Richard Kiel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Kiel

Born September 13, 1939 (1939-09-13) (age 68)
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Years active 1960-present
Spouse(s) Diane
Official website

Richard Dawson Kiel (born September 13, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan) 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 stands at a towering height of 7 feet 1.5 inches (2.18 m).

Contents

[edit] Acting career

Kiel 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:

Kiel also co-wrote, produced, and starred in the family friendly movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain.

He was the original choice to play the title character in the 1977 TV series The Incredible Hulk. He participated in the filming of 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. 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 his balance (as shown in his appearance in the movie Happy Gilmore, where he is seen leaning on a person or a cane), and then eventually to using a scooter or wheelchair.[citation needed] He is largely retired from the movie business.

He recently co-authored a biography on the abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay called Kentucky Lion.

[edit] Filmography

  • Laramie Televisieserie - Rol onbekend (Afl., Street of Hate, 1960)
  • Klondike Televisieserie - Duff Brannigan (Afl., Bare Knuckles, 1960)
  • The Phantom (Televisiefilm, 1961) - Big Mike
  • Thriller Televisieserie - Master Styx (Afl., Well of Doom, 1961)
  • The Rifleman Televisieserie - Carl Hazlitt (Afl., The Decision, 1961)
  • The Phantom Planet (1961) - The Solarite
  • The Magic Sword (1962) - Pinhead (Niet op aftiteling)
  • The Twilight Zone Televisieserie - Kanamit (Afl., To Serve Man, 1962)
  • Eegah (1962) - Eegah
  • 30 Minutes at Gunsight (Televisiefilm, 1963) - Rol onbekend
  • House of the Damned (1963) - De reus
  • The Nutty Professor (1963) - Bodybuilder #1 (Niet op aftiteling)
  • Roustabout (1964) - Sterke man (Niet op aftiteling)
  • The Nasty Rabbit (1964) - Voorman op ranch (Niet op aftiteling)
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Televisieserie - Rol onbekend (Afl., The Vulcan Affair, 1964, niet op aftiteling)
  • Two on a Guillotine (1965) - Grote man bij begrafenis
  • The Human Duplicators (1965) - Dr. Kolos
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Televisieserie - Merry (Afl., The Hong Kong Shilling Affair, 1965)
  • Brainstorm (1965) - Bewoner psychiatrisch ziekenhuis (Niet op aftiteling)
  • I Dream of Jeannie Televisieserie - Ali (Afl., My Hero, 1965)
  • Lassie's Great Adventure (1965) - Chinook Pete
  • Honey West Televisieserie - Groalgo (Afl., King of the Mountain, 1966)
  • My Mother the Car Televisieserie - Cracks (Afl., A Riddler on the Roof, 1966)
  • The Wild Wild West Televisieserie - Voltaire (Afl., 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 Televisieserie - Spook (Afl., Ghost-a-Go-Go, 1966)
  • The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966) - Rol onbekend
  • A Man Called Dagger (1967) - Otto
  • The Monkees Televisieserie - Monster (Afl., I Was a Teenage Monster, 1967)
  • The Monroes Televisieserie - Casmir (Afl., Ghosts of Paradox, 1967)
  • I Spy Televisieserie - Tiny (Afl., A Few Miles West of Nowhere, 1968)
  • The Wild Wild West Televisieserie - Dimas (Afl., The Night of the Simian Terror, 1968)
  • Now You See It, Now You Don't (Televisiefilm, 1968) - Nori
  • Skidoo (1968) - Beany
  • It Takes a Thief Televisieserie - Willie Trion (Afl., The Galloping Skin Game, 1968)
  • Daniel Boone Televisieserie - Le Mouche (Afl., Benvenuto...Who?, 1969)
  • On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) - Blacksmith (Niet op aftiteling)
  • The Boy Who Stole the Elephant (Televisiefilm, 1970) - Luke Brown
  • Disneyland Televisieserie - Luke Brown (Afl., The Boy Who Stole the Elephant: Part 1 & 2, 1970)
  • Deadhead Miles (1972) - Rol onbekend
  • The Longest Yard (1974) - Samson
  • Kolchak: The Night Stalker Televisieserie - The Diablero (Afl., Bad Medicine, 1974)
  • Emergency! Televisieserie - Carlo (Afl., I'll Fix It, 1974)
  • Kolchak: The Night Stalker Televisieserie - Peremalfait, het Moerasmonster (Afl., The Spanish Moss Murders, 1974)
  • Barbary Coast (Televisiefilm, 1975) - Moose Moran
  • Switch Televisieserie - Rol onbekend (Afl., Death Heist, 1975)
  • Starsky and Hutch Televisieserie - Iggy (Afl., Omaha Tiger, 1976)
  • Barbary Coast Televisieserie - Moose Moran (Afl. onbekend, 1975-1976)
  • Flash and the Firecat (1976) - Speurder
  • Gus (1976) - Lange man
  • Silver Streak (1976) - Reace
  • Land of the Lost Televisieserie - Malak (Afl. onbekend, 1974-1977)
  • The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Televisieserie - Manager - 'Haunted House' (Afl., The Mystery of the Haunted House, 1977)
  • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Jaws
  • Young Dan'l Boone Televisieserie - Rol onbekend (Afl., The Game, 1977)
  • The Incredible Hulk (Televisiefilm, 1977) - De hulk (slechts één scène)
  • Force 10 from Navarone (1978) - Capt. Drazak
  • They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way (1978) - Duke
  • l'Umanoide (1979) - Golob
  • Moonraker (1979) - Jaws
  • So Fine (1981) - Eddie
  • The Fall Guy Televisieserie - Animal (Afl., That's Right, We're Bad, 1981)
  • Hysterical (1983) - Captain Howdy
  • Simon & Simon Televisieserie - Mark Horton (Afl., The Skeleton Who Came Out of the Closet, 1983)
  • Phoenix (1983) - Steel Hand
  • Cannonball Run II (1984) - Arnold, bestuurder Mitsubishi
  • Zuijia paidang zhi nuhuang miling (1984) - Big G
  • Qing bao long hu men (1985) - Laszlo
  • Pale Rider (1985) - Club
  • Out of This World Televisieserie - Norman (Afl., Go West, Young Mayor, 1988)
  • The Princess and the Dwarf (1989) - Rol onbekend
  • Superboy Televisieserie - Vlkabok (Afl., Mr. and Mrs. Superboy, 1989)
  • Think Big (1990) - Irving
  • The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1991) - Eli Weaver
  • Happy Gilmore (1996) - Mr. Larson
  • Inspector Gadget (1999) - Jaws, Famous Guy with Metal Teeth
  • BloodHounds, Inc. #5: Fangs for the Memories (Video, 2000) - Mortimer
  • James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Computerspel, 2004) - Jaws (Stem)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Persondata
NAME Kiel, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1939-09-13
PLACE OF BIRTH Detroit, Michigan, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH