Oldest tall (7' or more confirmed) person?

I was doing a little *amateur sleuthing trying to confirm a date of death for a very tall person (reputedly 7’3"), and found a name in SSDI which matched in some details, except that this person died at age 79, and I’ve never heard of a seven-footer living that long. Then I got to thinking. . .

How old was the oldest 7-footer?

Some names to start with:

Andre the Giant (legitimately about 7’ even) 46
Don Koehler (8’2") 56
Sandy Allen (7’7") 53
Al Tomaini (7’4") 50
Johann Petursson (7’8’?) 70
Tex Madsen (claimed 7’6") 51
Lock Martin (claimed 7’7") 43
Richard Kiel (7’1") 70 (Go Jaws!)
Max Palmer (7’+) 57

So far, 70 is where it tops out, and it clusters in the mid 50s.

*It’s not relevant to the question, but if ya really wanna know, I’ll go into it.

I saw Richard Kiel two weekends ago, and he does not look well.

Peter (Chewbacca) Mayhew is 65 and is over 7’ tall.

Wilt Chamberlain – 7’1" (or more) lived to be 63.

Sancho VII the Strong of Navarre has been measured at 7’3" and died at 76 or 77 (I don’t know whether he’d already celebrated his birthday on the year of his death or not).

He was two inches shy of 7 feet, but basketball great George Mikan lived to be almost 81.

So since I’m 4’11", I’m going to live forever, right?

No, it’ll just feel like it.

Perhaps not. I’ve heard the theory that your life expectancy is shorter if your height significantly differs from the mean in either direction.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar is now 62 and in good health. He is 7’2".

You hear about a lot of “little old ladies” out there, though.

Feisty ones, too. No one over 5’7" is feisty. It’s a physical impossibility.

Shrinkage.

Well, Wendall, who’s to say not? Today on NPR mention was made of Meinhardt Raabe, because of the Wizard of Oz 70th anniversary. He played the Munchkin Coroner, who proclaimed the Wicked Witch “Really, most sincerely dead!”, and is 94.

Lookin’ good, and he sounded hale in the NPR interview.

Is is OK to say that I picked Kiel in the Death Pool?

It seems it’s generally better the be shorter than taller. It especially depends on the reasons for one’s height. Andre the Giant had acromegaly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is just tall. Certain types of dwarfism are associated with several health problems, while others have a relatively normal outlook.

Robert Pershing Wadlow - 8 Feet 11 Inches - Died at 22

Hypertrophy = Increase in volume of organ or tissue
Pituitary Gland = Secretes hormones to regulate homeostasis
Homeostasis = Maintains a stable, constant condition

If you visit Alton, you can see a life size bronze statue of him. He has some big ol feet…