R.I.P. KEVIN PETER HALL

Kevin Peter Hall

Date of Birth

9 May 1955, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA 

Date of Death

10 April 1991, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (AIDS) 

Height

7' 2½" (2.20 m) 

Mini Biography

This African American actor attended Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started his junior year at 6' 5" and finished it at 6' 9"! He played basketball throughout his high-school years and won a scholarship. He averaged 18 points a game and 10 rebounds! He played basketball during college, but not when it would interfere with his major at George Washington University in Washington, DC, which was Theatrical Arts. During his college years, he met Jay Fenichel with whom he would later make musical productions. Upon graduation, Fenichel moved to Los Angeles and Hall moved to Venezuela to play basketball.

After a year, Hall lost interest and relocated to Los Angeles, California. Along with Fenichel, the duo put together two night-club acts/musicals. One was a semi-autobiographical two-man musical, "In Five," and the other was a two-man show called "The Worst of Friends," both of which played in night clubs throughout the LA area. They also had a promotional business where they did promotional acts in department stores for new products.

While working on the set of the series "227" (1985), he met his co-star, Alaina Reed-Hall, who played Rose Lee Holloway. They married--both on the set, and in real life--and they had two children. Predator 2 (1990) was released December 1990, and in April 1991, he died of AIDS, which he contracted through a blood transfusion a few months before.

Spouse

Alaina Reed-Hall

(29 December 1988 - 10 April 1991) (his death) 2 children

Trivia

He is the tallest of six brothers, all over 6' 5".

His father Charles Hall was 6' 6" and his mother Sylvia Hall was 6' 2".

This giant's face was rarely seen in his films, as he usually played monsters and semi-human creatures that required him to wear mounds of make-up, so few people know that he was a handsome and muscular man.

The character of the Predator in Predator (1987) went through many development stages, including one version that was set up for Jean-Claude Van Damme to play a martial-arts fighting Predator, and finally decided on the crab-like humanoid monster seen in the film. The producers realized much of their human cast were bodybuilders over 6 feet tall (and Van Damme was clearly smaller) and thus they cast the enormous Hall so that the Predator could realistically physically dominate the film's human characters.

Can be seen in Predator (1987) without costume. He is the helicopter pilot at the end of the film.

He was in a major car accident in Los Angeles. During surgery for his critical wounds, he received a contaminated blood transfusion. He died shortly thereafter of AIDS. He went public with his illness with the full support of his wife.

Referred to his non-speaking monster parts as grunt roles.

Auditioned for the lead role of the alien in Enemy Mine (1985) but didn't get the part.

Personal Quotes

"The problem is there aren't many calls for 7'4" black actors. Still, if I had let myself get discouraged I wouldn't be here now. I believe in myself and my acting." (from a 1985 "Starlog" interview)

When I first came to California it was fun and exciting to get any part in any movie and get paid for it. Because of my size and my background it seemed like I was right for just about anything. I did go through a period where I thought it was time to give up monster movies. But then the scripts and the effects started getting better. I was treated better and starting getting paid more. Doing creatures these days is more of a job for me than it was in the beginning. In the early days I was creating these creatures and basically getting lost in them. Now with creatures like Harry and the Predator it's more a matter of getting deeper into their characters and making sure they work. (from a 1991 interview)

It's ironic. People know me because I play the monsters, but I'm most recognized from the small roles in which they see my face. None of that stuff really bothers me. Whether I'm recognized in or out of a costume isn't a kind of pressure I put myself through anymore. (from a 1991 interview)

I'll always do costume roles. I'm bigger than life and so, in a way, I'm part of the fantasy/science fiction/horror genre.. But I'm more than just a guy in a suit. When people want big and a performance along with that big, I'm the one they call. (from a 1991 interview)

With Harry, I am always in control of the expressions and the performance. With the Predator it is half performance and half dealing with the physical traps. There's a balance you got to keep inside the suit. You've got to keep your character going while dealing with the fact that you've got all these wires and FX things coming out of you. It all boils down to concentration and being well-rehearsed.

I'm not just somebody shuffling around in a monster suit. I'm a kind of puppeteer from the inside who is attempting through arm and body movements to give the creatures I play a sense of personality.

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