<P> During his high school years at Penn Hills High School, he was a star basketball player . He subsequently attended George Washington University in Washington, DC, where he played for its basketball team and majored in Theatrical Arts . </P> <P> After graduation, Hall moved to Venezuela to play professional basketball . </P> <P> Due to Hall's height, he was often cast in monster roles . He made his acting debut in the 1979 horror film Prophecy . 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 ft 8 in (2.03 m), and a fellow mental patient, played by James Cromwell, who is 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m). 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 . </P> <P> 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 was not 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 . </P>

Who played the sasquatch in harry and the hendersons