Robert Wadlow

AKA:
Alton's Gentle Giant
Birth Name:
Robert Pershing Wadlow
Birth Date:
February 22, 1918
Birth Place:
Alton, Illinois
Death Date:
July 15, 1940
Place of Death:
Hotel Chippewa, Manistee, Michigan
Age:
22
Cause of Death:
Wound infection
Cemetery Name:
Upper Alton Cemetery
Claim to Fame:
The Odd and the Interesting
Robert Pershing Wadlow, also known as Alton's Gentle Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man who was the tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small city near St. Louis, Missouri. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood were due to hypertrophy of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone (HGH). By the time of his graduation from Alton High School in 1936, he was 8 feet 4 inches tall and measured almost 9 feet tall at the time of his death. Wadlow became a celebrity after his 1936 U.S. tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus, appearing at Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden in the center ring (never in the sideshow). During his appearances, he dressed in his everyday clothes and refused the circus's request that he wear a top hat and tails. In 1938, he began a promotional tour with the International Shoe Company, which provided him shoes free of charge, again only in his everyday street clothes. Wadlow saw himself as working in advertising, not exhibiting as a freak. He possessed great physical strength until the last few days of his life.

Robert Pershing Wadlow by the numbers:

  • Height – 8 feet 11.1 inches
  • Weight – 439 lbs
  • Shoe Size – 37AA
  • Hand Size – 12.5 inches
  • Ring Size – 25
  • Coffin – 10 foot 9 inch long steel coffin that weighed 1,000 lbs
  • Pallbearers – 20 men

The life-sized bronze statue of Robert Wadlow was sculpted by Edward Englehardt Giberson and stands across the street from the Alton Museum of History and Art. A bronze chair, replicated after his seat at the Masonic Lodge, sits beside the statue.

The Wadlow Family Home is located at 2810 College Avenue in Alton, Illinois.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Upper Alton Cemetery

2090 Oakwood Avenue

Alton, Illinois, 62002

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Upper Alton Cemetery (aka Oakwood Cemetery) in Alton, Illinois
Map of Upper Alton Cemetery (aka Oakwood Cemetery) in Alton, Illinois

Grave Location:

Section 4

Grave Location Description

There are several gates available to enter this cemetery (also known as Oakwood Cemetery). If you enter through Gate #6 drive ahead to the first intersection and turn right on Cole Drive. Continue straight ahead through 4 intersections and park your car at Cole Drive and Jackson Drive. The World’s Tallest Man is buried beneath the tall 7-foot obelisk with several other Wadlow family members about 4 monuments from the road.

Grave Location GPS

38.915915053692466, -90.15598856552067

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

FAQ's

Robert Wadlow was born on February 22, 1918.

Robert Wadlow was born in Alton, Illinois.

Robert Wadlow died on July 15, 1940.

Robert Wadlow died in Hotel Chippewa, Manistee, Michigan.

Robert Wadlow was 22.

The cause of death was Wound infection.

Robert Wadlow's grave is in Upper Alton Cemetery

Read More About Robert Wadlow:

Videos Featuring Robert Wadlow:

Watch YouTube video titled The
The "Alton Giant" - World's Tallest Man
Watch YouTube video titled The Tragic Giant - dead at 22. Robert Wadlow almost 9 feet tall
The Tragic Giant - dead at 22. Robert Wadlow almost 9 feet tall
Watch YouTube video titled The Story of Robert Wadlow Documentary
The Story of Robert Wadlow Documentary
Watch YouTube video titled Robert Wadlow Ripley's Believe It or Not Interview! (1937)
Robert Wadlow Ripley's Believe It or Not Interview! (1937)
Watch YouTube video titled Robert Wadlow, Tallest Man Ever: Life in Photos
Robert Wadlow, Tallest Man Ever: Life in Photos
Watch YouTube video titled Tallest man ever Robert Wadlow’s height in every year of his life
Tallest man ever Robert Wadlow’s height in every year of his life
Watch YouTube video titled Robert Wadlow Is The Tallest Man In The World Standing 7 Feet Tall At Age 12
Robert Wadlow Is The Tallest Man In The World Standing 7 Feet Tall At Age 12
Watch YouTube video titled Robert Wadlow,
Robert Wadlow, "The Alton Giant" Centennial

See More:

Barney Hill

popular name: Barney Hill

date_of_death: February 25, 1969

age: 46

cause_of_death: Brain hemorrhage

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Betty and Barney Hill lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where Betty was a social worker and Barney was a postal worker. The couple were catapulted into the international spotlight when in September 1961 they claimed to have been abducted by aliens in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The two were returning home to Portsmouth from a trip to Montreal, Canada, when as they were driving in the middle of the night, they saw lights approaching from the sky. What followed is said to be the first well-documented, "feasibly legitimate" UFO abduction in history. The couple claimed that they saw bipedal humanoid creatures in the window of a large spacecraft that landed in a field. They claimed they were followed by a spaceship and eventually accosted, kidnapped, examined, and then released by its extraterrestrial crew. The event has since become the best documented and most famous case of alien abduction in the history of UFO-ology. The story of the Hills grew big enough to prompt a best-selling book by John Fuller entitled "The Interrupted Journey", inspire a television movie called "The UFO Incident" starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons. Over time their story was subjected to a brutal debunking by multiple people including the famous intellectual Carl Sagan.

Chang and Eng Bunker

popular name: Chang and Eng Bunker

date_of_death: January 17, 1874

age: 62

cause_of_death: Chang: cerebral blood clot/Eng: unknown

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker were Siamese-American conjoined twin brothers whose fame led to the term "Siamese twins" to become synonymous for conjoined twins in general. They were first pair of conjoined twins whose condition was well documented in medical records. Eng and Chang Bunker were connected at the chest by a five-inch-wide band of flesh, and performed as curiosities world-wide. After retiring from performing, they settled in Mount Airy, North Carolina, bought a farm, and took up farming. They became naturalized citizens, adopting the surname Bunker, and in April 1843 they married a pair of sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Yates. Chang Bunker died on January 17, 1874, from a cerebral blood clot and his brother Eng Bunker died three hours later.

Lawnchair Larry

popular name: Lawnchair Larry

date_of_death: October 6, 1993

age: 44

cause_of_death: Suicide - Gunshot to heart

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Lawnchair Larry was an American truck driver who made a 45-minute flight in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft, named 'Inspiration I', and with a couple of sandwiches, a bottle of Coke, a radio transmitter and a BB gun, rose to an altitude of over approximately 15,000 feet (4,600 m). Lawnchair Larry floated from the point of takeoff in San Pedro, California, into and violating controlled airspace near Long Beach Airport. Armed with a couple of sandwiches, a bottle of Coke, a radio transmitter and a BB gun,During the landing, the aircraft became entangled in power lines, but Walters was able to safely climb down. The flight attracted worldwide media attention and inspired a later movie and imitators. Lawnchair Larry was awarded the title of "At-Risk Survivor" in the 1993 Darwin Awards.

Back to Top