Richard Kiel | Bond films' Jaws, 74

Richard Kiel, 74, the towering actor best known for portraying steel-toothed villain Jaws in a pair of James Bond films, has died.

Kelley Sanchez, director of communications at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, Calif., confirmed Wednesday that Mr. Kiel was a patient at the hospital and died. Mr. Kiel's agent, Steven Stevens, also confirmed his death. Neither provided further details.

The 7-foot-2 performer famously played the cable-chomping henchman who tussled with Roger Moore's Bond in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me and 1979's Moonraker. Bond quipped of the silent baddie: "His name's Jaws. He kills people."

Despite appearing in other films and TV shows, such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Longest Yard, the role of Jaws was an iconic one Mr. Kiel could never escape.

"To this day, I go out in sunglasses and a hat because people will shout 'Hey, Jaws!' at me from across the street," he told the Daily Mail this year.

He published an autobiography in 2002 titled Making It Big in the Movies. - AP