Today we bring you the sad news that Richard Kiel — the towering actor who embodied renown James Bond villain, Jaws — has died at the age of 74.
The 7-foot-2 actor passed away on Wednesday morning in a Californian hospital; though the medical staff is yet to release an official cause of death, citing client confidentiality.
His agent, Steve Stevens, released the following statement.
“He was a very loyal friend and client for over 35 years, a terrific husband and father, and was not only a giant actor but a giant man”.
Kiel was perhaps best known for his aforementioned role as the Bond villain Jaws; a role he brought a tremendous amount of gravitas to during his back-to-back appearances in Roger Moore’s The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). And though the memorable baddie was slated to be killed off during the finale of The Spy Who Loved Me originally, fans of the franchise took to Kiel’s screen presence so well that Moore and co. decided to redraft the script.
More recently, the actor appeared alongside Adam Sandler for goofy golf comedy Happy Gilmore, in which he played the hilarious caddy, Mr. Lawson. And Kiel even lent his vocal chords for 2010’s animated hit Tangled, a role that also cast him as the villain Vlad.
Our thoughts go out to Richard Kiel’s family and friends at this time. From all of us here at We Got This Covered, thanks for the memories.
