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 due to 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, Kelley Sanchez, director of communications, confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.
He was 74.

A cause of the death was not released.

Kiel, who has credits in more than 65 TV shows and 20 movies, was best known for playing the hulking, metal-mouthed Bond villain in “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Moonraker.”

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Kiel said he had multiple opportunities to cash in on the Jaws image, including a stunt bite on Marie Osmond's neck for a "Donny and Marie Show" skit, but he said in the 1978 interview that he passed on them all.

"I want to stay away from things that will typecast me," he said.

Kiel was also well known for playing Adam Sandler’s boss in the ‘90s comedy “Happy Gilmore.”