DHAKA: Actor Richard Kiel - who played steel-toothed villain Jaws in two James Bond films - has died in California aged 74, BBC reports. 

The towering American star, who appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977 and Moonraker in 1979, died in hospital in Fresno on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Saint Agnes Medical Center confirmed Kiel's death, but did not reveal the cause.

The 7ft 2in (2.18m) actor also appeared in the sports comedy Happy Gilmore, starring Adam Sandler, in 1996.

Kiel made his name as cable-chomping henchman Jaws opposite Roger Moore as 007.

He was a guest on BBC's Radio 4 programme The Reunion, which aired on Sunday, along with Moore and Bond actress Britt Ekland, recalling their parts in the spy series.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Kiel had the hormonal condition acromegaly, which was said to have contributed to his height.

His first break came in 1959 when he played the alien Kanamit in Twilight Zone.

He published an autobiography in 2002, called Making It Big In The Movies.

His other acting roles included deadly assistant Voltaire in The Wild, Wild West opposite Will Smith and as Eli Weaver in The Giant of Thunder Mountain.

BDST: 0914 HRS, SEP 11, 2014