(CNN) -- Richard Kiel, the actor best known for playing the James Bond villain "Jaws," died Wednesday at a California hospital, St. Agnes Medical Center spokeswoman Kelley Sanchez said.

The cause of death for the 74-year-old actor has not been released.

The 7-foot-2-inch actor, who was born in Detroit in 1939, won over audiences worldwide in the 1970s as the steel-toothed character Jaws in the Roger Moore Bond classics "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker."

In later years, he turned his hand to writing and producing as well as acting, including in the 1991 movie "The Giant of Thunder Mountain," according to IMDB.
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I liked him in Happy Gilmore as well as Jaws.

...
I liked him in Happy Gilmore as well as Jaws.

Was just a tad too weird for me to Like a post about someone dying, but I just have to agree .. he was pretty great in Happy Gilmore

Watching the Bond films as a kid he was the only villain to actually terrify me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G52aaTFibHo

One of my all time favorites.... This isn't the edited for television clip so don't play it out loud at work or around your children.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGjEZIZQIIk

And this one....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84VVZEw9vBs

R.I.P. Jaws. Sorry you bit the big one.

R.I.P. Jaws. Sorry you bit the big one.

Groan..... :-P

Groan..... :-P

Someone had to say it.

Last year I decided to buy a hat. I've never worn a hat before. I have a very large head. I got measured for the hat, and then looked at celebrity hat sizes to compare. Richard Kiel was the only person with a bigger head than me.

Rest in peace, big guy.

Recall reading some time ago that Kiel had some physical problems/issues arising from his extraordinary height, and if I'm not mistaken he had some injuries from a vehicle (or similar) accident - in fact, I think they creatively filmed his scenes in Happy Gilmore to obscure the fact that he needed some help standing for extended periods/moving around. If I can find a link I'll post it.

Hah, found it, albeit from Wikipedia:



In 1992, Kiel suffered a severe head injury in a car accident, which affected his balance. He was subsequently forced to walk with a cane to support himself (as shown in his appearance in the movie Happy Gilmore, where he is seen leaning on a person or a cane). He was also seen using a scooter or wheelchair in Welcome to Sweden.

He died three days shy of his 75th birthday, and had been admitted to the hospital after breaking his leg a few days ago. No info on whether the latter was an indirect contributor to his passing.

The guy had a nice voice. Too bad that in a lot of his movies he wasn't allowed to or able to use it.

Keil was in 41 movies and in almost an equal number of TV shows. Interesting fact: for two years Keil was a night school math teacher. Are you going to argue when he says 2 + 2 = 5?
Here's the wiki on Keil: Richard_Kiel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kiel)