Richard Kiel, known to most of the world as Jaws, the recurring, unstoppable James Bond supervillain, has passed away at the age of 74.
Born in Detroit, Kiel was afflicted with acromegaly, a hormone condition that caused his skeleton to grown beyond its normal parameters. He finally topped out at a height of 7'1.5" tall, an uncommon height that made him perfect for the silent, intimidating supporting characters for film and television shows that never went for need of them. After using his height as a cemetery plot salesman, he started out in television with an episode of "Laramie", and then progressed into B-movies such as Eegah (1962), which was later immortalized on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He continued to work in TV shows like "Wild Wild West", and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", incrementally increasing his screen value and actual spoken lines. In 1974, he put his size to comical use in the Burt Reynolds classic The Longest Yard.
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Jaws
While working on the William Shatner series "Barbary Coast", James Bond producers saw Kiel and felt he would be perfect for their new villain--Jaws, a mute, seemingly indestructible superhuman with a mouth made of metal teeth. He made his debut in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
In one of those great beat-you-over-the-head self-referential meta moments, Jaws actually fights a shark and wins.
http://youtu.be/fSk853QxcBQ?t=2m57s
Despite the cartoonish quality of the character, he became a fan favorite, earning the rare privilege of being a second banana who returns to the Bond universe, albeit in the unarguably worst of the Bond films, 1979's Moonraker. Ironically, the worst Bond film gave Kiel one of his best character moments: the previously cold-blooded monster meets a pint-size, innocent blonde waif who likes him for who he is and falls madly in love. When ordered to kill her along with Bond and the other "inferior" being of Earth by his master Dax, Jaws turns on his master and helps Bond save the day. Jaws' last scene involves him sitting among the wreckage of Dax's space station with the love of his life, opening a bottle of champagne with his mouth and uttering his first and only lines of the series:
http://youtu.be/64yHgoQMQVM?t=10m54s
The character's popularity gave him a new career path for a new generation of fans. He was one of the original choices for the lead character of the Hulk in "The Incredible Hulk" but partial blindness in one eye and his taller, rather than muscular physique made him inadequate. He did, however, manage to be cast in roles that featured his size for comedic effect rather than intimidating effect (Cannonball Run II), and eventually, he was cast more as an actor than a visual effect. To children of the 90s, he was immortalized as Mr. Larson, the benign, but imposingly powerful foreman in Happy Gilmore.
http://youtu.be/G52aaTFibHo
Kiel was more than happy to revisit the popular character of Jaws and variations thereof in various poor-to-middling quality comedies (Inspector Gadget) over the last 30 years, and was a staple at conventions signing merchandise and photos.
You have NO idea how happy this guy is right now.
Unfortunately, as with most people with gigantism, Kiel's size created a number of health problems with age. A 1992 car accident caused a balance-affecting head injury, and he was forced to walk with a cane or ride in a scooter for the rest of his life. he was relegated to doing voice work or small appearances to accommodate the strain to his body over time. His last voice role was that of Vlad in Tangled.
Kiel broke his leg a week ago, and died yesterday, just a little shy of his 75th birthday.
On a personal note, Kiel was one of those character actors they just don't make anymore. Harkening back to a day and age when producers and casting agents were far more callous about using people's unique physiology to exploitative effect, which made their careers somewhat predictable, but unquestionably memorable to the generations of boob-tube and VHS addicts that grew up watching them. After a while, we watched movies because of THEM and not the stars they worked alongside. I was a fan of Kiel's long before I knew his name, even without being a Bond watcher, and his passing is just another loss of an otherwise constant presence in the entertainment world.
Truly, this year is a bleak one for fans of the medium.
Born in Detroit, Kiel was afflicted with acromegaly, a hormone condition that caused his skeleton to grown beyond its normal parameters. He finally topped out at a height of 7'1.5" tall, an uncommon height that made him perfect for the silent, intimidating supporting characters for film and television shows that never went for need of them. After using his height as a cemetery plot salesman, he started out in television with an episode of "Laramie", and then progressed into B-movies such as Eegah (1962), which was later immortalized on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He continued to work in TV shows like "Wild Wild West", and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", incrementally increasing his screen value and actual spoken lines. In 1974, he put his size to comical use in the Burt Reynolds classic The Longest Yard.
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Jaws
While working on the William Shatner series "Barbary Coast", James Bond producers saw Kiel and felt he would be perfect for their new villain--Jaws, a mute, seemingly indestructible superhuman with a mouth made of metal teeth. He made his debut in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
In one of those great beat-you-over-the-head self-referential meta moments, Jaws actually fights a shark and wins.
http://youtu.be/fSk853QxcBQ?t=2m57s
Despite the cartoonish quality of the character, he became a fan favorite, earning the rare privilege of being a second banana who returns to the Bond universe, albeit in the unarguably worst of the Bond films, 1979's Moonraker. Ironically, the worst Bond film gave Kiel one of his best character moments: the previously cold-blooded monster meets a pint-size, innocent blonde waif who likes him for who he is and falls madly in love. When ordered to kill her along with Bond and the other "inferior" being of Earth by his master Dax, Jaws turns on his master and helps Bond save the day. Jaws' last scene involves him sitting among the wreckage of Dax's space station with the love of his life, opening a bottle of champagne with his mouth and uttering his first and only lines of the series:
http://youtu.be/64yHgoQMQVM?t=10m54s
The character's popularity gave him a new career path for a new generation of fans. He was one of the original choices for the lead character of the Hulk in "The Incredible Hulk" but partial blindness in one eye and his taller, rather than muscular physique made him inadequate. He did, however, manage to be cast in roles that featured his size for comedic effect rather than intimidating effect (Cannonball Run II), and eventually, he was cast more as an actor than a visual effect. To children of the 90s, he was immortalized as Mr. Larson, the benign, but imposingly powerful foreman in Happy Gilmore.
http://youtu.be/G52aaTFibHo
Kiel was more than happy to revisit the popular character of Jaws and variations thereof in various poor-to-middling quality comedies (Inspector Gadget) over the last 30 years, and was a staple at conventions signing merchandise and photos.
You have NO idea how happy this guy is right now.
Unfortunately, as with most people with gigantism, Kiel's size created a number of health problems with age. A 1992 car accident caused a balance-affecting head injury, and he was forced to walk with a cane or ride in a scooter for the rest of his life. he was relegated to doing voice work or small appearances to accommodate the strain to his body over time. His last voice role was that of Vlad in Tangled.
Kiel broke his leg a week ago, and died yesterday, just a little shy of his 75th birthday.
On a personal note, Kiel was one of those character actors they just don't make anymore. Harkening back to a day and age when producers and casting agents were far more callous about using people's unique physiology to exploitative effect, which made their careers somewhat predictable, but unquestionably memorable to the generations of boob-tube and VHS addicts that grew up watching them. After a while, we watched movies because of THEM and not the stars they worked alongside. I was a fan of Kiel's long before I knew his name, even without being a Bond watcher, and his passing is just another loss of an otherwise constant presence in the entertainment world.
Truly, this year is a bleak one for fans of the medium.
