Kevin Peter Hall
Encyclopedia
Kevin Peter Hall was an American actor known for his roles in Misfits of Science
, Prophecy
, Without Warning
, and Harry and the Hendersons
. He was also best known as the title character in the first two films in the Predator
franchise.
. His parents were of above-average stature; his father, Charles Hall, was 6' 6", and his mother, Sylvia Hall, was 6' 2". At 7' 2" tall, he was the tallest of seven brothers, all over 6' 5". During his high school years at Penn Hills High School
, he excelled at basketball
and earned a scholarship to George Washington University
in Washington, D.C.
. In college, Hall continued to play basketball and majored in Theatrical Arts. After graduation, Hall moved to Venezuela
to play basketball.
. 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 and wasn't billed on end credits. The producers decided to recast with Hall so that the Predator could realistically physically dominate the film's human characters. 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.
While working on the series Harry and the Hendersons, Hall announced that he had contracted HIV
from a contaminated blood transfusion. On April 10, 1991, Hall died from pneumonia
. He was 35 years old.
Misfits of Science
Misfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans and their madcap adventures...
, Prophecy
Prophecy (film)
Prophecy is a 1979 horror film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by David Seltzer. It stars Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire and Armand Assante....
, Without Warning
Without Warning (1980 film)
Without Warning is a 1980 science fiction horror film starring Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Tarah Nutter, and Kevin Peter Hall , directed by Greydon Clark...
, and Harry and the Hendersons
Harry and the Hendersons
Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American comedy film directed and produced by William Dear, and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Lainie Kazan and Don Ameche. It is the story of a family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot...
. He was also best known as the title character in the first two films in the Predator
Predator (franchise)
The Predator film series is a science fiction horror film franchise. Produced by 20th Century Fox, the series started in 1987 with the film Predator, which led to two sequels and novel, comic book and video game spin-offs....
franchise.
Early life
Hall was born in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. His parents were of above-average stature; his father, Charles Hall, was 6' 6", and his mother, Sylvia Hall, was 6' 2". At 7' 2" tall, he was the tallest of seven brothers, all over 6' 5". During his high school years at Penn Hills High School
Penn Hills High School
Penn Hills High School is a secondary school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Penn Hills School District.The Pennsylvania Department of Education reports enrollment was 1277 students in 2009. It projects enrollment to decline by 300 students by 2014...
, he excelled at basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and earned a scholarship to George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. In college, Hall continued to play basketball and majored in Theatrical Arts. After graduation, Hall moved to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
to play basketball.
Career
Hall made his acting debut in the 1979 horror film ProphecyProphecy (film)
Prophecy is a 1979 horror film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by David Seltzer. It stars Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire and Armand Assante....
. Due to his tall stature, he was often cast in monster roles. He appeared as "the alien" in the 1980 horror film Without Warning
Without Warning (1980 film)
Without Warning is a 1980 science fiction horror film starring Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Tarah Nutter, and Kevin Peter Hall , directed by Greydon Clark...
and as "Gorvil" in the 1982 television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
Mazes and Monsters
Mazes and Monsters
Mazes and Monsters is a 1982 made-for-TV movie directed by Steven Hilliard Stern about a group of college students and their interest in a fictitious role-playing game of the same name. The movie starred a 26-year-old Tom Hanks in his first major leading film role.- Background :The film was...
. In 1985, he co-starred in the short-lived series Misfits of Science
Misfits of Science
Misfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans and their madcap adventures...
. He guest starred on the sitcom Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
as a huge but gentle mental patient who humorously towered over bailiff Bull Shannon (played by Richard Moll
Richard Moll
Charles Richard Moll is an American actor and voice artist,best known for playing Bull Shannon, the bailiff on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1983 to 1992...
, who is 6'8"). The next year, Hall portrayed yet another monster in the horror film Monster in the Closet
Monster in the Closet
Monster in the Closet is a 1986 horror/comedy with a veteran cast, including Howard Duff and John Carradine, as well as The Black Eyed Peas' Stacy Ferguson and Paul Walker in early roles. The film was distributed by Troma Entertainment...
, followed by the role of "Harry" in Harry and the Hendersons
Harry and the Hendersons
Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American comedy film directed and produced by William Dear, and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Lainie Kazan and Don Ameche. It is the story of a family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot...
.
In 1986, Hall was cast as the main antagonist
Predator (alien)
The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens....
in Predator
Predator (film)
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox....
, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
. During its developmental stages, the Predator was going to be played by Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
, who played the Predator for the first few scenes and wasn't billed on end credits. The producers decided to recast with Hall so that the Predator could realistically physically dominate the film's human characters. Hall would go on to reprise the role in the 1990 sequel
Predator 2
Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, María Conchita Alonso, Rubén Blades, and Bill Paxton. Written by Jim and John Thomas and directed by Stephen Hopkins, the film is a sequel to 1987's Predator, with Kevin Peter Hall again playing the role of the...
.
Following his role in Predator, Hall appeared in the film Big Top Pee-wee
Big Top Pee-wee
Big Top Pee-wee is the 1988 American family comedy sequel to the 1985 film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, Penelope Ann Miller, Valeria Golino, and Kris Kristofferson. The original music score is composed by Danny Elfman. The film is marketed with the tagline...
(1988) and had a guest spot on Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
(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
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom 227
227 (TV series)
227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...
. In 1990, Hall reprised his role as Harry on the television series
Harry and the Hendersons (TV series)
Harry and the Hendersons is an American sitcom based on the film of the same name, produced by Amblin Entertainment for Universal Television. The series aired in syndication from January 13, 1991 to June 18, 1993, with 72 half-hour episodes produced...
based on the film. He died during the series' first season.
Personal life and death
Hall met actress Alaina Reed while filming a guest spot on the television show 227. The couple would marry both on the show and in real life.While working on the series Harry and the Hendersons, Hall announced that he had contracted HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
from a contaminated blood transfusion. On April 10, 1991, Hall died from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He was 35 years old.
Honors
Hall was posthumously inducted into the Penn Hills Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class on May 8, 2009.Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Prophecy Prophecy (film) Prophecy is a 1979 horror film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by David Seltzer. It stars Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire and Armand Assante.... |
Mutant bear | Uncredited |
| 1980 | Without Warning Without Warning (1980 film) Without Warning is a 1980 science fiction horror film starring Jack Palance, Martin Landau, Tarah Nutter, and Kevin Peter Hall , directed by Greydon Clark... |
The Alien | Credited as Kevin Hall |
| 1982 | Mazes and Monsters Mazes and Monsters Mazes and Monsters is a 1982 made-for-TV movie directed by Steven Hilliard Stern about a group of college students and their interest in a fictitious role-playing game of the same name. The movie starred a 26-year-old Tom Hanks in his first major leading film role.- Background :The film was... |
Gorvil | Television movie |
| 1983 | One Dark Night One Dark Night One Dark Night is an American horror film starring Meg Tilly and E.G. Daily. It was released in theaters in 1983 but was filmed two years earlier. It was released by Comworld Pictures.-Plot:... |
Eddie | |
| 1984 | The Wild Life The Wild Life (film) The Wild Life is a 1984 comedy-drama film, written by Cameron Crowe and directed by Art Linson.The movie was an indirect sequel to the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The film is only available on VHS and Laserdisc in pan and scan with stereo analog tracks. No DVD version has been released due... |
Bouncer | Credited as Kevin Hall |
| 1984 | E/R E/R E/R is an American television sitcom that aired in 1984 and 1985. Developed from a successful play of the same name, the series was produced by Embassy Television and lasted a single season.-Synopsis:... |
Donald Haines | Episode: "Mr. Fix-It" |
| 1985 | Night Court Night Court Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone... |
Wendell Martin | Episode: "Nuts About Harry" |
| 1985 | The Dukes of Hazzard The Dukes of Hazzard The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard... |
Floyd Malone | Episode: "Opening Night at the Boar's Nest" |
| 1985 to 1986 | Misfits of Science Misfits of Science Misfits of Science is an American superhero fantasy television series that aired on NBC from October 1985 to February 1986. It featured a cast of super-powered humans and their madcap adventures... |
Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln | 16 episodes |
| 1986 | Monster in the Closet Monster in the Closet Monster in the Closet is a 1986 horror/comedy with a veteran cast, including Howard Duff and John Carradine, as well as The Black Eyed Peas' Stacy Ferguson and Paul Walker in early roles. The film was distributed by Troma Entertainment... |
Monster | |
| 1987 | Harry and the Hendersons Harry and the Hendersons Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American comedy film directed and produced by William Dear, and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Lainie Kazan and Don Ameche. It is the story of a family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot... |
Harry | |
| 1987 | Predator Predator (film) Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox.... |
The Predator Predator (alien) The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens.... /Helicopter pilot |
|
| 1988 | Big Top Pee-wee Big Top Pee-wee Big Top Pee-wee is the 1988 American family comedy sequel to the 1985 film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, Penelope Ann Miller, Valeria Golino, and Kris Kristofferson. The original music score is composed by Danny Elfman. The film is marketed with the tagline... |
Big John | |
| 1989 | Rodney Dangerfield: Opening Night at Rodney's Place | Richard Small | Television special |
| 1989 | Shannon's Deal | Harry | Television movie |
| 1989 | Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production... |
Leyor | Episode: "The Price" |
| 1989 to 1990 | 227 227 (TV series) 227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins... |
Warren Merriwether | 11 episodes |
| 1990 | Predator 2 Predator 2 Predator 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film starring Danny Glover, Gary Busey, María Conchita Alonso, Rubén Blades, and Bill Paxton. Written by Jim and John Thomas and directed by Stephen Hopkins, the film is a sequel to 1987's Predator, with Kevin Peter Hall again playing the role of the... |
The Predator | |
| 1990 to 1991 | Harry and the Hendersons Harry and the Hendersons (TV series) Harry and the Hendersons is an American sitcom based on the film of the same name, produced by Amblin Entertainment for Universal Television. The series aired in syndication from January 13, 1991 to June 18, 1993, with 72 half-hour episodes produced... |
Harry | 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Highway to Hell Highway to Hell (film) Highway to Hell is a 1992 horror comedy film directed by Ate de Jong starring Chad Lowe and Kristy Swanson. Charlie Sykes and his girlfriend Rachel Clark run away to Las Vegas to get married. Along the way Rachel is kidnapped by a Hellcop and taken to Hell to become one of Satan's brides, and... |
Charon | |