“Tall people got no reason to live.” —Randy Newman
General Winfield Scott (a.k.a. “Old Fuss and Feathers”) was 6’5".
Y’know, I had a busted knee once and needed something from way in the back of the bottom shelf, so I asked this little girl if she would snag it for me and as I was reaching into my pocket to give her a quarter for her trouble, the grandma came and snatched her away like I was an Orc or something.
Speaking of Jeff Sessions, the other day when I googled how tall James Comey was, one of the results that came up was that Jeff Sessions is only 5’ 5". That’s a sixteen inch difference between Sessions and Strange!
For some reason, the TV keeps ending up on beach volleyball of an evening. One of those players, Sarah Pavan, while only 6’5, playing next to the 5’8 Melissa Humana-Paredes, looks like a person who would be hunting geese with a rake.
5’3" vs 6’5"
Actor Stephen Merchant is 6’7".
Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Sherwood was 6’8".
SF writer Harry Turtledove is 6’6" or 6’7". I remember people arguing about who was the tallest and he was the consensus, just above Nebula Award winner John Kessel at 6’5".
Andre was always able to walk under a 7’ bar. His 7’4" height was based on the impossible notion that he would be that tall if his spine could be straightened out. He’s been advertised as taller also. His height was limited by acromegaly, an adult onset of a pituitary gland problem, in this case an already large person, and typically the body does not grow proportionately with that condition and can contort it into odd shapes. Wilt was slouching if he looked the same height as Andre. There are quite a few photos of Andre with tall basketball players showing he was about 6’11" in actual height.
I met Kurt Vonnegut about 30 years ago, when he was about 70, and was quite surprised at how tall he was, considering his age. IMDb says 6’ 2", but I would have guessed a little taller than that. At the time (I was 35), I didn’t expect “old people” to be that tall.
Now I’m almost as old as he was then, and the last time I went to the doctor, they measured me at 5’ 9", after being 5’ 10" all my adult life. I don’t want to be a little old man!
I read someplace that Andre the Giant was in quite a bit of pain, all the time. (Also that he loved how much people loved him in The Princess Bride.)
Andre was probably pretty close to 7’4" back in the day–that is, in his wrestling boots, and if you measured to the top of his Afro back when he had one.
Christopher Lee at 6’5". I think he was told that he could never be an actor because of his height.
Tom Cruise is 6’ 5"
He must be ! He played Jack Reacher who is 6’ 5". QED
If you watch his movies, they do all sorts of tricks to make him look taller. Like in Top Gun, when he was in an elevator with Kelly McGillis, she was leaning against the wall of the elevator.
That is the price of acromegaly, the adult body can’t grow proportionately. In Andre’s case his bones, organs, and other tissue grew at different rates crushing his organs within his torso. His pain was eased somewhat by his incredible alcohol consumption. Profession wrestling gave him a good life but he had limited choices in life. Acting in the Princess Bride was a special accomplishment for him. His health was already badly degrading, he couldn’t actually perform any stunts in the movie but it was still a success for him to be more than a wrestler. A friend of mine was Andre’s road manager for the then WWWF for many years, every story he tells about Andre is one of a magnificent caring man cursed by the cause of his own fame.
ETA: There are now treatments for acromegaly, gigantism, and other related pituitary problems that means we may never see people of such size again. There will still be very tall and large people but not as a result of an inescapable condition that always leads to a shortened life.
Just to clarify in Andre’s case:
"Doctors didn’t diagnose Andre with acromegaly while he was growing up in France. He may have received a diagnosis in Japan in 1970 and was definitely told he had the disorder after he broke his ankle in 1981. At this point in his life treatment would not have reversed Andre’s growth but it could have increased his life expectancy. However, he opted not to get treated. In the 2018 documentary Andre the Giant , his doctor explained Andre’s decision: “He decided that he did not want treatment at that time because it might interfere with his career as a wrestler.” - Andre The Giant - Height, Death & Facts
In terms of tall women, you of course have all the models who are usually 5’10” to 6’1”. Allison Janney is six feet and so is Tulsa Swinton. Taylor Swift is 5’11”. Some people don’t realize how tall she is because she is always hanging around models. Here she is with Bruno Mars.
https://images.app.goo.gl/YTgmmv2TgbD6y2HV8
Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley is 6’2".
For some bizarre reason, nobody seems to have done a list of tallest Pulitzer Prize winners.
Actor Lee Pace is 6’5.
I know Vince J. McMahon who owned the old WWWF always tried to get photos of Andre with basketball players suppressed to maintain the illusion of the 7 foot 4 inch height.
He also had Andre stand on a box when his son Vince K. would interview him to make Andre looking even taller.