Robert Wadlow, "The Alton Giant" Centennial | Living St. Louis
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- čas přidán 2. 04. 2018
- The 9-foot-tall "Alton Giant", Robert Wadlow, was born over one hundred years ago. He only lived to age 22, so the story of the World’s Tallest Man is really that of a growing boy. His story begins in Alton, Illinois.
I always thought he was older because of the way he dressed but he was really just a kid
You're right. I thought so as well.
Gato evry ones dressed like that back then kids and all.... there was no air max and sweat suits lol
Yeah it's crazy thinking he wasn't much older than me(19 btw) at deayh(22).
He was a very classy kid.. he dressed so well
Gato I thought the same thing too
It’s a shame he passed so early in life, his interviews and story’s from people who knew him make him sound so ahead of him time, polite and mature.
@Oren Black how would you know that lol
How old when he died?
Yeah I wonder if he ever found love
@@danielbenitez6985 22
RIP robert 🙏 from France 🇫🇷
Robert looked like the epitome of the friendly, gentle giant.
Very true. I heard his younger brother said he was the best brother a kid could have, loving and kind to him always. There are films of them together and it looks like he is baby sitting, but that was his brother !
That’s because he was
I think his fingers was bigger than a phone screen.
Or idk
Not the epitome, cause traditionally "friendly giants" are also large in mass and this guy is lanky
Man I bet he was probably the coolest dude to hang with
@@ArcticZombie I know but nature did him in
I would love to have the opportunity to chill with this man.
@@darthgamer6080 same bro
Or hang off lol
Ikr?
Robert was 5 foot 3 inches at 4 years old… that’s insane.
I’m 17 and 5ft …. 😭
6 foot tall at 8 years old 😳
Bruh I’m 5’1 at 18💀💀
@@sashhhaa4874 that's just unlucky
@@amberlee4738 Estás normal, no te preocupes
He Was A Gentle Giant...
Giants are usually gentle
I help anytime
@@crazyvideoholic9380 I met Andre the Giant and the Giant Gonzalez back in the day. They were both at least 7'4 and they were extremely nice and I also met Yokozuna Dusty Rhodes and Warrrior too. All 3 were great too me. Especially Yokozuna.
@@jimfaust6342 Wow, that's interesting. Thank you for sharing.
When you realize this man was nearly 2 feet taller than Shaq, it's mind boggling. Shaq would stand out in any crowd as a giant among men. But he would look small compared to this man.
He's taller than Manute Bol which is taller then shaq
Ikr
Actually he is 2 feet taller than shaq. Shaq is actually 6’11.5
I wonder if Wilt Chamberlain was in that category as well?
@@christaylor7916 no shaq was 7'1
It was cool that his town didn’t treat him differently...that’s a blessing. His heart showed in the way he treated others. I wonder if the doctors ever suggested that he would have a shorter life span. It is a shame that he didn’t get to enjoy a longer life.
Indeed. Also the family went to great lengths to ensure that they and he had their privacy.
I doubt that any doctor suggesting that, would have been seen in a particularly positive light!
Moreover, they probably didn't know!
people with gigantism have a expected lifespan of about 30 years
@@thesasquatch3032: Several conditions can result in a shortened lifespan ... can, not will!
It's really tragic how young he died.
I wonder how many concussions he endured before learning how to duck.
He wouldn't have lasted too much with that size
People die even younger than him. At least he made it to 22.
JUSTSWITCHED! People in 1940 stilled lived to a decent age. Not as long as now but longer. He died because of his pertuitary gland made him grow so much so the rest of his body and his immune system became very weak. Thats why he died of a foot infection
Yeah 😥😥😥
My Father's first job was in a St Louis shoe store where he actually met Mr Wadlow. Dad was much impressed with him during their brief exchange.
How old are you?
@@A_S996 lol
@@A_S996 80
@Anita Bonghit how do you know?
@Anita Bonghit Very extremly possible hes not lying, My mother (40) Mom was born 1940s. He said First Job so prob 15 which means his dad maybe 1935 or something and the guy postin the comment is 60 or 50
He sorta lived well while he could. Travelled around and all that :)
el perro reggae hehe
Hehe
hi
@@penguenmordecai fake verify
He made a living just being tall.. Good gig...
This is soo sad, I nearly cried because I feel he was exploited. He just needed a normal life as a kid... Jeez.
Well you gotta think he also had more confidence in the sack than any 22 year old, I mean what woman could he not satisfy with what he probably had lol. That's enough to have a happy life right there.
He was 9feet tall by 15 how could he ever have a normal life
I don't know if i want to be ordinary or extraordinary
@@wisdom1224 no he was 7 feet 10 inches when he was 15 years old go to his Wikipedia and look at his height chart liar pants on fire
@@skipperpippins7538 k bud
He got dealt a rough hand but made the most of it. Incredibly tall yes, but incredibly courageous as well.
I wish I could travel through time and space and give Robert Wadlow a hug, just to thank him for never losing his humor and his humanity.
What a good guy! 😎👍
He died of foot infection as a result of faulty leg braces. The more ironically tragic is that he died the year before penicillin was discovered. It could have saved him.
With his condition, he wouldn't haved lived long
The most widespread common denominator found in people over 90 is they don't go to the doctor on a regular basis.
This year, we honor the 100th birthday of the Alton giant, Robert p. Wadlow. I just wish he was still here physically to celebrate the occasion with us.
He would be roughly 40ft tall
if he continued to live he would have a height of 3 meters, or if not almost four.
Seba Hidalgo That’s pretty much the height of a Giant tribal Majini from Resident Evil 5, or maybe even taller.
@@sebahidalgo9386 they can stop the growth now, they did it for the current tallest man in the world, did a surgery and now buddy will stay 8’3, if Robert was born in the 80’s- 90’s he would of been just fine honestly, it’s unfortunate asf
Joshua Brooks this is not possible because such giants has only a very short life
Robert Wadlow will never be forgotten!!!!!!
Thats what they said about me
@@jonburrows2684 I still remember ya King.......
Sorry. I’m gonna watch this now and then forget about him in ten minutes. He would be a great marketer. Nothing else
@@jonburrows2684 who are you?
Yeah thats right 💯
he is the tallest angel in heaven now
Wow I just realized that
and to think alton is still not known mostly for him
You didn't have to make me tear like this😭😭
People don't turn into angels.
The Bible says that only those who believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone; nothing added to it, go to heaven.
Gospel of John 3.
@@Firefly-trike didnt ask
I bet he was riding "You must be this tall" carnival rides at age three.
And getting admitted to R-rated movies at 10.
@@noowayist he was 6’6 at 10 lol. I am 10 and i am exactly 2 feet shorter lol
@@4Scoot5 Dude Im like 5'6 or 5'7 and Im 16 and he was taller than me when he was 10, thats pretty impressive
@@al8951 I'm 15 and a half, I'm 6'4 and a quarter
@@al8951 no he was 5’7 at 5yo 😂😂
Girls: He’s still not 9 feet tall
Lol
If that happens to me
I would suicide
Right before he died he probably hit 9 feet tall
@Fresh N doesn't sound that bad until you realize at 8'11 he's walking around with a kane age 22, gets to 9'8 and the poor boy is on a wheelchair with leg braces
stop being a Simp
I appreciate the insightful and dignified tone of this video which was appropriate to the reputation of Robert Wadlow. My mother (1926 - 2019) grew up just a couple of blocks away from his home and told me that she frequently saw him around the neighborhood. Mom said that he always had a moment to speak with her and had a well-deserved reputation as a kind and well-adjusted gentleman.
Cii
Cool
She must have had a pain in her neck looking up at him.
If his knees wasn’t so bad and he could actually walked/run, with training, he could’ve been the greatest athlete of all time
Imagine him playing basketball wow that would’ve been incredible
@@Luketc7 Or football
@@catguy4996 Football is impossible, he is too tall to kick
imagine rugby tho
he could just hold the ball up high and nobody would be able to reach the ball
Robert Wadlow seemed to have been a beautiful soul with a good heart. Rip gentle giant.
8'11 500+ pounds. (although 439 ish at his death due to being very sick) and as gentle as can be. today surgery to remove a tumor and some things to fix his hips and legs would be all it would take for this man to live a couple decades longer. sad that robert never lived as long as he could have
with some physical therapy and visits to a nuerologist as well as regular doctor visits he would be 100% set at that point.
Can't believe he was that heavy
the Schmoof I still don’t think that he would’ve lived past 40 but I really wish he coulda lived in our time
@@MrJeep75 I mean he was 9 foot so it evens out
They could have also treated the underlying issue with his pituitary gland so he wouldn't have gotten that big in the first place.
I've watched many videos of Wadlow the last few days. This one is among the best.
robert wadlow 1918 -1940 😑💔RIP
why the angry face? 😒 ....
@@crevice5369 👺👺👺
Why not?
TheBatugan77 what
Born during first world war and died during second world war
Guy seemed like he had a huge heart. 22 was way too young to die.
Huge respect to robert
A beautiful human being!
Metalsylla
A Great Person , Story , but a sad ending !!!
God Bless Robert Wadlow. 👍
I remember first reading about him in the late 70s. Was so hard to believe. Hope he did not suffer much. Sounds like he had a supportive community and was loved by many.
Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 - July 15, 1940) reached a maximum height of 8 feet 11.1 inches. He was still growing when he died. He required leg braces to walk, had minimal feeling in his legs and feet.
I heard he got an infection from the braces and died from it.
February 10, 2020-
After watching this beautiful and sad video. I respect Robert Wadlow 😥♥️👍👏
I wished he was here. I will love to be his friend and hugs..
Think of all the frisbees on roofs he could have retrieved.
Gutters.He would have cleaned up.
Woulda made a good tree trimmer.
pros and cons to everything. think of all the balding guys who tried to cover balding up from the average height person. he could spot all their bald heads
True.
Or the photographs he could have taken. Google Street View cameras are set at a height of 8'2", and give you a sort of perspective as to how Robert Wadlow would see the world.
Poor kid, God Bless Him!
I really liked the insight this documentary provides into Bob Wadlow's goals and dreams had he lived beyond 22. It's hard to think of him as a kid because he was so big, but really, he was a kid when he left us. I'm old enough to have been able to meet him or at least correspond with him had he lived into, say, the 1970s or 80s: he would've only been in his 50s when I first saw him in the Guinness Book of World Records in the mid-70s.
I live and was raised in the same town as Robert. I drive past his statue on College Ave. At least 3 times a week. My whole life I have known about Robert and it never gets old with all the videos and pics that are shown for him. His legacy will live on forever. Alton's Gentle Giant.
You go to Principia then?
Or SIU?
I love the way he looks in suits. If he had lived today I could see him being a model on the fashion runway. Look how dapper he looks in suits. He looks so sharp. I don't think anyone looks as good in suits as Robert. I can see him as a model in today's time.
No he's not gonna do that
Y’all people with broad shoulders usually do
Tall*
Since Andre the Giant was actually around 6' 11" to 7' in reality (despite being billed as 7' 5"), Wadlow was roughly 2 feet taller than Andre the Giant.
Andre was presented as 7'4 in the wwf but in real life listed at 7'2” on his French passport, towards the end of his life he lost a few inches due to surgeries, must've been around 7 or 6'11
Dam it's sad he only lived to age 22, so young, and you can tell from the pics he was really a great person, interaction with his class mates etc , RIP Robert
Robert looked like a lovely Man and the people of Alton treated him with kindness and respect and are surely the best of America.
It would be interesting to see someone over 8’ tall without a bunch of health problems related to their height.
Doesn’t really happen. The body is not built in a way to handle that
@@TheLeader-jl5iz 7'7 and 8'11 is a completely different height 🤣
@@erichall090909 you would think that the heart etc would adjust to the rest but I guess it doesn't work like that... Too bad
So sorry for the burden you carried not having a normal life my friend RIP!
THANK YOU for making this and getting with the previous production, had briefly heard of him but never saw films of him
Great inspirational video! It captures the courage and kindness of Robert. Well done!
Poor Robert , You seemed like a happy Guy
Beautiful ❤️ thank you for the amazing tiny documentary ❤️
He just wanted a normal family life. He died too young. Breaks my heart.
when my wife and i was at his grave site,you could see his headstone was in the 2nd row off the road and the 1st row had a gap in their line of head stones as his grave went thru that row.they left a slightly mounded grave to give visitors a sense of how tall he was.upon his death bed he was known to say about an upcoming anniversary of his parents,''the doctor said i will probably not be coming home for the festivities''. when he died,the funeral home was left scrambling to put together a nice casket to hold his remains.there were many thousands of people that lined the streets for his funeral.i want to take another bike ride to visit him again.it is strange that not to awful far from him there is buried robert earl hughes who at that time was the heaviest man.he is in a small church cemetery out in the country near griggsville.
He looks like he made the best of what he had. It’s too bad doctors of the time could not have done more to help him.
I remember my dad telling stories about him. They grew up together. He was just another one of the boys .
This was the 3rd video I watched of him and this was the best 1. Very well done. Wish he got to live longer
Wow! Seems like a really good guy! I would feel honored had I been around then & knew him!
i love how the description says 9 ft tall instead of 8'11
Thats some respect.
Well he's as good as 9 feet tall. 1 inch doesn't make a big difference in your appearance
Spike 32 yes, I see it as complete respect to add one more inch to your height, I'd call someone 5 ft tall if they were 4'11
I remember reading about the guy in Tge Guinness Book of Records back in the early 80s when I was a teenager and was fascinated by the photos and write ups of him.
Great video! Thank you for sharing!
God Bless him, he seem like a good young man
'He had outgrown his nervous system' is a pretty wild thing to say about a human 😅
Love you always Robert - you helped me diagnose myself with Gigantism when I was only 12, and here my Doctor was laughing at me saying " Its because you dad is tall." I am female and was 6'4" at age 12, the last inch i grew was in just 6 weeks. My tumor was removed in 1981 and the recovery was hellish.
According to a documentary I saw, Robert couldn't fit inside the family car. So they built a step for him on the back of the vehicle. His father would drive and Robert would be standing on the step at the rear and holding on to the outside of the car.
What a amazing man Robert was, rest in peace 👍👍
Almost 9 foot tall and 35 stone. W.W.E would have billed him at around 12ft.
I'm So Glad his hometown people Treated him just like the Gentle Man he Was 💯🙏🏻💙✌🏻
It's very sad that he passed so early in his life. Interesting documentary, thank you
I knew a couple who lived temporarily (Navy) in the Philippines. He was a 7'-2" blonde and his wife was a 6'-7" redhead. Talk about standing out in a crowd of asians.
I would commite a
RIP their bed
Their children would be superhumans
It seems like maybe people in small rural towns back then were closer, friendlier. Where i grew up, it was snobby. Everyone was in a clique based on attractiveness and popularity. And those who werent were shunned and bullied.
It seems back then, people embraced each other as all being part of the community. It mattered much less how much money u made or what you or your house looked like. A simpler time with a simpler and better values.
As we go forward, we move backward. This axiom is so true of many aspects to our collective selves as human beings. Yes, we have instant access to info in the palm of our hands in the form of smart phones. But to the younger generations, this is disposable information now; it is, in most cases, info that was not worked toward and therefore is easily forgotten. We have the internet; but it has made us insular toward each other. Many youths have become socially awkward, even though they spend many hours engaged in social media.... and on, and on....😧 It's sad. Except for the children of the parents that are smart enough to see these things on their face. They're the ones who I can place my hope & faith in. Some still have a clue & remember what's important in life. The shame for them though, is the legions of dolts out there that will surely await them out in the world when they all grow to adulthood. Conundrum....🙄
People had to be more sociable back then because their survival depended on it. We might be more technologically advanced now, but it's been at a cost to our common humanity.
What a great documentary. Bob seemed like a good guy, kid really.
Sending hugs to Mr Wadlow
Amazed, and sad to see at the same time.
I have seen the Robert wadlow statute on college avenue, I have even seen it at museums . I really truly honestly do sympathize with him,his family & friends . It's a shame that he had to die so young . I have even seen his tombstone . I tried to pay my respects to him . Robert rest in peace .
He looks like such a nice happy guy. Feel so bad for him when he was walking you could tell he was in pain.
Much respect to the life of Robert Wadlow !!!
He was a real gentle giant with no malice
I had an uncle who was 7'11. It's crazy to think he would look small to this guy
Sure ya did...
@@michaelsuder486 that's right, I do.
As a young boy here in England, I first heard of Robert Wadlow ,the gentle giant.back in the 70's, But to think he died at 22 was a bit of a shock, Its a pity he was born when he was, Because today,with the advent of science and treatment, i'm sure he would have survived the infection which caused his premature death.
ayyyyye! im from Alton!!!
i see that statue alot!
my great grandfather knew him
and its really not weird seeing his height
hes just a normal guy
Robert Wadlow is sad but he couldn't help growing his condition but God-loved him no matter how tall he waas as much as anybody else
I have always been interested in this sweet man. He was a great person.
He was a gentle giant for sure
22 is such a young age for life to come to an end. He seemed like such a nice guy.
We wish he was shorter, than being so tall.
I like this video about this giant man MR Robert Wadlow, I never heard about him untill mr. Lamonth at Large was visiting his final resting place at the cemetary to show us the place where he was burried on his youtube channel site. Nice publication to know more about this young man who died at the age of 22 in the year 1940. Watching this youtube video from Paramaribo !
As a kid I thought atleast he got to live a long life, now that I'm a year older then he was when he passed I realize now how young he actually was. Were still basically kids
Wait wtaf how did you not know that he died at 22 until now?
Fri/02/19/2021 at 27:28
@@nabranestwistypuzzler7019 I knew he was 22. The meaning of my comment is when were younger 22 seems old. But in reality I'm still basically a kid like he was. Hence why I said now that I'm older than he was
Dylan p Ohhh nvm. I know realize what you meant.
Sat/02/20/2021 at 14:03
I'm like that with my mum who died at 54, I'm now two years older than she was, I now realise what she must have been going through at such a age 😏
He truly was exceptional
I really enjoyed this video Very! Nice! and I've been watching all the video's that I can find on You tube as of recently. Again Id like to see more lengty video's done on Robert & his family. Thank You for this video and for your time.
So nice to see him just being a kid and comfort in his hometown It’s kinda sad to know that the condition he had could’ve been treated today unfortunately back then they didn’t know how to treat it
Read that he was 6ft2 when he was 9 years old. Imagine coming to the 4th grade and homies just there same size as the principal sipping a juice box 🤣
He seemed so modest and humble. He would not fit in with today's society of ppl who would hound him 24/7 asking tons of personal questions
He smiles but i just can feel the pain in every movement that he makes in this video.
Surreal looking in the video footage, like where hes sitting at a table with others.
I'd need to see him alive in person to completely process his size.
Mad thing he wasn't even stopping growing and died that young. Imagine what height with today's technology and medicine and science they have to keep him alive. Could of grown to even more crazy heights
What blows my mind was he was still growing
When asked in a radio interview if he was annoyed when people stared at him, he calmly replied, "No, I just overlook them."
One of Ripley's Believe It or Not main exhibitions in his museums. Truly wish he had gotten help. Rip Mr. Wadlow
On June 27, 1940 Robert’s height was measured at an incredible
8ft, 11.9 inches
My father met him once. He came into the Steak n Shake where my dad was manager.
One of my heroes as a kid. 58 now.
He seems a very nice guy!!Always smiling and friendly.
I feel sorry for him,nothing was suit for him.
He died so young,in our day he will received a treatment to stop growing that fast !
God bless him !!!
A giant with a heart of gold
When he was eight he was taller than his dad wow
With the age of five he was 5'4. Thirteen he was 7'4 (bigger than Shaq).
@@l.f.r.6523 yep
💯 Respect to Robert Wadlow.💯
Very nice...thanks.