September 4, 2025 • 10 mins
Read the article: https://weirddarkness.com/new-footage-robert-wadlow
Video Footage: Guinness World Records: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ZxWDwSInk
Recently discovered 1933 home movie footage (below) shows what really happened when the world's tallest man met a four-year-old girl on their shared birthday.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.
#RobertWadlow #TallestManEver #FoundFootage #WorldsTallestPerson #GuinnessWorldRecords #MedicalMysteries #Gigantism #WeirdHistory #TrueStory #Documentary
Video Footage: Guinness World Records: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ZxWDwSInk
Recently discovered 1933 home movie footage (below) shows what really happened when the world's tallest man met a four-year-old girl on their shared birthday.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.
#RobertWadlow #TallestManEver #FoundFootage #WorldsTallestPerson #GuinnessWorldRecords #MedicalMysteries #Gigantism #WeirdHistory #TrueStory #Documentary
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
I'm Darren Marler and this is a Weird Darkness Bonus Bite.
The black and white film sat forgotten in boxes for
ninety years alongside Christmas mornings and Fourth of July picnics,
until Bruce Jensen decided to digitize his grandfather's old home movies.
Maurice Williamson loved his movie camera. The Alton, Illinois doctor
(00:27):
filmed everything he could in the nineteen twenties and thirties.
His obsession with new technology meant he captured moments most
families only remembered in fading photographs. His grandson, Bruce Jensen,
inherited boxes of these films, most showing ordinary family gatherings.
Then he found the footage from February twenty second, nineteen
(00:47):
thirty three. The film shows Robert Wadlow, already eight feet
tall at age fifteen, meeting Bruce's mother, Patricia on their
shared birthday. She had just turned four. Maurice had arranged
the meeting specifically to capture it on film, knowing both
families in the small Illinois town. What the footage reveals
goes beyond a simple birthday meeting between neighbors. Robert's hands
(01:11):
appear massive as he bends down to shake Patricia's tiny fingers.
His knees bend at awkward angles. His spine curves unnaturally
as he attempts to reach the child's level. When he
picks her up, his fingers wrap completely around her torso.
The size difference creates an almost other worldly visual, like
(01:31):
two different species attempting interaction. At fifteen years old, Robert
already towered over his own father in the family shots.
The footage shows him holding his baby sibling, the infant
disappearing in his arms like a doll designed for a
smaller child. His shoulders hunch forward constantly, a permanent stoop
(01:52):
developing from doorways, ceilings, and the constant need to bend
toward a world built for people three feet shorter. The
medical reality behind his height involved a hyperactive pituitary gland
that never stopped producing growth hormone. His body kept growing
past every normal boundary. Bones stretched beyond their intended limits.
(02:13):
Organs worked overtime to supply blood to extremities farther away
than human design intended. Every system in his body operated
under constant strain. Alton, Illinois, had a population of about
thirty thousand in the nineteen thirties. Everyone knew Robert. Bruce
Jensen's great aunt, Bernice, taught him art at the local
(02:34):
high school for three years, watching him grow taller each semester.
The footage shows Robert wearing his characteristic suit, the formal
clothing he insisted on despite offers from Barnum and Bailey
to join their circus. Circus had promised him fortune and fame.
They wanted him in their side show, displayed alongside other humanodities.
(02:55):
Robert tried it briefly, but demanded specific conditions where his
suit maintain his dignity refuse the typical freak show presentation.
The film captures why this mattered so much, even in
casual moments with a neighbour's child, people stared windows in
nearby houses show faces pressed against the glass watching Bruce Jensen,
(03:20):
now decades older than his mother was in the footage,
stands only five feet eleven inches tall. His own son, Kevin,
reaches six foot seven inches and receives constant comments from
strangers about his height. Kevin is still more than two
feet shorter than Robert was at his death. The relentless
attention Kevin experiences offers just a fraction of what Robert
(03:43):
endured daily. The footage runs only a few minutes, but
captures multiple angles of discomfort. Patricia runs ahead of Robert
down the porch steps. Her natural child's pace forces him
to take measured, careful steps. His feet size thirty seven.
American measurements required special shoes that cost one hundred dollars
(04:03):
per pair in depression era money. Each step appears calculated
to avoid stepping on the small girl darting around him.
When Patricia reaches for his hand, Robert's fingers engulf her
entire arm to the elbow. She creans her neck back
at an extreme angle just to see his face. He
maintains a constant smile throughout the film, the practiced expression
(04:26):
of someone perpetually on display. His cheeks stretch wide, but
his eyes show something else, the teenager's exhaustion with being
a permanent exhibit. Maurice Williamson shakes Robert's hand in one segment.
The doctor, an average sized man who delivered babies throughout Alton, Illinois,
barely reaches Robert's chest. Their handshake appears absurd, Maurice's hand
(04:51):
vanishing inside Robert's grip. The doctor had served in World
War one when Robert was born in nineteen eighteen, returning
to find a local baby already making headlines for unusual growth.
By the age of fifteen, Robert required leg braces to walk.
The human ankle joints were not designed to support a
body approaching four hundred pounds of height stretched mass. His
(05:15):
feet had minimal sensation due to poor circulation that far
from his heart. This numbness would eventually kill him. An
infected blister from an ill fitting brace went unnoticed until
sepsis had already set in. The footage doesn't show the
leg braces clearly, but Robert's gates reveals their presence. Each
(05:35):
step looks mechanical, planned rather than natural. His knees lock
and unlock in segments. Standing still, he shifts weight constantly
from foot to foot, unable to find a comfortable position.
Normal chairs quit and told him regular beds left his
feet hanging multiple feet past the end. Cars required removal
(05:57):
of front seats so he could sit in the back
with legs. Extended doorways meant ducking and turning sideways. Ceilings
in most homes cleared his head by inches, if at all.
The world physically rejected his presence through its dimensions. Robert's
smile never drops in the footage, not when bending painfully
(06:19):
to reach Patricia's level, not when his back clearly aches
from the position, not when neighbors openly stare from windows.
This wasn't natural joy, but trained behavior, the defense mechanism
of someone who learned that pleasant cooperation meant slightly less
dehumanizing treatment. The Wadlow family appears in group shots near
(06:40):
the end of the film. Robert's parents look small beside
their son, their faces showing a mixture of pride and
something harder to define. They'd watched their oldest child transform
from a normal baby into a medical phenomenon, a tourist attraction,
a source of income through appearances and endorsements. His siblings
(07:01):
cluster around him at various heights, the younger ones looking
up at their brother like he belongs to another world.
School has become impossible by this point. Desks didn't fit,
always felt like tunnels. Other students treated him as either
a celebrity or a monster, never just Robert. Bernice. The
art teacher likely provided one of the few normal interactions
(07:24):
in his day, discussing brushstrokes and perspective, rather than his
height seven years after this footage was taken, Robert died
in a hotel room in Manistee, Michigan. The infected blister
had festered for days before anyone noticed. By then, bacteria
had entered his bloodstream. Antibiotics might have saved him today,
(07:45):
but in nineteen forty, infection meant death once it spread
that far. His funeral required a special casket measuring ten
feet nine inches long. It took twelve pall bearers to
carry it over. Forty thousand people filed past to view
his body. The spectacle continued even in death. Concrete was
(08:06):
poured over his grave to prevent theft of his remains
by those who might display them. Patricia Jensen grew up
remembering that birthday meeting. She told her son Bruce, about
Robert's dignity, his smile, his determination to be treated as
human rather than curiosity. She preserved the moment not as
meeting a giant, but as meeting a teenage boy who
(08:29):
happened to inhabit a body that wouldn't stop growing. The
footage ends with Robert walking away from the camera, his
figure filling the entire frame Despite the distance. His shadow
stretches impossibly long across the ground, Patricia waves goodbye, her
entire body the size of his calf. The camera keeps
(08:50):
rolling for a few seconds after he disappears, capturing an
empty street that suddenly looks built to proper scale again.
Bruce Jensen found this film among dozens of others, each
labeled only with dates. His grandfather, Maurice, had documented everything
with his beloved camera, but this particular reel went unviewed
for decades. Technology that seemed miraculous in nineteen thirty three,
(09:15):
the ability to capture moving images preserved something Maurice probably
didn't intend, the exhausting reality of existing in a body
that exceeded every human specification, a perpetual performance required just
to move through a world that treated you as entertainment
rather than a person. The smile Robert maintained throughout the
(09:37):
footage wasn't happiness, it was survival. If you'd like to
read this story for yourself and see the video that
I talked about, I've placed a link to the article
in the episode description, and you can find more stories
of the paranormal, true crime, strange, and more at Weird
Darkness dot com, slash News, SA
I'm Darren Marler and this is a Weird Darkness Bonus Bite.
The black and white film sat forgotten in boxes for
ninety years alongside Christmas mornings and Fourth of July picnics,
until Bruce Jensen decided to digitize his grandfather's old home movies.
Maurice Williamson loved his movie camera. The Alton, Illinois doctor
(00:27):
filmed everything he could in the nineteen twenties and thirties.
His obsession with new technology meant he captured moments most
families only remembered in fading photographs. His grandson, Bruce Jensen,
inherited boxes of these films, most showing ordinary family gatherings.
Then he found the footage from February twenty second, nineteen
(00:47):
thirty three. The film shows Robert Wadlow, already eight feet
tall at age fifteen, meeting Bruce's mother, Patricia on their
shared birthday. She had just turned four. Maurice had arranged
the meeting specifically to capture it on film, knowing both
families in the small Illinois town. What the footage reveals
goes beyond a simple birthday meeting between neighbors. Robert's hands
(01:11):
appear massive as he bends down to shake Patricia's tiny fingers.
His knees bend at awkward angles. His spine curves unnaturally
as he attempts to reach the child's level. When he
picks her up, his fingers wrap completely around her torso.
The size difference creates an almost other worldly visual, like
(01:31):
two different species attempting interaction. At fifteen years old, Robert
already towered over his own father in the family shots.
The footage shows him holding his baby sibling, the infant
disappearing in his arms like a doll designed for a
smaller child. His shoulders hunch forward constantly, a permanent stoop
(01:52):
developing from doorways, ceilings, and the constant need to bend
toward a world built for people three feet shorter. The
medical reality behind his height involved a hyperactive pituitary gland
that never stopped producing growth hormone. His body kept growing
past every normal boundary. Bones stretched beyond their intended limits.
(02:13):
Organs worked overtime to supply blood to extremities farther away
than human design intended. Every system in his body operated
under constant strain. Alton, Illinois, had a population of about
thirty thousand in the nineteen thirties. Everyone knew Robert. Bruce
Jensen's great aunt, Bernice, taught him art at the local
(02:34):
high school for three years, watching him grow taller each semester.
The footage shows Robert wearing his characteristic suit, the formal
clothing he insisted on despite offers from Barnum and Bailey
to join their circus. Circus had promised him fortune and fame.
They wanted him in their side show, displayed alongside other humanodities.
(02:55):
Robert tried it briefly, but demanded specific conditions where his
suit maintain his dignity refuse the typical freak show presentation.
The film captures why this mattered so much, even in
casual moments with a neighbour's child, people stared windows in
nearby houses show faces pressed against the glass watching Bruce Jensen,
(03:20):
now decades older than his mother was in the footage,
stands only five feet eleven inches tall. His own son, Kevin,
reaches six foot seven inches and receives constant comments from
strangers about his height. Kevin is still more than two
feet shorter than Robert was at his death. The relentless
attention Kevin experiences offers just a fraction of what Robert
(03:43):
endured daily. The footage runs only a few minutes, but
captures multiple angles of discomfort. Patricia runs ahead of Robert
down the porch steps. Her natural child's pace forces him
to take measured, careful steps. His feet size thirty seven.
American measurements required special shoes that cost one hundred dollars
(04:03):
per pair in depression era money. Each step appears calculated
to avoid stepping on the small girl darting around him.
When Patricia reaches for his hand, Robert's fingers engulf her
entire arm to the elbow. She creans her neck back
at an extreme angle just to see his face. He
maintains a constant smile throughout the film, the practiced expression
(04:26):
of someone perpetually on display. His cheeks stretch wide, but
his eyes show something else, the teenager's exhaustion with being
a permanent exhibit. Maurice Williamson shakes Robert's hand in one segment.
The doctor, an average sized man who delivered babies throughout Alton, Illinois,
barely reaches Robert's chest. Their handshake appears absurd, Maurice's hand
(04:51):
vanishing inside Robert's grip. The doctor had served in World
War one when Robert was born in nineteen eighteen, returning
to find a local baby already making headlines for unusual growth.
By the age of fifteen, Robert required leg braces to walk.
The human ankle joints were not designed to support a
body approaching four hundred pounds of height stretched mass. His
(05:15):
feet had minimal sensation due to poor circulation that far
from his heart. This numbness would eventually kill him. An
infected blister from an ill fitting brace went unnoticed until
sepsis had already set in. The footage doesn't show the
leg braces clearly, but Robert's gates reveals their presence. Each
(05:35):
step looks mechanical, planned rather than natural. His knees lock
and unlock in segments. Standing still, he shifts weight constantly
from foot to foot, unable to find a comfortable position.
Normal chairs quit and told him regular beds left his
feet hanging multiple feet past the end. Cars required removal
(05:57):
of front seats so he could sit in the back
with legs. Extended doorways meant ducking and turning sideways. Ceilings
in most homes cleared his head by inches, if at all.
The world physically rejected his presence through its dimensions. Robert's
smile never drops in the footage, not when bending painfully
(06:19):
to reach Patricia's level, not when his back clearly aches
from the position, not when neighbors openly stare from windows.
This wasn't natural joy, but trained behavior, the defense mechanism
of someone who learned that pleasant cooperation meant slightly less
dehumanizing treatment. The Wadlow family appears in group shots near
(06:40):
the end of the film. Robert's parents look small beside
their son, their faces showing a mixture of pride and
something harder to define. They'd watched their oldest child transform
from a normal baby into a medical phenomenon, a tourist attraction,
a source of income through appearances and endorsements. His siblings
(07:01):
cluster around him at various heights, the younger ones looking
up at their brother like he belongs to another world.
School has become impossible by this point. Desks didn't fit,
always felt like tunnels. Other students treated him as either
a celebrity or a monster, never just Robert. Bernice. The
art teacher likely provided one of the few normal interactions
(07:24):
in his day, discussing brushstrokes and perspective, rather than his
height seven years after this footage was taken, Robert died
in a hotel room in Manistee, Michigan. The infected blister
had festered for days before anyone noticed. By then, bacteria
had entered his bloodstream. Antibiotics might have saved him today,
(07:45):
but in nineteen forty, infection meant death once it spread
that far. His funeral required a special casket measuring ten
feet nine inches long. It took twelve pall bearers to
carry it over. Forty thousand people filed past to view
his body. The spectacle continued even in death. Concrete was
(08:06):
poured over his grave to prevent theft of his remains
by those who might display them. Patricia Jensen grew up
remembering that birthday meeting. She told her son Bruce, about
Robert's dignity, his smile, his determination to be treated as
human rather than curiosity. She preserved the moment not as
meeting a giant, but as meeting a teenage boy who
(08:29):
happened to inhabit a body that wouldn't stop growing. The
footage ends with Robert walking away from the camera, his
figure filling the entire frame Despite the distance. His shadow
stretches impossibly long across the ground, Patricia waves goodbye, her
entire body the size of his calf. The camera keeps
(08:50):
rolling for a few seconds after he disappears, capturing an
empty street that suddenly looks built to proper scale again.
Bruce Jensen found this film among dozens of others, each
labeled only with dates. His grandfather, Maurice, had documented everything
with his beloved camera, but this particular reel went unviewed
for decades. Technology that seemed miraculous in nineteen thirty three,
(09:15):
the ability to capture moving images preserved something Maurice probably
didn't intend, the exhausting reality of existing in a body
that exceeded every human specification, a perpetual performance required just
to move through a world that treated you as entertainment
rather than a person. The smile Robert maintained throughout the
(09:37):
footage wasn't happiness, it was survival. If you'd like to
read this story for yourself and see the video that
I talked about, I've placed a link to the article
in the episode description, and you can find more stories
of the paranormal, true crime, strange, and more at Weird
Darkness dot com, slash News, SA
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