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

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Read More About Robert Wadlow:

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

See More:

Joan Merriam Smith

popular name: Joan Merriam Smith

date_of_death: February 17, 1965

age: 28

cause_of_death: Plane crash

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Joan Merriam Smith was an American aviator, famous for her 1964 solo flight around the world in which she became the second woman to complete the trip, by following the equatorial route attempted in 1937 by Amelia Earhart. (Jerrie Mock set off the same week on a different route, and finished before Smith did.) In doing so she also became the first woman to fly a twin-engine aircraft around the world, and the first woman to fly the Pacific Ocean from west to east in a twin-engine plane. Following the equatorial Amelia Earhart route, Joan became the first person in history to successfully complete a solo flight around the world at the equator, as well as the first person to complete the Amelia Earhart route. Smith also was the the first person in history to fly solo around the world at the equator, to complete the longest single solo flight around the world, first woman to fly a twin-engine aircraft around the world, the first woman to fly the Pacific Ocean from west to east in a twin-engine plane, the first woman to receive an airline transport rating at the age of 23, the youngest woman to complete a solo flight around the world, and the first woman to fly solo from Africa to Australia, from Australia to Guam via New Guinea, and from Wake to Midway Island. Sadly she died the following year when the plane she was piloting suffered structural failure and crashed in California.

Charlotte Bridgwood

popular name: Charlotte Bridgwood

date_of_death: August 20, 1929

age: 68

cause_of_death: Unknown

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Charlotte Bridgwood patented the first electrically powered windshield wiper in 1917, improving previous manually-operated wipers such as the one patented by Mary Anderson in 1905. However, her wiper used rollers rather than blades and did not catch on. She was also the mother of silent screen star Florence Lawrence (a.k.a The Biograph Girl) who followed her mother in inventing automotive accessories.

William Duggan

popular name: William Duggan

date_of_death: December 22, 1950

age: 51

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: The Odd and the Interesting

best_know_for: Even as a young boy, all William "Billy" Duggan ever wanted to do is join the circus. At age 12 he ran away from home to join the Sparks Circus where among his other duties, he was tasked with feeding the elephants. He quickly feel in love with these magnificent beasts and spent nearly 40 years working for one circus after another. In 1934, Mr. Duggan created the Duggan Brothers Circus, which toured for about a year. In 1950, he purchased the Pan American Animal Exhibit and began planning to make it into a three-ring circus that he named the Hagen-Wallace Circus. But of all the animals in his new circus, a young elephant by the name of Nancy was by far his favorite. Unfortunately Billy took ill and never saw the first performance of his new circus when he died suddenly. In his honor, Duggan’s son arranged for this life-size replica of Nancy, Duggan’s beloved baby elephant, to be carved from Tate, Georgia white marble and placed on his father’s grave. The cost of the sculpture was said to be nearly $10,000 (that's $131,000 in today's money).

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