Richard Kiel
From MST3K
Contents |
MSTied Movies
Eegah
The Human Duplicators
The Magic Sword (uncredited, as "Pinhead")
The Phantom Planet
Biography
At a towering 7 feet 2 inches, Richard Dawson Kiel (born 13 September 1939 in Detroit, MI) worked in numerous jobs, including a night-club bouncer and a cemetery-plot salesman, before breaking into film & TV in several minor roles in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Notable among these were the alien "Kanamit" in the classic The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" (1959) and the prehistoric caveman who terrorized Arch Hall Jr. in Eegah (1962).
Kiel turned up in two episodes of the classic horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974), on one occasion playing a Native American evil spirit with the ability to transform into various animals. On his second appearance, Kiel was unrecognizable as a Spanish-moss-covered Louisiana swamp monster brought to life by a patient involved in deep-sleep therapy.
His biggest break came in 1977 when he was cast as the unstoppable steel-toothed henchman "Jaws" in the James Bond series The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Kiel's popularity with movie audiences was such that his character was brought back for the next Bond outing, Moonraker (1979). However, audiences' opinions were quite split when Kiel's "Jaws" character changed sides near the film's conclusion and assisted 007 (Roger Moore) in saving the earth.
Over the next few years, Kiel appeared in relatively nondemanding comedy or fantasy-type films, taking advantage of his physical stature and presence. Kiel then decided to try his hand behind the camera and co-wrote and produced (and played the lead role in) the well-received family movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1991).
Demand for Kiel's unique attributes dropped very sharply in the 1990s, leading to only a handful of roles, including reprising his "Jaws" character in the Matthew Broderick film Inspector Gadget (1999).
In 2002, Kiel penned his informative autobiography entitled Making it BIG in the Movies.
Trivia
- Original choice to play the title character in the television series The Incredible Hulk (1978). After 2 days of filming, it was decided that he was not "bulky" enough for the role. He was paid for the two movies of the week and was replaced by Lou Ferrigno. Kiel was happy this happened because he only had sight in one eye and the full contact lenses were bothering him.
- In 1992, he was in a serious automobile accident that affected his balance and now walks using a walking stick or rides a battery-powered scooter if he has to go very far. In the movie Happy Gilmore (1996), he is never seen walking, and almost all of his scenes are from the waist up. There are only two full-body scenes, and both times he is leaning on something.
- Worked as a bouncer at a Los Angeles nightclub before being recruited by Arch Hall Sr. for the lead role in Eegah (1962).
- His son Richard George appears in the film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as the little boy on the beach pointing out to the upcoming car that James Bond is driving from the water.[1]
- Says Kiel, “My wife is 5' 4" and everybody asks me how we do it.”
- A born-again Christian and teetotaler, Kiel is a frequent speaker at religious functions.
Filmography
1996 Happy Gilmore
1991 Giant of Thunder Mountain
1990 Think Big
1985 Pale Rider
1984 Mad Mission 3: "Our Man from Bond Street"
1984 Cannonball Run II
1983 Hysterical
1981 So Fine
1979 Moonraker
1979 L'Umanoide
1978 They Went That-A-Way and That-A-Way
1978 The Phoenix
1978 Force 10 from Navarone
1977 The Spy Who Loved Me
1976 Silver Streak
1976 Gus
1975 Flash and the Firecat
1974 The Barbary Coast
1974 The Longest Yard
1972 Now You See It, Now You Don't
1968 Skidoo
1967 The Monkees: "I Was a Teenage Monster"
1967 A Man Called Dagger
1966 The Las Vegas Hillbillys
1966 Gilligan's Island: "Ghost a Go-Go"
1965 I Dream of Jeannie: "My Hero?"
1964 The Human Duplicators
1964 The Nasty Rabbit
1964 Roustabout
1963 House of the Damned
1962 The Twilight Zone: "To Serve Man"
1962 The Magic Sword
1962 Eegah
1962 Lassie's Great Adventure
1961 The Phantom Planet[2]
