Kiel Sinks Teeth Into Novel

Richard Kiel's best known for playing hulking thugs such as steel-toothed James Bond villain Mr. Jaws, but these days the character actor's working hard to build a second career, as a historical novelist. To wit: He just finished writing a 542-page novel on the life of 19th-century abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, a book he'd eventually like to turn into a TV miniseries.

"A lot of people who've seen me on talk shows know I'm really not like Jaws," the soft-spoken seven-footer tells TV Guide Online, adding that despite his current passion for all things past, "I found history in school totally boring. History, the way it's taught in school, doesn't get into the 'Why' about anything. The Why is the most important thing. History's about people!"

Kiel says he hopes to share some day his extensive research on Clay with his world-famous namesake, a boxer who became better known by his adopted Muslim name, Muhammad Ali. "I read Muhammad Ali's book, The Greatest, and he thought he got the name because he had this white man's blood in him," says Kiel. "It was because [Clay] stood up for what was right in the midst of the headquarters for slavery. I'd like for him to read this because there are a lot of things about history that have been stylized and perverted, in terms of painting everybody as bad."

Kiel, whose recent movie appearances include Happy Gilmore and Inspector Gadget, certainly hasn't given up on showbiz. He stars in a new children's home-video series, Bloodhound, Inc., and appears opposite Jason Connery in the upcoming pic Return of the Thief of Baghdad (working title).

"Like his father, he can play all kinds of parts," says Kiel of the son of James Bond actor Sean Connery. "He's a good actor — and they both have similar hairlines."