Hey, guys. Quint here with another bit of sad news for film fans. The irony of a weird internet nerd nicknamed “Quint” writing about the passing of a man famous for playing a character nicknamed “Jaws” has not escaped me.
I can't claim to be an expert about the life and career of Richard Kiel, but I can say that I always smiled whenever he popped up in a movie or TV show. Kinda like fellow character actor Jack Elam, Kiel always made an impression. He used his 7+ foot tall stature to his advantage, playing a bevy of intimidating characters and I always thought he was at his best when he subverted that a little bit, like he did in Happy Gilmore. If you remember, his Mr. Larson started off as the comically over the top pissed-off ex-boss of Happy and eventually became his biggest cheerleader.
While he's famous for his Bond work, I first saw Kiel in his OTHER metal mouthed '70s villain performance: Silver Streak. He was pitted against Gene Wilder, both men playing perfectly to their strengths. Kiel was the imposing assassin and Wilder was the average guy who had to find the hero within himself.
He followed that film up with the role he would be remembered for, as Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me. Jaws was based on the character “Horror” in Ian Fleming's book and like any Bond henchman, he was supposed to die at the end of The Spy Who Loved Me, but Kiel was so cool in the role that they let him live. Jaws returned in Moonraker, the silliest of all Bond movies, and actually becomes a good guy. The internet tells me there were plans to bring Jaws back in For Your Eyes Only, but the higher ups decided to distance the franchise from the goofier tone of his Bonds.
I wonder what the James Bond series would look like if Kiel hadn't been cast in the role. It's very likely a less interesting actor would have ensured Jaws didn't make it out of The Spy Who Loved Me as originally planned.
Kiel did a whole lot of TV work (as most character actors do), with one of the highlights being the alien in the often referenced To Serve Man episode of The Twilight Zone.
The man also appeared in Man From UNCLE, Kolchak, Gilligan's Island, Barbary Coast, Starsky & Hutch and tons more.
His other film work that jumps to mind is Cannonball Run II, The Longest Yard, Force 10 From Navarone (which isn't the best movie, but happened to star the real Quint, Robert Shaw, and a young Harrison Ford), the '60s B-movie cult classic The Phantom Planet and Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider.
One more thing I want to mention before wrapping this up is something I didn't find out about until reading some discussion of his life and career post announcement of his passing. Kiel was originally cast as The Incredible Hulk, winning the part over Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He even shot for a bit, green make-up and all, before the producers decided they wanted someone more muscular, trading his giant stature for a more bulky figure.
Comic book creator Mark Millar blogged about this and included the below photo, which features one of the only shots of Kiel as the Hulk to make it to TV screens.
Mr. Kiel claimed a chunk of film history equal to his substantial size. He not only made his mark in film and TV, he also enriched the lives of tens of thousands of fans with his regular con appearances. Do a Google search for his name and you'll see hundreds of photos of him with fans, most of them with his giant hands wrapped around their adoring faces in a recreation of his famous fight with Roger Moore.
He was good to those who adored his work and I have to imagine they returned the favor tenfold at every convention.
Today my thoughts will be with Mr. Kiel's friends, family and fans.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
