Richard Kiel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Richard Kiel | |
 Richard Kiel, February 2004 |
|
| Born | September 13, 1939 Detroit, Michigan, United States |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1960-present |
| Spouse(s) | Diane |
| Official website | |
Richard Dawson Kiel (born September 13, 1939) is an American actor best known for his role as the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) as well as the video game Everything or Nothing, and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore. He is 7 feet 1.5 inches (2.17 m) tall.
Contents |
[edit] Life and career
Kiel was born in Detroit, Michigan. He made his acting debut in a 1960 Laramie episode called "Street of Hate." He also acted in an unaired TV-pilot featuring Lee Falk's superhero The Phantom, where Kiel played an assassin called "Big Mike", who was hired to kill the title hero.
Kiel broke into films in the early 1960s with the B-movie Eegah (1962). Eegah was later featured on the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. He also portrayed:
- a representative of a race of aliens known as the Kanamits in a famous episode of The Twilight Zone titled "To Serve Man" (1962)
- an uncredited bodybuilder in Jerry Lewis' The Nutty Professor (1963)
- Kiel swings a wrench at Napoleon Solo just over 31 minutes into the The Man from U.N.C.L.E. pilot show (The Vulcan Affair). 22 Sept 1964. Blink and you may miss him. In episode 24, "The Hong Kong Shilling Affair" (15 March 1965), he had a substantial part as bodyguard "Merry", somewhat like his "Jaws" role in James Bond films.
- a humanoid robot in the B-movie The Human Duplicators (1965), which was also later featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
- The third episode of Wild, Wild West (Oct 1965), Kiel played the mute Voltaire, assistant to a murderous dwarf -Dr. Loveless's henchman Voltaire in several episodes of The Wild Wild West (1965–1966).
- a Frankenstein-style monster (who sings and plays guitar) on an episode of The Monkees (1966)
- The Gilligan's Island episode "Ghost a-Go-Go", as a man masquerading as a ghost to try and scare the castaways off of the island.
- I Dream of Jeannie episode "My Hero?", as a guard trying to execute Maj. Nelson.
- a prison tough in Otto Preminger's Skidoo (1968)
- a paranoid, small-town, anti-government bully in the I Spy episode A Few Miles from Nowhere (1968)
- a spirit of an Amerindian medicine man, called a "Diablero", in one of the Kolchak: The Night Stalker episodes (1974)
- a slime covered boogie man creature, called "Peremalfait", in another of the Kolchak: The Night Stalker episodes (1974)
- Samson, a member of the prisoner football team in The Longest Yard (1974)
- Malak, the Cro-Magnon "God" in the third season of Land of the Lost (1976)
- Reace, a tough guy with sharp gold teeth in Silver Streak (1976)
- the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979)
- Capt. Drazak in Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
- a humanoid robot in the Italian movie The Humanoid (1979)
- a "race car driver" in Cannonball Run II (1984)
- "Club," a tough gold miner in Pale Rider (1985)
- Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore (1996)
- himself in the Swedish TV-show Welcome to Sweden together with Verne Troyer (2007)
Kiel also co-wrote, produced, and starred in the family friendly movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain.
He and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the original choices to play the title character in the 1977 TV series The Incredible Hulk. Schwarzenegger was turned down due to his height. He participated in the filming of two episodes, including the TV movie pilot. During the shoot, producers decided their Hulk needed to be muscular rather than just towering, and Kiel was dismissed because he possessed more body fat than the producers deemed necessary. According to an interview at Den of geek,[1] Kiel, who sees properly out of only one eye, also reacted badly to the contact lenses used for the role, and found the green makeup difficult to remove, so he did not mind losing the part. All recognizable footage of Kiel was cut; the scenes were then reshot with Lou Ferrigno.
He is well known in the UK for his appearance in a commercial for Shredded Wheat (1980), which can be seen on YouTube.
He reprised his role of Jaws with voice and likeness in the 2004 game Everything or Nothing.
[edit] Other
Kiel's distinctive height and features are a result of a hormonal condition known as acromegaly. Kiel stands 7 feet 1.5 inches (217 cm) tall. He notes in his 2002 autobiography, Making It Big in the Movies (ISBN 1-903111-31-5), that he used to state that he was 7 feet and 2 inches (218.44 cm) because it was easier to remember.
In 1992, Kiel suffered a severe head injury in a car accident which has affected his balance. He was, from then on, forced to walk with a cane to support himself (as shown in his appearance in the movie Happy Gilmore, where he is seen leaning on a person or a cane). He's also been seen using a scooter or wheelchair, e.g. in Welcome to Sweden. He is largely retired from the movie business.
He recently co-authored a biography on the abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay called Kentucky Lion.
In 2008, Kiel was invited by the Swiss watchmaker Swatch to Bregenz, Austria to present together with another James Bond Villain, Mads Mikkelsen, the Swatch 007 Villain Collection. One of the 22 models of the Collection is dedicated to "Jaws", the iron mouthed villain he played in "The Spy who Loved Me" and in "Moonraker".
He's also a born-again Christian and testifies how God saved him from alcoholism; on his offical website.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Games
- James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (video game, 2004) - Jaws (voice)
[edit] Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Laramie | unknown role | episode Street of Hate |
| 1960 | Klondike | Duff Brannigan | episode Bare Knuckles |
| 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 |
| 1962 | Eegah | Eegah | |
| 1964 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | unknown role | 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 | Spook | 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 | Skidoo | Beany | |
| 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 | Peremalfait, the swamp monster | episode The Spanish Moss Murders |
| 1975 | Switch | unknown role | episode Death Heist |
| 1976 | Starsky and Hutch | Iggy | episode Omaha Tiger |
| 1975 - 1976 |
Barbary Coast | Moose Moran | unknown episode, 1975-1976) |
| 1974 - 1977 |
Land of the Lost | Malak | unknown episodes "Survival kit" |
| 1977 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | Manager - 'Haunted House' | 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 |
[edit] Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | The Phantom Planet | The Solarite | |
| 1962 | The Magic Sword | Pinhead | uncredited |
| 1963 | 30 Minutes at Gunsight | uncredited | |
| 1963 | House of the Damned | The giant | |
| 1963 | The Nutty Professor | Bodybuilder #1 | uncredited |
| 1964 | Roustabout | Strong man | uncredited |
| 1964 | The Nasty Rabbit | ranch foreman | uncredited |
| 1965 | Two on a Guillotine | Tall man at funeral | |
| 1965 | The Human Duplicators | Dr. Kolos | |
| 1965 | Brainstorm | Psychiatric hospital patient | uncredited |
| 1965 | Lassie's Great Adventure | Chinook Pete | |
| 1966 | The Las Vegas Hillbillies | unknown role | |
| 1967 | A Man Called Dagger | Otto | |
| 1968 | Now You See It, Now You Don't | Nori | |
| 1970 | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | Blacksmith | uncredited |
| 1972 | Deadhead Miles | unknown role | |
| 1975 | Barbary Coast | Moose Moran | |
| 1976 | Flash and the Firecat | Tracker | |
| 1976 | Gus | Large man | |
| 1976 | Silver Streak | Reace | |
| 1974 | The Longest Yard | Samson | |
| 1977 | The Spy Who Loved Me | Jaws | |
| 1977 | The Incredible Hulk (TV series) | The Hulk | one scene |
| 1978 | Force 10 from Navarone | Capt. Drazak | |
| 1978 | They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way | Duke | |
| 1979 | l'Umanoide | Golob | |
| 1979 | Moonraker | Jaws | |
| 1981 | So Fine | Eddie | |
| 1983 | Hysterical | Captain Howdy | |
| 1983 | Phoenix | Steel Hand | |
| 1984 | Cannonball Run II | Arnold, Mitsubishi driver | |
| 1984 | Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street | Big G | |
| 1985 | Qing bao long hu men | Laszlo | |
| 1985 | Pale Rider | Club | |
| 1989 | The Princess and the Dwarf | unknown role | |
| 1990 | Think Big | Irving | |
| 1991 | The Giant of Thunder Mountain | Eli Weaver | |
| 1996 | Happy Gilmore | Mr. Larson | |
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget | Jaws, Famous Guy with Metal Teeth | |
| 2000 | BloodHounds, Inc. #5: Fangs for the Memories | Mortimer | Video |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Richard Kiel |
