Career
Hall made his acting debut in the 1979 horror film Prophecy. Due to his tall stature, he was often cast in monster roles. He appeared as "the alien" in the 1980 horror film Without Warning and as "Gorvil" in the 1982 television movie Mazes and Monsters. In 1985, he co-starred in the short-lived series Misfits of Science. He guest starred on the sitcom Night Court as a huge but gentle mental patient who humorously towered over bailiff Bull Shannon (played by Richard Moll, who is 6'8"). The next year, Hall portrayed yet another monster in the horror film Monster in the Closet, followed by the role of "Harry" in Harry and the Hendersons.
In 1986, Hall was cast as the main antagonist in Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. During its developmental stages, the Predator was going to be played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who played the Predator for the first few scenes but wasn't billed in the end credits. The producers decided to recast the role with Hall so that the Predator could more convincingly dominate the film's human characters with its greater size. Hall would go on to reprise the role in the 1990 sequel.
Following his role in Predator, Hall appeared in the film Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and had a guest spot on Star Trek: The Next Generation (a series for which he had once been a leading contender for two key roles, Geordi LaForge and Lt. Commander Data). From 1989 to 1990, he had a recurring role on the NBC sitcom 227. In 1990, Hall reprised his role as Harry on the television series based on the film. He died during the series' first season.
Read more about this topic: Kevin Peter Hall
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“I began my editorial career with the presidency of Mr. Adams, and my principal object was to render his administration all the assistance in my power. I flattered myself with the hope of accompanying him through [his] voyage, and of partaking in a trifling degree, of the glory of the enterprise; but he suddenly tacked about, and I could follow him no longer. I therefore waited for the first opportunity to haul down my sails.”
—William Cobbett (1762–1835)
“Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what’s good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“He was at a starting point which makes many a man’s career a fine subject for betting, if there were any gentlemen given to that amusement who could appreciate the complicated probabilities of an arduous purpose, with all the possible thwartings and furtherings of circumstance, all the niceties of inward balance, by which a man swings and makes his point or else is carried headlong.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)