Richard Kiel, best known as the James Bond villain so popular they brought him back for another movie straight away, has died, it has been announced. He suffered from a medical condition which made him grow to over seven feet in height, but made it his forte when called upon to play the intimidating heavy in many television and film roles, often without any lines.
His first real impact on movie fans was as the caveman in Eegah!, which went on to be a big favourite with bad movie buffs and raised his profile; soon he was showing up in such works as The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis, Roustabout with Elvis Presley, The Twilight Zone (in classic episode To Serve Man), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, The Monkees (one of his best loved TV appearances), Las Vegas Hillbillys, The Wild Wild West, Skidoo, Deadhead Miles, The Mean Machine (another fan favourite), two monsters on Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Starsky and Hutch, then the film that led to his Bond role, Silver Streak where he played a prototype of his steel-toothed Jaws character. In The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker Kiel proved he could play comedy as well as menace, one of the iconic baddies of the seventies who was so well-appreciated they made him a goodie by the end.
After that, he appeared in movies around the world, from a starring part in The Humanoid (an Italian Star Wars rip-off) to Phoenix (in Taiwan) and Mad Mission entry Our Man from Bond Street (in Hong Kong). Clint Eastwood used him in Pale Rider and he was inspired to create his own starring role in the family friendly Giant of Thunder Mountain, but around this time he was injured in a car crash and his appearances tailed off, though Adam Sandler cast him in one of his last high profile roles in Happy Gilmore. A genuine cult star thanks to his imposing build, it was always good to see him; Kiel became a Christian to get over the alcoholism brought about by his global fame, and also wrote books when in semi-retirement. His last film used his voice in Disney fable Tangled.
