Sandy Allen: A history of the world's tallest people

Writer, actress and advocate Sandy Allen became the second woman to be named the world’s tallest person, sharing the title with tallest man Mohammad Alam Channa.

They reigned together from 1990 to 1998, although Sandy held the title of tallest woman much longer.

Sandy stood at 231.7 cm (7 ft 7.2 in), the exact same height as Mohammad.

And she lived an extraordinary life.

Early life

Sandra Elaine Allen was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 18 June 1955, but grew up in Shelbyville, Indiana, where she was raised by her mother Jackie Warner and grandmother Emma Warfield in a home they had remodelled to accommodate her.

She had one younger brother, who was average height.

Like many others like her, Sandy’s extraordinary height was due to acromegalic gigantism caused by a tumour on her pituitary gland that made it release more than the normal amount of growth hormone.

She once told the Chicago Tribune that her size first became noticeable when she was a toddler, with an insurance man who called by the house once asking why she wasn’t in school.

“I guess I must have been pretty big by then,” she told the publication. “I was only three.”

She grew to 7 ft 3 in by the time she was a sophomore in high school.

And she said that the bullying was almost too much to cope with.

She said: “I was really depressed. I almost quit school but then I decided to ignore the boys who made fun of me.

“I can understand the stares, but what really hurts me is when people stand there and laugh.”

Sandy’s growth was so rapid that she required medical intervention.

In 1977, when she was 22, she had surgery to prevent her from growing any more.

But of course, she’d already reached record-breaking heights.

She’d first reached out to Guinness World Records in 1974, hoping that some publicity might help widen her social circle.

She wrote in her letter: “It is needless to say my social life is practically nil and perhaps the publicity from your book may brighten my life.”

A friend said the recognition of the tallest woman record helped her accept her height and brought her out of her shell.

Becoming a star

Sandy’s height opened up a whole new world of possibilities for her.

An illustration of Sandy Allen

While many of the world’s tallest people before her joined touring circuses, Sandy became a movie star, trading in her old job as a clerk-stenographer at the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.

She first appeared in a movie called Fellini’s Casanova in 1976 as Angelina the giantess alongside Donald Sutherland and then as Goliatha in 1981 TV movie Side Show.

Sandy also made a string of TV appearances as herself in documentaries such as Being Different and Extraordinary People and on talk shows like Sally Jessy Raphael.

She even has her own song, “Hello Sandy Allen”, written by New Zealand band Split Enz for their album Time & Tide.

In a video of them performing it live, one of the band members describes her as “a hell of a woman”.

Sandy also shared her own story in a book, Cast a Giant Shadow, which she wrote with the help of John Kleiman.

She also used the platform she’d earned to raise money for a local animal shelter and to inspire schoolchildren to accept those that are different.

Reports from around the height of her fame describe Sandy as a “sensitive and warm woman”.

The Lancaster New Era wrote about how she would stop for every autograph seeker, chat to children who wanted to meet her, ask them about themselves and laugh with them.

She once told the publication: “For a period of time, up until a couple of years ago, I thought I wanted to be a hermit.

“But I built up an immunity against people who make fun of me. I have never fought back. I’m not the kind of person who can fight back.”

Reports from 1975 also referred to “Sandy Allen Day” being marked in the Illinois town of Flora.

Later years

Sandy’s height caused some medical issues for her in her later years.

She ended up needing a wheelchair to get around because her legs could no longer support her tall stature in a standing position.

And she suffered atrophy of the muscles after becoming bedridden for a time.

Sandy spent the final years of her life in a retirement home in Shelbyville, where interestingly, she lived alongside Edna Parker, who at the time was the world’s oldest person.

The chances of the world’s tallest and oldest person living in the same care home at the same time must be absolutely miniscule.

Sandy died on 13 August 2008, aged just 53. She’d been in hospitals in the months leading up to her passing.

A family friend, Rita Rose, revealed she had died as the result of a recurring blood infection, Type 2 diabetes, breathing troubles and kidney failure.

Rita told The Daily Journal of her friend: “She embraced [her height]. She used it as a tool to educate people.”

Her memory was honoured at Shelbyville High School, where a scholarship was named after her.