Acromegaly - Notable Cases

Notable Cases

Famous patients, all but four (Abraham Lincoln, Maurice Tillet, Wallace Stevens, and Antonio Silva) standing in excess of 2.00 metres (6.6 feet). Note: If acromegaly is developed in teenage years, it’s called gigantism and results in excess height. However, when acromegaly commences in adulthood, the bones have already set and the body doesn’t usually grow taller.

• Kevyn Aucoin, famous celebrity make-up artist, was said to have had a rare pituitary tumor. He had been suffering from acromegaly resulting from the tumor for much of his life, but it had gone undiagnosed. Aucoin died on May 7, 2002 at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York of kidney and liver failure.
• Charles Byrne, also known as The Irish Giant, 2.31m (7' 7").
• Primo Carnera, professional boxer, wrestler, and World Heavyweight champion, 200 cm (6' 7").
• Ted Cassidy, best known for playing Lurch on The Addams Family (TV series).
• Dalip Singh Rana a/k/a The Great Khali, Professional wrestler, actor, former police officer, 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m).
• Rondo Hatton, character horror actor in the 1930s and 1940s
• Richard Kiel, Jaws from the James Bond Movies and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore. He grew up to 7ft 1 1/2 but is now slightly under 7ft due to age and injury
• Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was debated at several occasions to have Marfan's syndrome and also acromegaly. He grew to 1.93 m (6 ft. 4 in) in height and generally weighed less than 82 kg (180 lb). Lincoln's body growth and energic constitution show gross evidence of pituitary hyperactivity and gonadal hypoactivity. He was a long, thin baby at birth, with unusually long, thin arms and legs.
• Cornelius Magrath, known as The Irish Giant.
• Maximinus I, Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.
• James McLeay, professional SANFL player, suffers from low grade acromegaly, 2.1 m, 120 kilograms.
• Pío Pico, the last Mexican Governor of California (1801–1894), manifested acromegaly without gigantism between at least 1847 and 1858. Some time after 1858 signs of the growth hormone-producing tumor disappeared along with all the secondary effects the tumor had caused in him. He looked normal in his 90's. His remarkable recovery is likely an example of spontaneous selective pituitary tumor apoplexy.
• Anthony Robbins, motivational speaker.
• André René Roussimoff a/k/a André the Giant, wrestler and actor 2.13 m (7') tall after back surgery; his original wrestling stats listed him at 2.23 m (7'4"). He died at the age of 46 and weighed 520 pounds (240 kg). (He chose not to be treated and died from cardiac complications of the disease.)
• Antonio Silva, mixed martial artist, currently competing at heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Silva has a professional record of 16-4, with 11 of his 16 wins coming by way of Knockout. Silva stands at 6'4 and weighs in for fights at 264 lbs.
• Sir Archibald Levin Smith, British judge,
• Carel Struycken, Actor, 2.13m (7'0").
• Nikolai Valuev, the tallest (7' or 2.1 m) and heaviest champion in boxing history.
• Paul "The Big Show" Wight, wrestler, also known as "The Big Show" or "The Giant". Stands 7' or 2.1 m
• John Bloom best known for his role in Bachelor Party as Milt, the Indian pimp's enforcer and bodyguard.