Matthew McGrory (May 17, 1973 – August 9, 2005) was an American actor, known for his great height. McGrory was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. McGrory studied law at Widener University, where he resided in campus housing on the first floor of Howell Hall. Studied Criminal Justice at West Chester University. McGrory grew to the height of 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) and had size 29 shoes. He was never tested for any physical abnormalities based on his height. Due to his height, he was in demand to play roles in movies cast as a giant – he did so in films such as Bubble Boy, Big Fish, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects and television shows including Malcolm in the Middle, Charmed, and Carnivàle. The Guinness Book of World Records also gave him the title of the tallest actor, the largest toe, and having the world's largest feet not caused by Elephantiasis – size 29½. He also featured in Marilyn Manson's music video "Coma White" and on the cover of Manson's VHS God is in the TV. He can also be seen on the Blondie's video for their 2003-hit "Good Boys." At the time of his death he was playing André the Giant in a film about the wrestler's life. He was also a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show, so much so that he was considered a member of the show's infamous Wack Pack. Stern show co-host Robin Quivers also once chose him to be her special guest in the audience during her appearance on a celebrity edition of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
Peter Mayhew (born 19 May 1944) is an American-English actor known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches (2.21 m) tall. Mayhew was born in Great Yarmouth and raised in Barnes, London; before getting into acting, he worked as a porter at London's King's College Hospital. He received his first acting job in 1977 when the producers of the movie Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger discovered Mayhew from a photograph in a newspaper article about men with large feet, and they cast him in the role of the minotaur.
When casting roles for his first Star Wars film, producer George Lucas needed a tall actor who could fit the role for the beastly Chewbacca. He originally had in mind 6 ft 6 in bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse was instead cast to play the role of Darth Vader. This led Lucas on a search which turned up Mayhew, who says that all he had to do to be cast in the role of Chewbacca was stand up. He reprised his signature role during Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which was released in theatres on his birthday in 2005. Mayhew has played part of Chewbacca in four Star Wars films: the original Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. He also played the role in the 1978 television movie The Star Wars Holiday Special, as well as in an appearance on The Muppet Show and in commercials and for hospital appearances for sick children. When cast in the role he studied the movement of large animals at the zoo to come up with an authentic sense of movement for Chewbacca. When Mayhew grew ill in the shooting of The Empire Strikes Back a similarly tall stand in was used, but the actor could not match Mayhew's studied movement style and the scenes had to be reshot upon Mayhew's recovery. Mayhew did not provide the voice of Chewbacca; that was created by the film's sound designer, Ben Burtt, by mixing together the growls of different animals. Mayhew has made numerous appearances as Chewbacca outside the Star Wars films. Mayhew as Chewbacca was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards 1997. He was also honored at the release of the new PlayStation Portable where he dressed as Chewbacca and held up the new PSP slim version. Mayhew will also reprise his role in the upcoming Disney theme park attraction, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. He has also made media appearances without the Chewbacca costume. Mayhew appeared on NBC's Identity where his identity was based on the fact that he played Chewbacca. He is very active in the fan convention circuit appearing on numerous conventions a year.
When casting roles for his first Star Wars film, producer George Lucas needed a tall actor who could fit the role for the beastly Chewbacca. He originally had in mind 6 ft 6 in bodybuilder David Prowse, but Prowse was instead cast to play the role of Darth Vader. This led Lucas on a search which turned up Mayhew, who says that all he had to do to be cast in the role of Chewbacca was stand up. He reprised his signature role during Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which was released in theatres on his birthday in 2005. Mayhew has played part of Chewbacca in four Star Wars films: the original Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. He also played the role in the 1978 television movie The Star Wars Holiday Special, as well as in an appearance on The Muppet Show and in commercials and for hospital appearances for sick children. When cast in the role he studied the movement of large animals at the zoo to come up with an authentic sense of movement for Chewbacca. When Mayhew grew ill in the shooting of The Empire Strikes Back a similarly tall stand in was used, but the actor could not match Mayhew's studied movement style and the scenes had to be reshot upon Mayhew's recovery. Mayhew did not provide the voice of Chewbacca; that was created by the film's sound designer, Ben Burtt, by mixing together the growls of different animals. Mayhew has made numerous appearances as Chewbacca outside the Star Wars films. Mayhew as Chewbacca was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MTV Movie Awards 1997. He was also honored at the release of the new PlayStation Portable where he dressed as Chewbacca and held up the new PSP slim version. Mayhew will also reprise his role in the upcoming Disney theme park attraction, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. He has also made media appearances without the Chewbacca costume. Mayhew appeared on NBC's Identity where his identity was based on the fact that he played Chewbacca. He is very active in the fan convention circuit appearing on numerous conventions a year.
Kevin Peter Hall (May 9, 1955 – April 10, 1991) was an American actor known for his roles in Misfits of Science, Prophecy, Without Warning, and Harry and the Hendersons. He was also best known as the title character in the first two films in the Predator franchise. Hall was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents were of above-average stature; his father, Charles Hall, was 6' 6", and his mother, Sylvia Hall, was 6' 2". At 7' 2" tall, he was the tallest of six brothers, all over 6' 5". During his high school years at Penn Hills High School, he excelled at basketball and earned a scholarship to George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. In college, Hall continued to play basketball and majored in Theatrical Arts. After graduation, Hall moved to Venezuela to play basketball. Hall made his acting debut in the 1979 horror film Prophecy. Due to his tall stature, he was often cast in monster roles. He appeared as "the alien" in the 1980 horror film Without Warning and as "Gorvil" in the 1982 television movie Mazes and Monsters. In 1985, he co-starred in the short-lived series Misfits of Science. He guest starred on the sitcom Night Court, as a huge but gentle mental patient who humorously towered over bailiff Bull Shannon (played by Richard Moll, who is 6'8"). The next year, Hall portrayed yet another monster in the horror film Monster in the Closet, followed by the role of "Harry" in Harry and the Hendersons. In 1986, Hall was cast as the main antagonist in Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. During its developmental stages, the Predator was going to be played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who played the Predator for the first few scenes and wasn't billed on end credits. The producers decided to recast with Hall so that the Predator could realistically physically dominate the film's human characters. Hall would go on to reprise the role in the 1990 sequel. Following his role in Predator, Hall appeared in the film Big Top Pee-wee (1988), and had a guest spot on Star Trek: The Next Generation (a series for which he had once been a leading contender for two key roles, Geordi LaForge and Lt. Commander Data). From 1989 to 1990, he had a recurring role on the NBC sitcom 227. In 1990, Hall reprised his role as Harry on the television series based on the film. He died during the series' first season.
Richard Dawson Kiel (born September 13, 1939) is an American actor best known for his role as the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) as well as the video game Everything or Nothing, and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore. He was 7 feet 1.5 inches (2.18 m) tall in his prime but now due to injury and age, he is slightly under 7 feet tall. Kiel was born in Detroit, Michigan. He made his acting debut in a 1960 Laramie episode called "Street of Hate." He also acted in an unaired TV-pilot featuring Lee Falk's superhero The Phantom, where Kiel played an assassin called "Big Mike", who was hired to kill the title hero. He also has a son named Bennett Kiel and a grandson that goes by Bennett Kiel as well. Kiel broke into films in the early 1960s with the B-movie Eegah (1962), which was later featured on the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. He also co-wrote, produced, and starred in the family-friendly movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain. Kiel also appeared as the towering—and lethal—assistant Voltaire to Dr. Miguelito Loveless in first season episodes of The Wild, Wild West. He later appeared in another role, in the episode "The Night of the Simian Terror", as the outcast son of a wealthy family, banished because of birth defects that distorted his body and apparently affected his mind. This episode is significant because it allowed Kiel the opportunity to really act, rather than just look intimidating. He and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the original choices to play the title character in the 1977 TV series The Incredible Hulk. Schwarzenegger was turned down due to his height. Kiel participated in the filming of the TV movie pilot. During the shoot, producers decided their Hulk needed to be muscular rather than just towering, and Kiel was dismissed because he possessed more body fat than the producers deemed necessary. According to a Den of Geek interview, Kiel, who sees properly out of only one eye, also reacted badly to the contact lenses used for the role, and found the green makeup difficult to remove, so he did not mind losing the part. All recognizable footage of Kiel was cut; the scenes were then reshot with Lou Ferrigno.
Lock Martin (February 22, 1916 – January 19, 1959) was the stage name of American actor Joseph Lockard Martin, Jr. He is best remembered for playing the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He was from Pennsylvania and had a series of odd jobs before going into acting. He was working as a doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater when he was hired for the role of Gort, although this was not his first acting job. He was reportedly 7 feet 7 inches tall (about 231 cm); however Robert Wise, director of The Day The Earth Stood Still, states his height was 7 feet 1 inch in the DVD commentary. His great height did not translate into strength and he had difficulty managing his robot suit. For scenes where he was supposed to physically lift Patricia Neal and Michael Rennie, they were either held up by wires, a hidden dolly or replaced with lightweight dummies. He was also in The Incredible Shrinking Man as a giant, but his scenes were deleted. He was nicknamed "the Gentle Giant" as he liked reading stories to children and for a time had a local show devoted to that.
Carel Struycken (born July 30, 1948) is a Dutch film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for playing Mr. Homn on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lurch in the films The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. He is an exceptionally tall man at 2.13 metres (7 feet) and thus is often called upon to play character or comedic roles in which height plays a major part. Struycken collaborated on a number of projects with writer/director Rene Daalder, including the 1986 punk rock musical Population: 1, which featured Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers and which was released on DVD in October 2008. Struycken was "discovered" as an actor at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles by a lady who had abandoned her car in the middle of the street, calling after him: "We need you for a movie!". The movie was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
John DeSantis is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known as Lurch in the 1998–99 Fox Family production of The Addams Family, entitled The New Addams Family. This role was originally portrayed by Ted Cassidy.
• Police Academy: The Series .... Thug
• The New Addams Family (1998) TV Series .... Lurch
• The 13th Warrior (1999) .... Ragnar the Dour
• Reunion (2000) TV Episode .... Big Tracker
• Stargate SG-1 (2001) TV Episode .... Jaffa
• Voyage of the Unicorn (2001) (TV) .... Cratch
• Dead Last .... Evil Ghost (1 episode, 2001)
• Dark Angel .... Miller, the Mangler (1 episode, 2001)
• Thir13en Ghosts (2001) .... Breaker Mahoney, The Juggernaut
• Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) (as John De Santis) .... Bus Guard #2
• Snow Queen (TV) (as John De Santis) .... Satan
• Slumber (2003) TV Episode .... The Traveller
• Smallville .... The Traveller (1 episode, 2003)
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) .... Padeen, Loblolly Boy
• Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels (2004) (TV) .... Bigfoot
• Ghost Story (2004) TV Episode .... Tiny
• Dead Like Me .... Tiny (1 episode, 2004)
• Earthsea (2004) (TV) (as John De Santis) .... Kargide Soldier #1
• Bloodsuckers (2005) (TV) .... Ble-Ka
• The Long Weekend (2005) .... Cellmate
• Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus 3-D (2005) (V) (voice) .... Ollie the Giant
• Masters of Horror .... Moonface (1 episode, 2005)
• Little Man (2006/I) (as John De Santis) .... Bruno
• Blade: The Series .... Thorne (6 episodes, 2006)
• The Dresden Files .... Demon (1 episode, 2007)
• Painkiller Jane .... Henry Perkins (1 episode, 2007)
• Ratko: The Dictator's Son (2009) .... Skender
• Eureka (1 episode, 2009) .... Big Ed
• Psych (1 episode, 2010) .... 7-foot tall man
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe (1995), for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, L.A. Confidential (1997), The Green Mile (1999), and in the television series Six Feet Under (2003–2005). He has been nominated for an Oscar, three Emmy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards during his career. Cromwell was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Manhattan, New York. He is the son of actress Kay Johnson and actor, director and producer John Cromwell, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He was educated at The Hill School, Middlebury College and Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). Like his parents, he was drawn to the theater, performing in everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays.
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon. He is known for his roles as Nuke in Bull Durham, Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, and as Dave Boyle in Mystic River, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Robbins was born in West Covina, California, and raised in New York City, the son of Mary Robbins (née Bledsoe), an actress, and Gilbert Lee Robbins (1931–2011), a musician, folk singer, actor and former manager of The Gaslight Cafe. Robbins has two sisters, Adele and Gabrielle, and a brother, David. Robbins was raised Catholic. He moved to Greenwich Village with his family at a young age, while his father pursued a career as a member of the folk music group The Highwaymen. Robbins started doing theater at age twelve and joined the drama club at Stuyvesant High School. He spent two years at SUNY Plattsburgh and then returned to California to study at the UCLA Film School.
Tamara Dobson (May 14, 1944 - October 2, 2006) was an American actress and fashion model. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland and received her degree in fashion illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Dobson, who stood 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm), eventually became a fashion model for Vogue Magazine. She made a few films in Hollywood but is best known for her roles in the Blaxploitation films, Cleopatra Jones (1973) and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975). According to published reports, Dobson died on October 2, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland of complications from pneumonia and multiple sclerosis, her brother, Peter Dobson, said.