series brought him back two years later for "Moonraker," which was set partly in space. He and Bond battled each other in a opening skydiving sequence and in a memorable scene atop an aerial tram in Rio de Janeiro. Later, Jaws switched allegiances to Bond upon learning that his employer, the villain Drax, planned to exterminate him.
He is also known for playing Samson in The Longest Yard.

In later years, Kiel turned his hand to writing and producing as well as acting, including in the 1991 movie "The Giant of Thunder Mountain," according to the IMDB.

He also had a small role in "Happy Gilmore," the 1996 Adam Sandler golf comedy.

"Richard Kiel was one of the nicest, funniest guys I've ever met. I'll never forget hanging out with him and how good he was to everyone," Sandler tweeted Thursday.
He voiced Vladimir in the 2010 Disney film Tangled and portrayed Luke Brown in The Boy Who Stole the Elephant. He appeared in a cameo as Jaws in Inspector Gadget.


Kiel's family posted this message on Facebook:

"It is with very heavy hearts that we announce that Richard has passed away, just three days shy of his 75th birthday. Richard had an amazing joy for life and managed to live every single day to the fullest. Though most people knew of him through his screen persona, those who were close to him knew what a kind and generous soul he was.

"His family was the most important thing in his life and we are happy that his last days were spent surrounded by family and close friends. Though his passing was somewhat unexpected, his health had been declining in recent years. It is nice to think that he can, once again, stand tall over us all."

Filmography

Features

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1960      The D.I.                 Ugly Marine        Uncredited

1961      Run of the Hunted           Toland's Assistant            Uncredited

1961      The Phantom Planet       The Solarite       

1962      Eegah    Eegah   

1963      House of the Damned    Giant    

1963      The Nutty Professor        Bodybuilder #1 Uncredited

1963      Lassie's Great Adventure              Chinook Pete    

1963      30 Minutes at Gunsight                 Tv Short

1964      Roustabout         Strong Man         Uncredited

1964      The Nasty Rabbit              Ranch Foreman                 Uncredited

1965      Two on a Guillotine         Tall Man at Funeral         Uncredited

1965      The Human Duplicators Dr. Kolos             

1965      Brainstorm          Psychiatric Hospital Patient          Uncredited

1966      The Las Vegas Hillbillys   Moose

1967      A Man Called Dagger      Otto      

1968      Now You See It, Now You Don't Nori       TV Movie

1968      Skidoo   Beany   

1970      On a Clear Day You Can See Forever        Blacksmith          Uncredited

1973      Deadhead Miles                Big Dick               

1974      The Longest Yard              Samson               

1975      Flash and the Firecat       Tracker

1976      Gus        Large Man          

1976      Silver Streak       Reace   

1977      The Spy Who Loved Me                 Jaws      

1977      The Incredible Hulk         The Hulk              TV Series, One scene, Uncredited

1978      Wu zi tian shi     Steel Hand         

1978      Force 10 from Navarone               Captain Drazak

1978      They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way    Duke     

1979      The Humanoid   Golob   

1979      Moonraker         Jaws       Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor

1981      So Fine Eddie    

1983      Hysterical            Captain Howdy

1983      Phoenix                Steel Hand         

1984      Aces Go Places 3               Big G     

1984      Cannonball Run II             Arnold / Mitsubishi Driver           

1985      Pale Rider            Club      

1985      Qing bao long hu men    Laszlo   

1989      Think Big              Irving    

1989      The Princess and the Dwarf          Unknown role   

1991      The Giant of Thunder Mountain                 Eli Weaver          

1996      Happy Gilmore Mr. Larson         

1999      Inspector Gadget             Jaws      

2009      The Awakened Jasper  

2010      The Corpse of Albert Cradette    Albert Cradette

2010      Tangled                Vladimir               Voice

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1960      Klondike               Duff Brannigan Episode: "Bare Knuckles"

1961      Laramie                Rake - Tolan's helper       Episode: "Run of the Hunted", Uncredited

1961      The Phantom     Big Mike              

1961      Thriller Master Styx        Episode: "Well of Doom"

1961      The Rifleman      Carl Hazlitt          Episode: "The Decision"

1962      The Twilight Zone             Kanamit               Episode: "To Serve Man"

1964      The Man from U.N.C.L.E.              Henchman for Mr. Vulcan             Episode: "The Vulcan Affair"

Uncredited

1965      The Man from U.N.C.L.E.              Merry    Episode: "The Hong Kong Shilling Affair"

1965      I Dream of Jeannie           Ali           Episode: "My Hero"

1966      Honey West        Groalgo                Episode: "King of the Mountain"

1966      My Mother the Car          Cracks   Episode: "A Riddler on the Roof"

1966      The Wild Wild West        Voltaire                Episodes: "The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth"

1965: "The Night That Terror Stalked the Town"

1965: "The Night of the Whirring Death"

1966      Gilligan's Island Ghost    Episode: Ghost-a-Go-Go"

1967      The Monkees    Monster               Episode: "I Was a Teenage Monster"

1967      The Monroes     Casmir Episode: "Ghosts of Paradox"

1968      I Spy       Tiny        Episode: "A Few Miles West of Nowhere"

1968      The Wild Wild West        Dimas    Episode: "The Night of the Simian Terror"

1968      It Takes a Thief Willie Trion         Episode: "The Galloping Skin Game"

1969      Daniel Boone     Le Mouche          Episode: "Benvenuto...Who?"

1970      Disneyland          Luke Brown        Episode: "The Boy Who Stole the Elephant: Part 1 & 2"

1974      Kolchak: The Night Stalker            The Diablero      Episode: "Bad Medicine"

1974      Emergency!        Carlo      Episode: "I'll Fix It"

1974      Kolchak: The Night Stalker            The "Père malfait"           Episode: "The Spanish Moss Murders"

1975      Switch   Loach    Episode: "Death Heist"

1976      Starsky & Hutch                Iggy        Episode: "Omaha Tiger"

1975 – 1976       Barbary Coast    Moose Moran    14 episodes, 1975–1976

1977      Land of the Lost                Malak    Episodes: "Survival Kit"

"Flying Dutchman"

1977      The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Manager              Episode: "The Mystery of the Haunted House"

1977      Young Dan'l Boone          Unknown role    Episode: "The Game"

1981      The Fall Guy        Animal Episode: "That's Right, We're Bad"

1983      Simon & Simon Mark Horton      Episode: "The Skeleton Who Came Out of the Closet"

1988      Out of This World             Norman                Episode: "Go West, Young Mayor"

1989      Superboy             Vlkabok                Episode: "Mr. and Mrs. Superboy"

2000      Bloodhounds Inc.             Mortimer             Episode: "Fangs for the Memories