John Aasen
| John Aasen | |
|---|---|
Aasen standing next to an average height man
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| Born |
March 5, 1890 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Died | August 1, 1938 (aged 48) Mendocino, California |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Other names | Johan Aasen Johnny Aasen |
| Height | 7 ft 2.4 in (2.19 m) |
John Aasen (March 5, 1890 – August 1, 1938) was an American silent film actor who was one of the tallest actors in history.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aasen's mother, Kristi (Danielsen) from Rollag in Numedal, was an extremely tall Norwegian woman of around 2.20 m (almost 7 ft 3 inches) in height (latest information from September 2008, sets her height to 188 cm, almost 6 ft 2 inches). It is not certain who his father was, but according to Aasen's sister Evelyn (who died in 1988), his father was Alfred Aasen. When Aasen was ten years old, he and his mother moved from Ridgeway, Iowa (where his uncle Sam/Sevre lived with his wife Cornelia) to Sheyenne, North Dakota with his two younger siblings. Aasen was a Freemason. He raised to the degree of Master Mason at Highland Park Lodge No. 382, Los Angeles on July 14, 1924.
When in Sheyenne, Aasen's mother operated a restaurant. He attended school and helped out in the family business. In 1902, Aasen's mother died. He was taken into many homes and families. When a family he was staying with started to operate a hotel in Leeds, North Dakota, he moved with them there. Aasen's growth started slowly. When he was confirmed in the Lutheran faith in Grandfield Lutheran Church near Sheyenne, North Dakota, he was the shortest in his class. According to some sources, Aasen was around 2.74 m or 8 feet, 11½ inches (which, if true, would make him even taller than Robert Wadlow, the tallest verified person in history). The Top 10 of Everything 2010 edition states his height at 8 feet, 9.7 inches.
According to the 1978 edition of Guinness World Records he was only 7 feet (213.4 cm). Just before his death, at age 46, he was medically measured at 7 feet 0.9 inches, however he had lost some height due to age and could not stand completely straight anymore. In June 2008, Loma Linda University confirmed that the 7-foot-2.4-inch (219 cm) skeleton they had in their collection was John Aasen.
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