Richard Keele is an American actor best known for playing Jaws in two of Bondiana’s films: The Spy Who Loved Me and The Lunar Racer. Due to his unusual appearance, he had to play mainly villains. During his career, he has played more than eighty roles in television and movies.
Biography
Richard Dawson Keel was born in Detroit, Michigan on September 13, 1939. In his youth, he did all kinds of work, selling plots in cemeteries and working as a bouncer in a nightclub. And in the late 1950s, he was offered minor roles on American television.
Its high growth (2.18 m) and features of appearance were the result of acromegaly, when the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone. This provided him with the constant roles of various freaks and aliens in such films as The Twilight Zone and Mankiz. He also featured in a low-budget horror movie of category B Eegah (1962) and showed his acting talent in Human Duplicators (1964). Other works included episodic roles in Jerry Lewis' comedy The Nutty Professor (1963) and, together with Elvis Presley, in The Employment Worker (1964).
Popular roles and new films
Richard Keele appeared in two episodes of the classic horror series Kolchak: The Night Hunter (1974). In one, he played the evil spirit of Native Americans, capable of transforming into different animals. At his second appearance, he was unrecognizable as a resuscitated patient involved in deep sleep therapy.
However, his biggest breakthrough came in 1977, when he starred as Jaw in the best Roger Moore movie in the Bond series The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). His popularity was so high that his hero was returned to the next release of Bond by Lunar Racer (1979).
When Albert Cubby Broccoli first approached him with a proposal for the role of the Jaw, Richard Keel initially hesitated. He wanted to break away from the role of the tenant and play, as he put it, "ordinary helpers or villains." It seems that it was Kil who convinced Broccoli to make Jaws a more sympathetic character in Lunar Racer: he wanted this character, which kills people with his teeth, to have a human side, which would make him more interesting.
During the filming, Richard Keele complained that the teeth he had to wear were so uncomfortable that they made him feel bad, and he could only tolerate them for short periods of time.
After this role, his career reached a peak. But he continued to star in several other films, including The Pale Horseman (1985), Lucky Gilmore (1996) and Inspector Gadget (1999), and also appeared regularly on television. In the interval between the Bond films in 1978, he was offered the role of the Incredible Hulk on television, but after two days in the studio he was refused because he was not bulky enough and the role was given to bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno.
Over the next few years, Richard Keele appeared in relatively undemanding comedy or science fiction films, mainly due to his physical form. Then he decided to try his hand at the camera, co-authored and produced, and starred in the main role of the well-received family film The Giant from the Thunder Mountain (1991). Demand for Richard Keel's unique appearance fell sharply in the 1990s, which led him to play only a few roles.
Personal life
Actor Richard Keel first married Faye Daniels in 1960. The marriage was dissolved in 1973. The following year, he married Diane Rogers, with whom he lived until his death. They had four children.
Keele struggled with alcoholism for some time. After a serious car accident in 1992, he was forced to use buggies or canes to move around on his own. In subsequent years, he founded a manufacturing company, became a Christian believer, and wrote books, including an autobiography.
He had six grandchildren, including Richard Dawson, George James Keel III (born to the son of Richard the Younger and his wife Lisa), Cadence Keel (born to the son of Bennett and his wife Susanna).
He has three sons left: Richard Dawson, George James Keele Jr., Chris and Bennett, and daughter Jennifer.
Interesting Facts
He owned a film company in Oakhurst, California.
His son Richard George appears in the movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). He got the role of a little boy on the beach, pointing to the car that James Bond takes out of the water.
He was offered the role of Chewbacca in Star Wars (1977), which he refused in favor of Jaws in the movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
He was very afraid of heights, which prevented him from performing some of the stunts in the role of the Jaw, so Martin Grace, the understudy of Roger Moore, replaced him. The stunt man did an excellent job of conveying Kiel's movements, although he was a pound lower. But when watching movies, no one could distinguish them from each other.
He participated in several Scandinavian conventions on sci-fi games and films held in different cities of Sweden.
In Spain, Richard Keale is known as Tiburon.
He lived in a purpose-built house with a floor several feet below ground level.
Despite the fact that he often played big, scary people, he was known as a kind and friendly person who was friends with many with whom he had a chance to work.
He was fluent in German.
He died three days before his 75th birthday in a hospital after falling home, as a result of which he broke his right leg.