Jack Earle — ‘The World’s Tallest Man’
Boston Public Library/FlickrLeft: Jack Earle with fellow performer Major Mite, who stood 2’2″. Right: Earle with an average-sized man.
Born in El Paso, Texas, in 1906, Jack Earle stood six feet tall by the age of 10. By the age of 13, he was already over seven feet tall. And as an adult, Earle grew to be 7 feet, 6 inches — though he was popularly proclaimed as the “World’s Tallest Man” and his height was publicized as 8 feet, 6 inches.
The reason why he was so shockingly tall was that he had a condition known as acromegalic gigantism. And while his height could be advantageous for him in some situations, it was downright dangerous in others.
Earle had been a Hollywood actor (appearing in films like Hansel and Gretel and Jack and the Beanstalk). But according to reporting from Texas Hill Country in 2018, a bad fall from scaffolding caused him to develop major health problems, causing Earle to retire from movies for good.
Afterward, in 1925, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus “freak show” came through El Paso, and Earle happened to attend one of their shows. He was considerably taller than the show’s current “giant,” and Ringling Bros., seeing an opportunity, offered Earle a one-year contract.
El Paso Historical SocietyJack Earle with two average-sized men.
Earle didn’t want to be in a “freak show.” But he needed to make a living, so he decided to become a sideshow performer. And on his first day, Earle was put at ease when a performer with dwarfism named Harry Doll explained that there were more “freaks” in the audience than in the show itself.
The gentle giant thus began his Ringling Bros. career alongside two feet, two inch tall Major Mite (Clarence Chesterfield Howerton). He would spend the next 14 years on the road with the sideshow — often posing alongside extremely short men or average-sized men to further emphasize his height.
After retiring, Earle went on to become a traveling salesman for the Roma Wine Company. He died of kidney failure in 1952 at the age of 46.
