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Robert Wadlow - Never Before Seen Footage of Tallest Man EVER
Sep 1, 2025
Guinness World Records is proud to unveil never-before-seen footage of our iconic record holder Robert Wadlow. This exclusive footage was shared by Bruce Jensen whose mother grew up with the world's tallest man ever. He shares the footage which shows Robert towering over everyone else as a teenager.
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My name is Bruce Jensen.
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My mother grew up in Alton, Illinois,
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and all her family lived there. And she
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met and knew Robert Wadllo, the world's
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tallest man.
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Alton is a small town, maybe 20,000
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people, something like that.
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My grandfather Maurice Williamson loved
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uh new technology and in the 1920s
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bought himself a movie camera and a
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projector and started filming uh all
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sorts of occasions
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and he knew a lot of people as a doctor
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including the Wadlo family. So I think
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that he arranged this meeting between my
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mother and Robert because they have the
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same birthday February 22nd. She was
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born in 1929. He was born in 1918.
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But so he was turning 15, she was
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turning four.
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There's the rest of Robert.
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They walk down the steps together
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and have a lovely handshake.
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And she cranes her head to look up at
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Robert and he picks her up.
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And this is my favorite part. She starts
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to walk away and then she stops and she
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reaches back
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for Robert's hand
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and they walk together.
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I love that part.
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[Music]
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So, not only did Robert have a
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relationship with my mother and my
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grandfather,
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but I found I just a few days ago found
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this long lost photo of Robert with my
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great aunt Bernice.
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She was his high school art teacher. She
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actually had a master's degree from
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Columbia University and then came back
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to Alton, Illinois to teach art
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and for her entire career. So, she was
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there not only through all of Robert's
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schooling, but for all of Robert's
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siblings and for my mother as well. She
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was there the whole time teaching
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teaching art.
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Well, I I think it's fascinating that I
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had so much family in Alton, Illinois.
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And I think part of why he became so
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iconic was the way he lived his life
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with so much dignity. Barnaman Bailey
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wanted him to be, you know, travel with
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the circus and uh, you know, but he
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insisted on wearing a suit and I think
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he tried it for a while, but he did it
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in a dignified manner. And I think
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that's the way he carried himself and
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presented himself and how, you know,
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friendly he was, as you can see in the
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video with my mom. Um, I think that's
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partly or has a lot to do with why he
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became so iconic.
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It's interesting. Our son Kevin, I'm
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only 5'11 or I was most of my life. I
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think I'm shorter now. So, Robert Wadla
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was more than 3 feet taller than I am
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now, which is really hard to imagine.
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But our son Kevin is 6'7. And so, he
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sticks out also, and people feel like
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they have a license to to comment on
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that.
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People that he doesn't know all the time
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comment on how tall he is. So, but he
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was more than two feet shorter than
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Robert Wadlow. And I have really a hard
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time imagining what that must have been
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like for Robert to I mean, people must
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have gawkked at at Robert all the time.
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And you know, what was that like? It's
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really It's a little hard to put your uh
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feet in his shoes,
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but um I think he got a lot of support
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from the people in in Alton.
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They I think they they loved him and
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thought of him as, you know, their
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hometown boy.
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[Music]
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