I can't be certain, but I think I just talked to Richard Kiel, the guy from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Happy Gilmore," while waiting in line at Subway.
I was standing there staring at the chips and trying to decide if the 100 fewer calories in a bag of sour cream and onion Lays outweighed my craving for Cheetos (ultimately it did not), when the guy in front of me turned and said something. Having a low blood sugar moment, I rudely answered back, "What?" "How many are you having?" the man asked.
"How many what?" I asked, equally as rude as before.
"Sandwiches," he answered. "I'm ordering five, so if you want to go ahead of me, you can."
Feeling like a word I can't say on this blog, I switched back to human mode and told him thanks, and that it was okay, I'm patient. Which I am. Mostly.
The man said something to the Subway employee about stocking up food for a couple of days, and added that he didn't want any mayo on the sandwiches, just mustard.
By then, another of the Subway employees had come over to help me, so I ordered my six-inch turkey on wheat as I always do, with no mayo, just mustard.
"You're a mustard person, too, huh?" the man asked me. "Yep, I love it," I wittily replied, then went back to placing my sandwich order.
"My mom used to make me bologna and mayo sandwiches when I was a kid," he said. I made a face and said something incomprehensible about the mayo and bologna being two strikes, or some such nonsense, and then moved over to pay for my sandwich.
It was then, while I was waiting for my card to clear, that I finally looked at the guy. He was super tall -- like, tall enough to lean far over the Subway glass partition. In fact, he was actually resting his elbows on it. His hair was longish and all white. He was wearing Velcro orthopedic shoes. And his voice was really deep. And kinda familiar.
It was then that I remembered hearing something about Richard Kiel living near here. I stared hard at him as I was leaving, trying to get another look at his face, and Googled him when I got home, but I still can't be certain that was him ordering up five salami and mustard sandwiches at the Subway.
If not, can you imagine the odds of that guy having a Doppelgänger?
Five salami sandwiches? Are you sure it wasn't K-Fed?
Clearly you misread something: I said the man offered to let me go ahead of him, not "elbowed me out of the way in order to ask for extra cheese."
Unrelated: I noticed while reading his Wiki page that Richard Kiel and I have the same birthday.
Now I have a slightly creepy ice breaker for the next time he (or his double) and I meet at the Subway counter.
Also, how great is the Subway/"Happy Gilmore" connection? I hope that guy gets free Subway for life, and that explains the five sandwiches.
I can't say for certain, but I think I've seen Richard around town too. The guy looked just like him and was kinda hunched over, walked around like he had bad knees. I heard he was from around here too, so I always assumed it was him.
He does live around here. Quite a few years ago he came into the place I worked. He's a super friendly, nice guy. AT least he was to us. I pretty much say I judge a person by how they treat their waiter. He was nice.
My guess, H, is that it was NOT Mr. Kiel. As Abe said, Richard has had crippling leg problems for years, even when he was doing the iconic "Auto Chopper' commercials.
I last saw the gentle giant in 2006 when he was driven down the hill to do a film shoot with....ta-DA! - Stacy Johnson Klein. Now THERE was a pair to deal to.
Smatteroffact, SHE had a....nevermind.
I do not believe he has "crippling leg problems." He was in a bad car accident in the early nineties. the trauma was to his head and he has balance issues as a result.
He was a substitute teacher for my drama class in high school. He lives in the area and is friends with my former drama teacher. That was one sub I didn't eff with.
Richard Kiel does live in the foothills north of Fresno, Coarsegold area. I went to school with his kids in Oakhurst. He is definitely a really nice guy. The same disease that makes him so tall has also caused him a lot of pain and mild disfiguration of his body, thus the hunching over you noticed.
I see him at Edwards quite a bit. Cool guy.
We're acquaintances, and it was him.
So you had him tailing H-Mac, huh?
This is one of the cool things about Fresno....
seeing Jaws sometimes!!
He used to go to Roger Rocka's alot, and we would see him there....
I believe Richard moved down from Coarsegold and now lives in Clovis. If you saw him, he does use a cane to get around. He did suffer some spinal injuries in a very bad car accident many years ago. Super nice and extremely intelligent fellow. If you ever see him, say hi and if he has time, he's happy to talk to you about his career, politics, history, religion or anything else.