Richard Kiel: The Towering Screen Villain Behind Bond’s “Jaws”
Richard Kiel was an American actor whose extraordinary height and commanding screen presence made him one of the most recognizable character actors of his era, best remembered as the steel-toothed James Bond henchman “Jaws.”
Life and Career
Richard Dawson Kiel was born on September 13, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan. Standing 7 feet 1.5 inches tall as a result of a hormonal condition called acromegaly, Kiel worked a string of odd jobs, including as a nightclub bouncer and a cemetery-plot salesman, before turning to acting full time around 1960. He gained early experience with guest roles in television series such as “The Twilight Zone,” “The Rifleman,” and “Thriller,” using his imposing size to memorable effect, most notably as the alien Kanamit in the classic “To Serve Man” episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
Kiel’s most famous role arrived in 1977, when producers cast him as Jaws, the silent, metal-toothed assassin who battled Roger Moore’s 007 in “The Spy Who Loved Me.” The character proved so popular with audiences that he was brought back for the 1979 sequel “Moonraker,” in which Jaws unexpectedly switches sides to help save the world, a twist that divided fans but cemented the character’s status as one of the franchise’s most beloved villains. Beyond the Bond films, Kiel appeared in “Happy Gilmore” as the intimidating golf spectator Mr. Larson, in “The Wild Wild West” as the assistant Voltaire, and lent his voice to the character Vlad in Disney’s animated film “Tangled.”
Awards and Legacy
Kiel published an autobiography, “Making It Big in the Movies,” in 2002, and remained a fixture on the fan-convention circuit for decades, reprising the Jaws character in video games including “007 Legends.” He died on September 10, 2014, at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California, at the age of 74, following complications from a fall.
Richard Kiel’s Jaws remains one of the most fondly remembered henchmen in the history of the James Bond franchise, a character whose menace on screen belied the actor’s famously gentle and warm personality off it. His work helped define the larger-than-life villain archetype that continues to influence action cinema.
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