James Bond's metal-toothed nemesis Richard Kiel dies at 74

Richard Kiel, the actor who played imposing metal-toothed henchman Jaws in two James Bond films, has died aged 74. Kiel appeared in the Roger Moore maritime and space capers The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977 and Moonraker, two years later. His character joined a very short list of competent adversaries to grapple with and give HM’ …

[Mr_Pitiful]

RIP Jaws

You will be missed!

[JeffyPoooh]

Over 7 feet tall and he reportedly suffered from fear of heights…

Seemed like a nice guy, somehow it shone through. RIP.

[Kevin Johnston]

Sad news

Really liked the way he played the role in both films and his conversion from the dark side was nicely scripted.

All in all it was a good role to get your teeth into

Yes...I've gone now

[wolfetone]

The only bad guy I ever liked. As a kid watching him, I wanted to be him. Not because of the teeth but he was just so imposing as a person and, to me, probably a lot tougher than James Bond. He'll be missed.

Also, loved him in Cannonball Run 2.

[Shady]

The Humanoid

I had a soft spot for this film as a kid, probably has not stood the test of time though...

[Fungus Bob]

Re: The Humanoid

And Eegah.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055946/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_70

[Danny 14]

Re: The Humanoid

He was in happy Gilmore too as the guy with a nail in his head.

[Alister]

It's strange, I could have sworn he'd done more than two Bond films, but it is apparently not the case. He obviously made a great impact, as I remember all the scenes - the Egyptian temple, and what he did to that Sherpa van, the cable car - sinking his teeth into braided liquorice, crashing a Peugeot through a farmer's roof, the skydive into the circus, and of course the Moonraker space scenes.

A great bloke, will be sadly missed.

[earl grey]

RIP sir.

Condolences to friends and family. You really were one of the good guys.

[Tom 35]

Moonraker

Jaws was about the only good thing in that movie.

[Alan Edwards]

Re: Moonraker

Oh, I don't know...

Holly Goodhead (the name, and Lois Chiles)

"Mr, Bond. You appear with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season"

[icetrout]

Re: Moonraker

along with his girlfriend Dolly... :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Miss the bloke, not the (Bond) films

Sorry, but the Roger Moore-era Bonds were an absolute travesty of the original character, and IMO taint all the good actors who appeared in them. Which makes it all the more annoying that my favourite Bond chase sequence is the boat chase in Live and Let Die.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Miss the bloke, not the (Bond) films

I thought the Man with the Golden Gun was pretty good!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Miss the bloke, not the (Bond) films

Best chase stunt, Man With The Golden Gun, bridge out jump. 100% classic and none of that CGI crap. The look on Clifton James face made you believe he was really about to go across.

[VinceH]

Re: Miss the bloke, not the (Bond) films

Clifton James... someone else who's character, while not being (per the article) "Bond, his good-guy team and Ernst Stavro Blofeld" appeared in more than one Bond film. Robbie Coltrane was another who immediately springs to mind. There may be more, but I can't think of any offhand.

The bridge jump.

But whatever, RIP Richard Kiel.

[Dan Paul]

Downvotes on an Obituary?

Can anyone tell me why someone downvotes a commenter on an obituary article.

Seems alot like bad form to me. Any negative response on the use of puns should have been in reply rather than downvoting.

[Tapeador]

Re: Downvotes on an Obituary?

I don't know, nor do I know why you got three downvotes in response to that question, as opposed to an actual comment which surely wouldn't have been much more difficult.

The downvoting reminds me of what Peter Dinklage's character describes in GoT, of a third party offscreen who would take pleasure in nothing except bashing beetles with a rock and going "ugh, ugh, ugh", merely because he could.

[Gis Bun]

Hmmm

RIP.

He wasn't really a nemesis by the end of Moonraker - unfortunately a real goofy ending of a film.

[chivo243]

The Longest Yard

He had a great quote in the "R" movie when he's wearing a plaster cast arm and clothes lined a guy then said:

"I broke his fuckin neck"... was poorly dubbed freakin on TV.

I think Burt Reynolds was in it too?

[Kevin Johnston]

Re: The Longest Yard

Yep, Burt was the quarterback.....this was re-made as Mean Machine in an British setting with Vinnie Jones in Burt's role forming a team of prisoners to take on the guard's football team.

[Vic]

Re: The Longest Yard

this was re-made as Mean Machine in an British setting

The original was also known as "Mean Machine" in the UK (and possibly other territories).

Vic.

[TimeMaster T]

I can remember some of the other villains /henchpersons from the all the Bond films I've watched over the years but Jaws is the only one I can name and who always comes to mind first when someone mentions Bond adversaries.

Favorite scene in Spy who loved me was when Jaws was fighting a shark, and winning. Come to think of it what else happened in that movie? something about submarines, or was that Never say Never Again?

Anyway.

Condolences to his family, and a raised pint to his memory.

[Anonymous Coward]

@TimeMaster T

How can you not remember the name of Dr No? Appeared in the first Bond film and the real clue is that his name is also the name of the film. Goldfinger is another easy one to remember.

[Anonymous Coward]

He said no to the Darth Vader part in Star Wars

for Jaws in James Bond. Wonder if he regretted that.

RIP.

[PaulyV]

Re: He said no to the Darth Vader part in Star Wars

No reason to - he got his face in front of millions...I may be wrong but Dave Prowse often seems a bit miffed with that role.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: He said no to the Darth Vader part in Star Wars

Well, the name "David Prowse" was associated with three huge films but you wouldn't know what he looked like or what he sounded like - that's got to be a bit annoying for an actor! Especially as I vaguely recall that the re-dubbing by James Earl Jones was an afterthought.

Jaws may not have said much, but when he did it was his own voice ...

[Winston Smith]

"To Serve Man"

Would that be a suitable epitaph, do you think?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734684/

RIP, big guy.

[asdf]

wow

How can anyone forget the biggest role of his career as an extra in Happy Gilmore? I keed but I did enjoy that movie more than I did the biggest POS Bond film in history which as Moonraker.

[Adam 1]

Re: wow

No one wants to be outed as a viewer of Adam Sandler movies.

[asdf]

Re: wow

Sadly so these days. Adam Sandler's career arc has followed Eddie Murphy's except Eddie was actually funny at one time.

[PhilipN]

Funny or money

It was EM who said he stopped worrying about not being funny "Eighty Million Dollars ago".

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Funny or money

Who? I know you aren't referring to Eugene McCarthy.

[I ain't Spartacus]

Re: Funny or money

Ed Miliband?

[armyknife]

...

He seems to have given a little bit of entertainment to a lot of people; rather a decent thing to aspire to or have done.

By the sound of it a good bloke.

[Muskiier]

He was a nice humble guy

I had the honour and pleasure of doing a couple of very pleasant and fun public appearances with him way back in the 80's - he was the star guest and I was a young radio host doing the promotional cut ins. He was a very nice guy, easy-going, congenial, nice to spend time with. My condolences to his family and friends.

[JCitizen]

Talk about an icon!!!!

I put him up there with the likes of Ted Cassidy, and Robert Maillet. RIP Richard Kiel - may your performances live in movie history forever!

[liquidsmoke66]

I wonder if he died of Mercury Poisoning?

RIP. My favourite bond villain!

[Amorous Cowherder]

A sad day

Didn't he do a Shreaded Wheat ad once?

No one remembers actors who play the good guys be we always remember a villain!

[jelabarre59]

Voltaire

Don't forget, he was also Dr Loveless' assistant in early episodes of Wild Wild West. Of course, I expect he'd have wanted to forget the film "So Fine", where he had the misfortune of acting with Ryan O'Neal.

[virhunter]

Good night sweet prince.

RIP in peace

[PaulR79]

Genuinely upset to see this

I saw the headline on the awful BBC site and my reaction was one of sorrow. He may not have been in a lot of memorable movies but I always remember seeing him in the Bond movies when I was quite young. He looked scary but had that very human side to him that meant he goofed up perhaps more than a standard henchman should. Who would dare fire him though? From all that I've read about him over the years (I wondered what he was doing some time back) he always seemed a very genuine and kind soul. RIP Richard Kiel.

[Jim 59]

...his character earned the rare distinction – reserved for just Bond, his good-guy team and Ernst Stavro Blofeld – of appearing in more than one Bond storyline.

And the only Bond villain to have made friends with Bond ?

If there was any justice in the world, he would have had a role in Austin Powers, too.

[placeforhandle]

Also Pale Rider...

...a decent western in which he also manages to play a scary bad guy who turns out to have a more human side.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089767/

[mark jacobs]

What a shame!

For a man with octophallic terata, he never did find his octopussy!