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Richard Kiel
	1939-2014
Richard Kiel, who played the towering, steel-toothed baddie "Jaws" in two James Bond movies, has died aged 74.
The 2.18-metre actor, who made a career playing giants and villains, died on Wednesday in the Saint Agnes Medical Centre in Fresno, California, spokeswoman Kelley Sanchez said.
He would have been 75 on Saturday.

Besides Jaws, Kiel appeared opposite Adam Sandler in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore and he also voiced Vlad in Disney's Oscar-nominated animated film Tangled. He had his big break with his 007 performances: Kiel was an immediate favourite of filmgoers in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) fighting 007 star Roger Moore, and returning two years later in Moonraker.
"I had convinced the producer that Jaws should have some characteristics that were human to counteract the steel teeth," he said, cited by the Hollywood Reporter in a 2009 interview.
"I guess I overdid it - I became too likeable to kill off!"
On the small screen Kiel played an alien in The Twilight Zone in 1959 and appeared in horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker in the 1970s.

	I … convinced the producer that Jaws should have some [human] characteristics

	RICHARD KIEL
Born in Detroit, Kiel - who had worked as a nightclub bouncer and cemetery plot salesman before show business - also appeared in TV shows including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West.
Other big-screen credits included playing a hitman alongside Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor in 1976 comedy Silver Streak, as well as The Longest Yard (1974) with Burt Reynolds.
In 1978 he appeared in Force 10 From Navarone and in 1985 he worked with Clint Eastwood on Pale Rider.
He also took a turn behind the camera, co-writing and producing the 1991 family movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain, in which he also starred. He reprised his Jaws character in 1999 action movie Inspector Gadget with Matthew Broderick.
In 2002 he published his autobiography, appropriately called Making it Big in the Movies.
The TMZ celebrity news website, which first reported his death, said Kiel had been in hospital since breaking his leg last week. The hospital spokeswoman could not confirm that.
While Jaws defined his career, Kiel said he did not consider it his greatest achievement, according to Entertainment Weekly.
"My best part would probably be Captain Drazak in Force 10 from Navarone. A lot of people don't even know it's me because I had a big beard and a great costume," it quoted him as saying.
"As Jaws, I start off as a bad guy and turn into a good guy whereas in this I appear to be a good guy and turn into a really nasty guy."


Richard Kiel, towering actor whose big break was playing Bond villain Jaws

Richard Kiel, as Jaws, gets to grips with Roger Moore's James Bond. Photo: AFP

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Towering star made name as steel-toothed baddie Jaws in two 1970s spy movies


Richard Kiel, who played the towering, steel-toothed baddie "Jaws" in two James Bond movies, has died aged 74.


Richard Kiel, towering actor whose big break was playing Bond villain Jaws

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Towering star made name as steel-toothed baddie Jaws in two 1970s spy movies

Towering star made name as steel-toothed baddie Jaws in two 1970s spy movies