Jaws

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Jaws was inspired by Ian Fleming's description of Sol "Horror" Horowitz in the novel *The Spy Who Loved Me*, who possessed steel-capped teeth. During production, Albert R. Broccoli insisted on adding these steel teeth to Richard Kiel's character. Dental technician Peter Thomas constructed the appliances after initial attempts failed; however, Kiel found them so uncomfortable he could only wear them for less than one minute before gagging. In *The Spy Who Loved Me*, Jaws served Karl Stromberg as a ruthless assassin. His survival was secured after test screenings showed audiences loved him, changing his fate from death by shark to escape. By *Moonraker* (1979), the character shifted tone, becoming more comedic and eventually falling in love with Dolly, a mute woman who became the primary reason for his reformation against villain Hugo Drax.

In Their Own Story

In *The Spy Who Loved Me*, Jaws demonstrated uncanny durability, surviving an Egyptian structure's collapse, a van collision, being thrown from a moving train, and a car crash off a Sardinian cliff. His most famous survival involved battling a shark underwater before escaping Stromberg's sinking lair. In *Moonraker*, he survived falling thousands of feet after accidentally disabling his parachute, landing in a circus trapeze net. He also endured a cable car crash through a building and going over Iguazu Falls. After each incident, except the waterfall, he would dust off his jacket, straighten his tie, and walk away nonchalantly. The sequence concluded with Jaws escaping Drax's disintegrating space station in an escape pod with Dolly. There, they opened champagne, and Jaws spoke his only line in the franchise: "Well, here's to us." Plans for a third film in *For Your Eyes Only* were scrapped due to production changes.

Reader's Guide

Jaws represents the ultimate physical challenge for James Bond, requiring inventive tactics rather than brute force. In *The Spy Who Loved Me*, Bond escaped Jaws' unbreakable death grip by using a broken electric lamp to send an electric shock through his steel teeth. In *Moonraker*, Jaws' strength and durability forced Bond to rely on the environment and strategy. While primarily a henchman, his role expanded in other media: he appeared as a partner to Nick Nack in the animated series *James Bond Jr.* (1991) where he spoke regularly, and served as a boss or unlockable character in games like *GoldenEye 007* and *Everything or Nothing*. In Christopher Wood's novelization of *The Spy Who Loved Me*, Jaws is given the name Zbigniew Krycsiwiki, a Polish circus strongman turned mute assassin with steel jaws, though these details are not canonical to the films.

Did You Know?

• Jaws was originally scheduled to die in *The Spy Who Loved Me* by being eaten by a shark, but the scene was changed because test audiences loved the character so much.
• Richard Kiel could only wear his metal teeth for less than one minute at a time before he began gagging due to discomfort.
• In *Moonraker*, Jaws speaks his only line in the entire franchise: "Well, here's to us."
• The character was inspired by Sol "Horror" Horowitz from Ian Fleming's novel *The Spy Who Loved Me*, who had steel-capped teeth.
• In 2002, the actual metal teeth used in the films were displayed at the Science Museum in London for Dr. No's 40th anniversary.