Richard Kiel

Lore & Background

Richard Kiel was born on September 13, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, to George Albert Kiel and Mary May Kiel. His extraordinary height resulted from an excess of human growth hormone. When he was nine, his family moved to the Greater Los Angeles area, where he graduated from Baldwin Park High School. Before acting, he worked as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman, a nightclub bouncer, a cemetery plot salesman, and a night school mathematics instructor at the William B. Ogden Radio Operational School in Burbank, California from 1963 to 1965.

Kiel's television career included the 1962 Twilight Zone episode 'To Serve Man,' where he portrayed the 9-foot-tall Kanamit aliens. He appeared in numerous series such as Laramie, I Dream of Jeannie, The Rifleman, Honey West, Gilligan's Island, The Monkees, Daniel Boone, Emergency!, Starsky & Hutch, Land of the Lost, Simon & Simon, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and The Fall Guy. He played Voltaire in a first-season episode of The Wild Wild West and appeared in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In 1977, he was considered for the role of the Hulk in the television series The Incredible Hulk but was replaced by Lou Ferrigno.

Kiel broke into films in the early 1960s with Eegah (1962). He played the metal-toothed villain Reace in Silver Streak (1976), which led to his casting as Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979). He also appeared in The Longest Yard (1974), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Cannonball Run II (1984), Pale Rider (1985), and Tangled (2010). He co-authored Kentucky Lion (2007) and published his autobiography Making It Big in the Movies (2002).

Reader's Guide

Richard Kiel's significance lies in his iconic portrayal of Jaws, one of the few Bond villains to appear in two films, which cemented his place in popular culture. His height made him a memorable presence in both villainous and comedic roles, such as Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore. Kiel's career demonstrated how physical attributes could be leveraged for lasting impact in film and television. His legacy includes a range of genre work from the 1960s through the 2010s, and his autobiography provides insight into his life as a tall actor. He remains a recognizable figure in James Bond history and among fans of classic television and film.

Did You Know?

• Richard Kiel stood 7 feet 1.5 inches (2.17 m) tall due to an excess of human growth hormone.
• He worked as a night school mathematics instructor from 1963 to 1965.
• Kiel was considered for the role of the Hulk in the 1970s television series but was replaced by Lou Ferrigno.
• He co-authored a biography of abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay titled Kentucky Lion (2007).

A Career Built on Extraordinary Presence

Richard Kiel's path to the screen was anything but conventional. Born in Detroit in 1939, he grew up with a condition that produced excess growth hormone, leaving him standing at seven feet and one and a half inches. Before ever stepping in front of a camera, he sold vacuum cleaners door to door, worked as a nightclub bouncer, hawked cemetery plots, and even taught mathematics at a night school in Burbank. His acting career began in the early 1960s with features like Eegah and The Phantom Planet, but it was television that first gave him a wide audience, most memorably in the 1962 Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man," where he embodied one of the towering Kanamit aliens. From there he moved steadily into feature films, landing roles in The Longest Yard, Silver Streak, and Force 10 from Navarone. His two Bond appearances as Jaws, the metal-toothed henchman in The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, cemented his image in popular culture. By the mid-1990s he had pivoted to comedy, trading sharp one-liners as Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore, and he even lent his voice to the surprisingly gentle thug Vlad in Disney's Tangled in 2010.

Defining Moments and Near Misses

Few actors can claim a story as colorful as Kiel's brush with the Incredible Hulk. In 1977, both he and Arnold Schwarzenegger were under consideration for the title role. Schwarzenegger was passed over for being too tall, and Kiel actually began filming the pilot. Yet the producers ultimately wanted a more muscular physique, and Kiel was let go. He later joked that he was hardly heartbroken, since the contact lenses he had to wear left him seeing out of only one eye, and the green makeup was both unpleasant and stubbornly difficult to wash off. His scenes were eventually reshot with Lou Ferrigno. The metal-toothed Jaws role proved equally grueling. Kiel explained that the prosthetic mouthpiece was so painful he could only keep it in for a few minutes at a stretch, which is why his on-screen appearances often showed him with his lips sealed or flashing a brief, menacing grin. In Pale Rider (1985), he subverted the henchman archetype by saving the hero from a fatal backshot, and in Happy Gilmore he traded rapid-fire quips with Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald, proving his comedic timing was as sharp as his physical presence.

Life Beyond the Spotlight

Away from the camera, Kiel led a grounded family life. He married Faye Daniels in 1960, but they divorced in 1973. A year later he wed Diane Rogers, a 5-foot-1-inch woman who later reflected that despite the dramatic height difference, the two of them "saw eye to eye on so many things." Their marriage endured for four decades, producing four children and eventually nine grandchildren. Kiel was a born-again Christian, and he credited his religious conversion with helping him overcome alcoholism. His interests extended well beyond acting: he co-authored Kentucky Lion (2007), a biography of the abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, with Pamela Wallace, and he published his own autobiography, Making It Big in the Movies, in 2002. He also produced, co-wrote, and starred in The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1991), a project that let him take a more hands-on creative role. His family had relocated from Detroit to the Greater Los Angeles area when he was just nine, and he graduated from Baldwin Park High School before his career took off.

Legacy and Final Days

Kiel's physical stature made him a singular presence on screen, and his legacy is inseparable from that fact. He remains one of the very few Bond villains to appear in two separate films, and his image as Jaws has been carried forward into the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, where he supplied both voice and likeness. His early work, particularly Eegah, has found a second life through cult favorites like Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Elvira's Movie Macabre. Even in his later years he continued to surprise audiences, voicing Vlad in Tangled—a thug who collects ceramic unicorns—showing a warmth that contrasted with his usual intimidating roles. Kiel's career spanned more than four decades, from a brief non-speaking walk-out of a gym in The Nutty Professor (1963) to that 2010 animated feature. He passed away on September 10, 2014, at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California, from heart disease, just three days shy of his seventy-fifth birthday.

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