![Image](http://intimateexcellent.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/la-times-logo1.jpg)
Richard Kiel, the towering actor who
played 007's 'Jaws,' has died
![Image](http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130420070857/inspectorgadget/images/7/7a/Richard_Kiel.jpg)
By Ryan Parker
SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 8:10 PM
Richard Kiel, the 7-foot-2 actor best known for portraying the James Bond villain Jaws, never wanted to be typecast as a dimwitted character just because of his enormous stature.
While his towering physique may have made him intimidating, he was not dumb, he told the Los Angeles Times during a 1978 interview.
"If I wanted to be a trial attorney, I could have been. If I wanted to be a real estate magnate, I could have been that too," he said.
Instead, Kiel chose to become one of the most identifiable character actors in cinema history, as well as a writer and producer.
Kiel died Wednesday at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, Kelley Sanchez, director of communications, confirmed to the Los Angeles Times. He was 74.
A cause of the death was not released.
Full story<