Nick Nack

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Jaws first appeared in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me as a henchman to the villain, Karl Stromberg. He was an assassin, and is last seen swimming in the ocean after escaping from the Atlantis city ship on which James Bond had killed Stromberg before it was torpedoed and sunk. In the next film, Moonraker (1979), Jaws is employed by both Bond's unspecified enemy in the pre-credits sequence, and the main villain Hugo Drax. In his second appearance Jaws changed from a ruthless and unstoppable killing machine to more of a comedic figure and he eventually turns against Drax and helps Bond defeat him. Jaws also has an uncanny ability to survive any misfortune seemingly unscathed and come back to challenge Bond again. In The Spy Who Loved Me, Jaws survives an Egyptian structure's collapse on top of him, being hit by a van, being thrown from a rapidly moving train, sitting in the passenger seat of a car which veers off a cliff in Sardinia and lands in a hut below, a battle underwater with a shark and the destruction of Stromberg's lair. In Moonraker, he survives falling several thousand feet after accidentally disabling his own parachute, a crash through a building inside a runaway cable car and going over Iguazu Falls. After each of these incidents, he always picks himself up, dusts off his jacket and straightens his tie in a Bond manner and nonchalantly walks away.

In Their Own Story

Played by Richard Kiel, the character of Jaws was inspired by Ian Fleming's description of a hoodlum named Sol 'Horror' Horowitz in his novel The Spy Who Loved Me. When Horror speaks, he reveals steel-capped teeth. The initial script of The Spy Who Loved Me concluded with Jaws being killed by the shark but, after a rough test screening, Jaws was so well-liked that the scene was changed to have him survive. In the storyboard of the sequence from Moonraker (1979), Jaws appeared with an Emilio Largo-style eyepatch, and a moustache, neither of which were seen in the films. The character's teeth play a prominent role in the films. Albert R. Broccoli is credited with adding steel teeth to the character for The Spy Who Loved Me. Katharina Kubrick Hobbs designed the teeth as cog-like in shape, as she felt that pointed teeth could have injured Kiel. Broccoli originally hired John Chambers to make the teeth; however, these were not used, as they did not meet Broccoli's standards. Broccoli then sent Kiel to Peter Thomas, a dental technician who worked near Pinewood Studios, to construct the appliances. Kiel stated the props were uncomfortable for him and he could only wear them for less than one minute before gagging. After shooting a scene, the teeth were placed in a plastic container with cotton wool in the bottom of it and the teeth were rinsed with mouthwash before drying for use in the next scene. After the James Bond films, the teeth were taken to an unknown location. In 2002, the teeth were displayed as part of an exhibition at Science Museum, London to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of Dr. No.

Reader's Guide

In The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond found himself caught in an unbreakable death grip by Jaws, who was about to fatally bite him; Bond escaped by using a broken electric lamp to send an electric shock through the assassin's teeth to stun him. In Moonraker he gains a girlfriend, Dolly, who is never seen to speak aloud and who is the primary reason for his reformation. As Jaws escapes from Drax's disintegrating space station to an escape pod with Dolly; they open a bottle of champagne, and Jaws speaks his only line in the entire franchise: 'Well, here's to us.' The viewer is later informed that Jaws and Dolly made it back to Earth safely. In 1979, there were plans to bring Jaws back for a third film. In For Your Eyes Only, Jaws would marry Dolly. However, due to a change in production personnel and a desire to make the films more down-to-earth, the producers chose not to bring Kiel or Jaws back. Most of the background information on Jaws comes from Christopher Wood's novelization of the film The Spy Who Loved Me; published as James Bond, the Spy Who Loved Me to differentiate from Ian Fleming's novel. In Wood's version, Jaws' real name is Zbigniew Krycsiwiki. He was born in Poland, the product of a union between the strong man of a traveling circus and the Chief Wardress at the Women's Prison in Kraków. Since none of the above is actually mentioned in either movie, this is not necessarily considered canonical. In the novelization of The Spy Who Loved Me, Jaws remains attached to the magnet that Bond dips into the tank and is killed, whereas in the film Bond uses it to drop Jaws into the water.

Did You Know?

• Jaws was originally scripted to be killed by a shark in The Spy Who Loved Me, but after a rough test screening, he was so well-liked that the scene was changed to have him survive.
• Richard Kiel could only wear the steel teeth props for less than one minute before gagging due to discomfort.
• Jaws speaks only one line in the entire James Bond film franchise: 'Well, here's to us.'
• In the storyboard for Moonraker, Jaws was drawn with an Emilio Largo-style eyepatch and a moustache, neither of which appeared in the film.
• In Christopher Wood's novelization, Jaws' real name is Zbigniew Krycsiwiki, and he was born in Poland.