The 'Freak' American Horror Story Forgot: The True Story of the Tallest Man Who Ever Lived
by Jancy Richardson ⋅ Posted on February 10th, 2015 at 5:10pm
For a show about 'Freaks,' American Horror Story didn't have much room for the colossally tall, a staple of the real life sideshows of old.
Sure, we have the gorgeous Amazon Eve (Erika Ervin) rocking a statuesque 6'8", but the only super-super-super tall person on the show was the guy in Edward Mordrake's ghostly crew:
He's played by this guy - George Bell, who also featured on AMC's reality program Freakshow. He's 7'8" and held the record for tallest man in America for three years.
However, all of these gentle giants are dwarfed in comparison with the tallest man who ever lived - Illinois native Robert Wadlow, who stands head and shoulders above the competition at 8'11".
Here's some footage of this remarkable man in 1935.
Although Wadlow was regular-sized at birth, he soon shot up in height, outgrowing his 5'11" father at 7 and surpassing the 7 foot mark before he reached 12 years old.
He wore a US size 37AA shoe and was given his specially made footwear free of charge in exchange for promo work for the shoe company.
His extreme growth was caused by hyperplasia affecting his pituitary gland, flooding his body with hormones that boosted his growth. When he died - tragically young at only 22 - he was still growing.
A popular man who worked for Ringling Brothers Circus and gained fame for his incredible height and gentle manner, Robert Wadlow is immortalized in statues and record-breaking exhibitions all over the world.
Which incredible person from history do you think could have been amazing in American Horror Story: Freak Show?
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