Richard Kiel: Height, Condition, Net Worth, and Death

There are Bond villains you love to hate, and then there’s Jaws—the giant with steel teeth who somehow became a fan favorite. Richard Kiel brought that character to life with a presence that had nothing to do with dialogue and everything to do with sheer physicality. Here is a closer look at the man behind those metal chompers: his towering frame, the medical condition that shaped it, his net worth, friendship with Roger Moore, and the circumstances of his death at 74.

Height: 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) · Known for: Playing Jaws in two James Bond films · Birth: September 13, 1939 · Death: September 10, 2014 · Net worth at death: $1 million · Shoe size: 16 (US)

Eight key data points drawn from verified sources paint a portrait of the man behind the villain.

What condition did Richard Kiel have?

Acromegaly and gigantism

• Richard Kiel had acromegaly, a disorder of the pituitary gland that causes abnormal growth after puberty (Birth.Movies.Death, film culture site).
• The condition is caused by the overproduction of growth hormone by the pituitary gland (LTC News, long-term care news site).
• Acromegaly often leads to unusual height and exaggerated facial features (Birth.Movies.Death, film culture site).

Medical details from Wikipedia

• Wikipedia describes Kiel’s extraordinary height as “the result of a condition caused by an excess of human growth hormone” (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).
• The condition increased his risk of heart disease and high blood pressure (LTC News, long-term care news site).

The pattern: acromegaly shaped not only Kiel’s appearance but also his health trajectory, contributing to the mobility issues (cane, scooter) he experienced later in life (LTC News, long-term care news site).

What was Richard Kiel’s net worth when he died?

Financial details

• Net worth was estimated at $1 million at the time of death (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).
• No official probate record has been made public to confirm the exact figure.

Income sources

• Primary income came from acting, most notably the James Bond films and other movie roles such as The Longest Yard and Pale Rider.
• He also made appearances in television series and convention circuits, though these earnings are not separately documented.

The implication: while $1 million is a solid estate, it lags behind what many A-list action stars accumulate—underscoring that Kiel’s fame was cult-level rather than household-name wealth.

Were Roger Moore and Richard Kiel friends?

On-set relationship

• Roger Moore and Richard Kiel worked together on The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).
• Moore described Kiel as a “gentle giant” (Birth.Movies.Death, film culture site).

Public comments

• In interviews, Moore spoke warmly of Kiel’s humor and professionalism, but the extent of off-screen friendship is not fully documented.

The trade-off: on-set rapport was clearly strong, but whether they socialized regularly outside of filming remains unconfirmed—making this a confirmed professional friendship with possible personal warmth, not a documented close bond.

What was Richard Kiel’s cause of death?

Hospitalization details

• Kiel was hospitalized for a broken leg before his death (Birth.Movies.Death, film culture site).
• He died at age 74 on September 10, 2014, in Fresno, California (IMDb, film database).

Official cause

• Cause of death was a heart attack (acute myocardial infarction) (IMDb, film database).
• Wikipedia lists the cause as “heart disease,” a broader category (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).

The catch: the slight discrepancy between “heart attack” (IMDb) and “heart disease” (Wikipedia) is typical for celebrity death reporting—both point to cardiac failure, but the exact sequence (broken leg leading to hospitalization then heart attack) remains based on medium-confidence reports.

How tall was Richard Kiel and what was his shoe size?

Height

• Height: 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia). Some sources list 7 ft 1.5 in (2.17 m).

Shoe size

• Shoe size: 16 (US) (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).

Why this matters: those dimensions made Kiel one of the tallest actors in Hollywood history, and his shoe size—size 16—required custom footwear even for his iconic Bond scenes.

Timeline signal

• September 13, 1939: Richard Dawson Kiel born in Detroit, Michigan (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).
• 1977: Portrayed Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).
• 1979: Reprised role as Jaws in Moonraker (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia).
• September 10, 2014: Died at age 74 in Fresno, California (IMDb, film database).

What’s clear, what’s unclear

Quotes

“He was a gentle giant.”

— Roger Moore, quoted in Birth.Movies.Death, film culture site

Kiel’s acromegaly “is a disorder of the pituitary gland that causes abnormal growth after puberty… often leads to unusual height and exaggerated features.”

— Birth.Movies.Death, film culture site

For fans who grew up watching Jaws chew through Bond plots, Richard Kiel remains more than a villain—he’s a symbol of how a towering physique and a warm personality can coexist. The legacy is clear: a cult icon whose steel teeth overshadowed the real, far gentler man. For anyone researching his life, the verified facts confirm a remarkable story, while the gaps remind us that even the biggest figures leave some details unarchived.