Tiny Ron Taylor in "Alien Nation: Body and Soul"

The giant, played by future Santa Clarita resident Tiny Ron Taylor, left, and a child (role shared by twins Aimee and Danielle Warren) have just escaped from a research facility in this scene from the 87-minute TV movie, "Alien Nation: Body and Soul," which premiered Tuesday night, October 10, 1995, on 20th Century Fox Television. Also shown: Eric Pierpoint, center, and Gary Graham.

Seven-foot-tall screen actor Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor, a resident of Santa Clarita, was born November 21, 1947, in Torrance. After North Torrance High School, he graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in business and was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the 1969 NBA draft (third pick, 18th overall). He never played in the NBA; instead he played in the American Basketball Association from 1969 to 1972 and then in Vienna, Austria, before returning to launch an acting career.

Taylor took the ironic name "Tiny Ron" when he applied to join the Screen Actors Guild because there was already another SAG member named Ron Taylor. His first known acting work came in 1982 on the comedic television series "Police Squad!" where he played the recurring character Al, who is so tall that his face is never seen.

Tiny Ron is perhaps best recognized as Lothar in "The Rocketeer" (1991), as Roc in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994) and as Jacko the Giant in "Last Man Standing" (1996), which was filmed at Melody Ranch in Placerita Canyon. From 1993-1999 he had a recurring role as the Hupyrian servant Maihar'du on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."

Married in 2015, he was still working as an actor until 2016 when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died November 28, 2019, at age 72.