Richard Kiel, who most famously played Jaws in two James Bond films starring Roger Moore, “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Moonraker,” and also appeared in Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore,” died Wednesday afternoon in a hospital in Fresno, Calif., three days shy of his 75th birthday.
TMZ first reported the news.
The actor had broken his leg earlier in the week, but it is not clear whether that contributed to his death.
Kiel had lent his voice to a James Bond videogame in 2003 but more recently had voiced Vlad for the animated film “Tangled” in 2010.
Kiel’s villainous Jaws was so popular with movie audiences who saw “The Spy Who Loved Me” that the character was made sympathetic in follow-up “Moonraker.”
Before his appearances in the Bond film in the mid to late ’70s, Kiel was perhaps best known for his roles in Burt Reynolds prison football film “The Longest Yard” and for appearing in several episodes of “The Wild Wild West” as an assistant to super-villain Miguelito Loveless (the diminutive Michael Dunn).
Younger audiences knew him best from “Happy Gilmore,” in which he played a golf spectator who threatens the villainous Shooter McGavin.
Source: Variety
