THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH IN THOSE DAYS

It is we heavy heart that we must mark the passing of one of this world’s gentle giants, Richard Kiel. He’s probably best known for his role as the lovable assassin Jaws from the James Bond series, but around these parts we associate him more with such epics as Hysterical, Creation of the Humanoids and, of course, Eegah. Where would this blog be today without Eegah? On top of his prolific movie career, we’ve also enjoyed seeing Mr. Kiel make guest appearances in just about every TV show worth watching from the 60s and 70s. C’mon, look at that picture up there. That’s TV gold.

We linked to it a long time back, but The B-Movie Cast’s interview with Richard Kiel is still worth checking out. In it, Kiel discusses his long acting career and his attempt to bring the story of Cassius Clay (the southern abolitionist, not the boxer) to life, a project he was still working on when he died. Kiel was also an ardent evangelical. There's an interesting testimonial on his home page where he discusses his struggle with alcohol and how he conquered it through prayer. All in all, he was a pretty good guy.

Richard Kiel, the world will be a little less full without his presence, but at least there’s comfort in the thought that there’s probably a size extra-large halo waiting for him at the pearly gates. Eternal rest grant unto Richard Kiel, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May he rest in peace.