How tall was Matthew McGrory

Matthew McGrory's Height

7ft 4 (223.5 cm)

American actor best remembered for appearing in Big Fish. A 1999 article mentioned him "Standing seven feet, six inches tall and wearing a size 29 1/2 shoe". However, he claimed in 1996 to be "Seven Four".

How tall is Matthew McGrory
Photo by PR Photos

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Add a Comment66 comments

Average Guess (34 Votes)
7ft 5.98in (228.5cm)
Toby Barrett said on 13/Nov/22
Click Here with Sandra Elaine Allen.
ChaosControl1 said on 23/Jan/22
I like how the average guess is higher than it is possible to guess
Toby Barrett said on 21/Jan/22
he probably grew after 19 and hit 7'6 but 7'6 could be his corrected height
Daniel Lee said on 21/Sep/21
@Rob Is this the biggest downgrade you've ever made?
Editor Rob
Probably a few others like that in the past.
I know at 19 he was called 7ft 4, back when he had biggest feet in Guinness Records.
Christopher K said on 2/Sep/21
Click Here Rob, in this interview on Howard Stern he claims to be 7 foot 4.
Editor Rob
Glad you linked it, as it was mentioned in the past and that's from his own mouth!
Duhon said on 21/Jul/21
@danimal this picture is tragic Click Here I wonder what he'd actually measure head to toe and that point?
Ian Vector said on 19/Jul/21
I seem to remember him claiming 7' 4" on Howard Stern's radio show. Was he remeasured or something, because I haven't the slightest idea where his 7' 6" is coming from.
Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 13/Dec/20
@Tall Sam
I think it's some other condition. Simply having gigantism/acormegaly doesn't make your spine or neck contorted like that.
Danimal 176.7cm said on 12/Dec/20
Matthew sadly lost a tremendous amount of height in a relatively short period of time. When he first appeared on the Howard Stern Show in December 1996 at the age of 23, he stood very tall. His posture was good (his spine was not yet curved and his knees were not buckled yet). Fast forward to 2000 his spine had curved at an alarming rate and his knees were buckling. Sadly, by 2003 we was crippled and could barely walk anymore (he passed away in 2005 at the age of 32). He was an intelligent (graduated from Law School) and funny guy. It was a sad life. Here is a before and after pic of Matthew when he stood tall and when he did not. RIP Matthew.

Before curved spine and buckled knees:
Click Here
Click Here

After his spine had curved and his knees had buckled
Click Here
Tall Sam said on 14/Sep/20
I believe his neck was an effect of acromegaly, if I'm not mistaken varying physical problems are frequent.
6'3 Julian said on 13/Sep/20
Why is his neck like that?
Leesheff85 said on 9/Sep/20
No Chris 7ft 6 would be his height when stood up completely straight
Chris Junior Hernandez 1990 said on 15/Feb/20
I wonder if he was able to stand straight up would he be nearly 8'0 than just 7'6?
Daycringeothon said on 8/Jan/20
Hypothetically you could get a genuine 7’3” guy and a genuine 7’6” guy who have different ‘standing tall’ heights. The 7’6” guy let’s say stands 7’4.25” -7’4.5” normal standing posture but standing tall posture 7’6.5”. The 7’3” guy standing normal posture could be 7’2.5” but standing tall 7’5”. Assuming they have been awake for 5-6 hours.
Littlelee5ft6 said on 4/Dec/19
Cool Dan none of the firefly family in that film are under 5ft 7. Mother firefly karen black was 5ft 7, and the other actress leslie was 5ft 8, baby firefly was 5ft 9 otis 5ft 11 captain Spalding 6ft 2.5 rufus junior was 6ft 8 at least including tyler mane who played him in the devils rejects and tiny who is 7ft 6 tall bunch they are
Devansh said on 27/Nov/19
This is a giant man.
Dan Trojan said on 26/Oct/19
Littlelee i've never met robert mukes but i saw him up close at a convention my guess was 6'8" i agree i don't think he was 6'10" a big dude regardless
Littlelee168cm said on 15/Jan/19
Rob would his house of 1000 corpses co star robert Allen mukes really have been 6ft 10 do you think? Not sure he looked quite as tall as that
Editor Rob
Mukes does look very tall, 6ft 9 is possible, but a full 6ft 10 I am not sure on.
Michael, 5'10" 178 cm said on 3/Dec/18
I found a video last night of Matthew McGrory on Howard Stern’s Show while browsing on YouTube and in the video, he claimed that he’s 7’4”. Did he get remeasured at 7’6” because that’s the height he’s listed as everywhere on the web? I wanted to post the link to the video, but it got deleted since then and I watched it last night. I think he could’ve been the full 7’6” as listed, but he gives off a shorter impression than the other 7’6” guys you have pages for on here, such as Shawn Bradley, Tacko Fall, and even Yao Ming who is 7’5”, not 7’6” gave a taller impression than McGrory, but he did have much worse posture than other men who were his height, he had severe curvature of the spine, so he very well was 7’6” and could’ve been taller if he didn’t bend so much. The other 7’6” guys also looked healthier, didn’t have swollen arms and legs, and stood up much straighter so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and I’ll say that he was the full 7’6” since he just towered over everybody.
even said on 20/Jul/17
7 foot 6 was his height
songo said on 30/Dec/13
Was a really good actor as well as being huge. Loved him in Big Fish.
WestChesterMike said on 14/Jun/11
Matt was a friend and I actually have three pairs of his shoes. His height was measured with his curvature at 7'6". His shoe size was 29 1/2 which was his left foot. He did not have acromegaly or any other syndrome like anterior pituitary gland overactivity. This was from Matt's mouth. You may want to disagree, but this was either the truth or what he wanted people to think. Please respect by not speculating. I will be glad to answer any questions you may have as to keep peoples stories as close to the truth as possible.
aram x said on 25/May/09
Ren, George Bell is only the tallest living American according to Guinness. However, it's likely his title is at stake thanks to the equally tall Igor Ladan (can't spell his other last name that starts with a V).
Ren said on 20/Mar/09
The spirit of an 11 feet enormous giant is every now and then observed staring down beside the water at Sebasticook Lake. Residents assert that this ghost is that of a resident who had a house here in Newport many years ago. wanted to submit this and this is all I know an this person/spirit is the tallest in the world. :)Your Question
Who was tallest man alive?

The Answer
Robert Wadlow was the tallest, at 8'11" when he died at age 21 in 1940. George Bell is tallest now at 7'8". :)
nick said on 12/Mar/09
the tallest man robert wadlow at 8feet 11 inces is not the tallest man harry larson is at 9 feet 2 incies and wares 37 shoes and hands 13 inces long is the tallest man in the world and tallest man ever to have ever lived.
aram x said on 11/Oct/08
yeah he's just like bao xishun who for mysterious unexplained reasons grew unusually fast between age 15-21 but stopped growing thereafter. i guess mcgrory had the same condition.
flash_of_eden said on 10/Oct/08
matt's condition was merely an anomaly; the result of growing too fast. he did stop growing at around age 21 i think but he was already 5ft tall when he graduated from kindergarten. its a shame he died, he was a great person.
aram x said on 20/Sep/08
Actually to be honest with Yao, Matt didn't really show any of signs of acromegaly such as thick fingers (his fingers are actually quite slim), but not sound homo, his legs are incredibly thin.
aram x said on 20/Sep/08
Chris says on 30/Aug/08
Guru - no, Matt did not develop acromegaly. He died from heart failure.

Then couldn't the heart failure have been attributed to acromegaly? Or that Matt had gigantism that halted before it could have developed into acromegaly?
aram x said on 20/Sep/08
Very interesting pics Pickz...seen pics of him standing up and his stature was just incredible!
Pickz said on 19/Sep/08
His shoe size was 29 1/2, can't tell from pics but I remember either 27 or 29. I'm a size 9.
Click Here

Click Here
aram x said on 14/Sep/08
Why wasn't Matthew McGrory also in Guinness for the largest hands of any living person? The size of his hands is absoulutely monstrous too!
Click Here
Holy smokes! His hands are enormous (even for somebody his stature)!
aram x said on 10/Sep/08
Actually Zech Devits looks almost identical to Matt McGrogory at first glance although he's a little bit taller.
chris said on 7/Sep/08
if you check out Zech Devits on the internet (also now departed) he was very tall with huge hands and feet, and bore a striking resemblence to Matt. Whatever caused Matt to be the way he was, I'm betting Zech had the same thing. Anyone ever heard of him other than me?
quinametzin said on 5/Sep/08
more than 5,11? please, he was 2,28m tall
Anonymous said on 4/Sep/08
No way this guy is any taller than 5"11"
Guru said on 1/Sep/08
For some reason, I've always thought of Matthew McGrogory's 'unusual' facial features as acromegalic...plus his voice was extremely deep. Matthew also appears to be a pretty slim dude so I guess he only weighs in the low to mid 300 lb range. I also thought he was mostly a wheel-chair user during his later life...maybe the sources are wrong...Matthew's height might not be caused by a tumor.
aram x said on 1/Sep/08
So he's a natural giant after all? But from all the sources I've seen they say he's acromeglic...so if he didn't die from heart failure he could have lived a long and healthy life i guess (and that his heart failure was not due to acromegly). And yeah I've seen a pic of his foot and like you've mentioned it's just scaled up--no deformities.
Chris said on 30/Aug/08
Guru - no, Matt did not develop acromegaly. He died from heart failure. He had no symtoms of acromegaly (thickening of the jaw, hands, feet, etc) His feet were about 17 inches long since he was 22, and not thick at all. Normal width for their length, no swelling or thickening, etc. Think of an ordinary size foot, and enlarge it, keeping the same proportions in every way.
aram x said on 16/Aug/08
I didn't know Julius Koch was an actor...
quinametzin said on 16/Aug/08
avid Melton: the tallest actor was Julius Koch, who was an eight footer
Guru said on 12/Aug/08
Matthew's gigantism eventually developed into acromegaly which caused his death.
Kenny said on 3/Aug/08
I wonder if anyone else is going to take Matthew McGrory's record of the largest feet of any living person because Matthew is no longer alive.
Guru said on 14/Jul/08
waldow's feet are going marginally longer than matt mcgrory's. but matt passed away so i guess the largest feet now belong to either kenny george or hussein bisad.
Aram X said on 10/Jun/08
No his shoe size isn't size 42; it's US size 29 (or 47 cm) long which is almost as big as the biggest feet ever (which belong to the tallest man ever Robert Wadlow). However, even for his size his feet are diporpotionately large.
Anonymous said on 10/Jun/08
That guy clearly has gigantism because of the obvious uneveness of his growth (his limbs just seemed too large compared to his torso particularly his feet which were disproportionately large even for somebody his height). He apparently is also one of the tallest people alive (at 7,6" or 7,7") but I don't think he's alive anymore. It's kinda of sad he didn't get his condition 'corrected' earlier because clearly died from it.
David Melton said on 28/Mar/08
Matthew was the tallest actor. I've heard elsewhere too he is 7'6".
kablah said on 22/Mar/08
he was in a marilyn manson video you can find on youtube called Coma White. He was also in Bubble Boy (with Jake Gyllenhaal) and House of 1000 Corpses (B-movie directed by Rob Zombie). He was a very interesting person and I wish I could have met him, but I only even found out about him the day he died when my sister told me.
Nick said on 28/Aug/07
The Guinness of Record Ed. 1990 reports the biggest shoes, giant Harley Davidson of Avon Park, Florida, 21.7 inches long (55 cm), 42 US size. Anyone have info, pics ?
Maddy Acton said on 20/Aug/07
He died in 2005... I cried that day
tobbe_klippan said on 19/Apr/07
chris: Wasn't the size 37 figure for Wadlow based on the "old" shoe sizes?
chris said on 6/Feb/07
I had the pleasure of knowing Matt personally for more than a decade. His height was never quite certain because he had curvature of the spine since a young age, but he was well over 7' tall standing, even with his slight stoop.

Regarding his shoe size. His bare foot was about 17 inches long, and one of his sneakers measures about 18 inches long. I am lucky enough to have a pair he gave me years ago, I will treasure it always.

I saw someone mentioned Robert Wadlow's shoe size. Guinness has been wrong about it for years. His shoe was a verifiable 18 inches long, there are several still around, they can be measured to check. A shoe 18 inches long is roughly Matt's size, 28, 29, something like that. Not size 37 as widely reported. A size 37 shoe would be 21 inches long, and his was no where near that. Go to the Wadlow museum in Alton, Illinois and measure for yourself, as I did many years ago. It's about 18 inches long the Wadlow show on display
jane said on 24/Aug/06
hi joe m. , 9ft2 was a bulls*** for people were think.. u know robert wadlow the world ever tallest men was 8ft11.5(272cm) was the most ever tallest walk on earth.. if mcgrory was top of him is truely obviously rank as guinness world record book long ago.. think about it.. search from any web: robert-wadlow image u be agree.. the world tallest man recognise BY GUINNESS WORLD RECORD now was a 7ft8.8(2.361m) china man XI SHUN..
Emil said on 23/Aug/06
Becky: "he's a big guy , but i wanted to meet him in person to see what he's like compared to me and other people. I saw him in Big Fish and he was sooooo huge that i couldn't understand why he was sooo large!"

Actually he wasn't that large in real life. He was made larger with CGI in the film. The dad telling the story exaggerated most things, including the size of Karl. In the funeral scene near the end, his son sees Karl (Matthew without "enhancements") and while he's extremely tall, he's not as big as the dad described him in his story. In his story, he was exaggerated to be pretty much twice as tall as Ewan McGregor, which translates to more than 11 feet. :)
Joe M. said on 3/Jun/06
I met the dude in person and he was at least 9'2". I played a pickup game with him and he whacked his head on the rim numerous times when he would barely jump off the floor. So, from persona experience, he is most definitely not 7'6" like you guys say. He's dang near 10 feet tall. Thank you and good morning/good evening/good afternoon.
Becky said on 24/Feb/06
he's a big guy , but i wanted to meet him in person to see what he's like compared to me and other people. I saw him in Big Fish and he was sooooo huge that i couldn't understand why he was sooo large! I feel so bad for him because he died at the age of 32 because of his abnormal large stature.
Dominic said on 12/Feb/06
Definetely 7'6 or over. It's really hard to determine the height of a person this tall.
Brian D. said on 14/Jan/06
I went to see Big Fish on my first date with my current GF of two years. Mat was great! I really wish I could've met him. He seemed like a great person. He will be missed by his friends and those who would've liked to have been.
maryann said on 19/Dec/05
I first met Matt when I was only eighteen years old. I was a freshman at West Chester University when my roommate came back to our dorm screaming because there was a giant on campus. This giant turned out to be Matt, and over the next five years myself and my girlfriends grew to know and love him. I have fond memories of drunken nights at parties and bars where he made us laugh with his wit and watching The Simpsons at his house. It's been quite a few years since I've spoken to Matt. When I found out he was acting I was happy for him. While I'm glad Matt got to do so many things in his life most of us will never do, I have to say that I'm sure what people who know and love him will miss most about him is his big heart and great sense of humor. He is going to be sorely missed.
tom thompson said on 27/Nov/05
Hello,
I just saw Devil's Rejects and was thrilled to have recognized Matthew McGrory as Tiny. I've followed Matthew's career for years and have always enjoyed his performances. When I saw in the end credits that this wonderfully gruesome horror movie was dedicated to him, my heart caught in my throat.
My sincerest condolences to the McGrory Family.
Anonymous said on 19/Nov/05
This guy is AWSOME! I never got the chance to meet him, and even if i did i wouldnt stare at him differently. I would stare at him with a smile because he is regular no matter what others see... he will be missed. You were great in the movie big fish. I loved it.
molly said on 11/Nov/05
yes, his name was matthew mcgrory.. he was a really nice man.. he died at age 32... i feel so bad, he was such a nice guy.. he died of "natural causes" but as you can tell he was extremly tall and he probibly died because of his height and cause he was a little deformed..


the director making "andre the giant" (true story about a VERY big man) said:

""He felt the same way, that he would do anything just to be a person of regular size one day a week, where people don't have to stare at him, where he could go see a regular movie and walk down the street," Sky said."





go here to see more about his death
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/11/mcgrory.obit.ap/?section=cnn_showbiz
CheeseSteakNation said on 10/Nov/05
Yeah...this dude is all of 7'6. I went to West Chester University the same time he was there. We were both in Ruby Jones Hall having classes at the same time. He is a quite dude. A gentle Giant.
Anshelm said on 14/Aug/05
Well, now that he's dead (Aug. 9, age 32), Guinness has re-enstated the height of 7'6"/229 cm, and US shoe size 29½ (UK 29, European 63). His reported (absurd) weight of 280 kg/617 lbs remains, however.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=48560

I'd really like to find out the truth behind US/UK-to-European shoe size conversion. Using formulas found in the web I get radically different results, compared to the equivalents given in most articles. For McGrory, for instance, I get European size 69 – not 63 – using the "proper" formula. In my opinion the record for the largest feet should be based on foot length, rather than shoe size anyway.

http://www.geocities.com/handy_feet/shoesize.html

I wonder how big are the World's biggest feet now: a good candidate is Britain's tallest man, 232 cm/7'7½" tall Hussain Bisad, with size 26 UK/27 US/61 European feet. Here in Finland I read in 2003 about a 14 year-old 210 cm/6'10½" tall boy named Leevi with European size 60 feet. That's more than the size 57 shoes of 246 cm/8'1" tall Väinö Myllyrinne (1909–1963), the tallest Finn ever.

McGrory, of course, had only the biggest feet in his time. The all-time record goes to the tallest man ever, 272 cm/8'11" tall Robert Wadlow, who had size 37 US/36 UK/72 European feet.

I think I got a little carried away, sorry about that.
Anshelm said on 10/Jul/05
The Guinness website says 7'4"/2.3 m (not quite a match, I know). And, more absurdly, his weight was given as 280 kg (617 lbs). Now, he's a pretty slim, or normal-proportioned guy, so they must have meant 280 lbs (127 kg). Other source says 330 lbs (150 kg). He has the biggest (verified) feet in the world: he wears a U.S. size 28½ shoe (the 29½ given in Guinness 2000 was apparently a typo). Guinness '98 had a live-sized picture of his footprint, I measured it 37 cm (14½ in) long.
Tom said on 20/Jun/05
Well he does seem very tall, 7'6 seems quite accurate to me.

Pictures:

http://www.nosfermina.com/matthew.jpg
http://www3.sympatico.ca/tmuller/mcgrory/Jen_and_Matt.jpg

Heights are barefeet estimates, derived from quotations, official websites, agency resumes, in person encounters with actors at conventions and pictures/films.

Other vital statistics like weight or shoe size measurements have been sourced from newspapers, books, resumes or social media.

Celebrity Fan Photos and Agency Pictures of stars are © to their respective owners.