Christopher Greener

Christopher Paul Greener (b. 21 November 1943 in New Brighton, Wallasey, Cheshire – d. 11 February 2015 in Bromley, Kent) was a British actor and basketball player.

He was at one point the tallest man in the United Kingdom and at the time of his death was the 3rd tallest British-born man (after Neil Fingleton and Paul Sturgess) at 7 ft 6 1⁄4 in (229 cm) in height.[1] His weight has ranged from 20-30 stone (127-190 kg) during his adulthood. Greener, from a very young age, had a tumour at the base of his pituitary gland, which controls the release of human growth hormone. The tumour caused Greener's pituitary to grow to several times the size of that of an average person, and he would not have stopped growing had the tumour not been surgically removed when he was in his late 20s. Amazingly, his condition, pituitary gigantism, was not diagnosed until 1970, when Greener was 27 years old, already at his current height and the record-holder as the tallest man in Britain. He held the record for 40 years.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Greener was an international basketball player for the Great Britain team, and was often seen at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.[2]

Greener worked as an actor, often serving in various comedy roles focused on his great height. He played the circus giant in the David Lynch's The Elephant Man. He has also appeared in several documentaries chronicling the lives of the very tall, including the World's Tallest People television special on The Learning Channel in the United States and Superhuman: Giants on the UK's ITV.

On 14 February 2011 he appeared on an episode of The Gadget Show on Five in the UK to test out some strong phones by dropping them from a height. It was a joke on the height that the phones are not dropped from the normal height of an ear, but an extra test as of his height.

References

  1. ↑ McIntyre, Sinead (28 August 2006). "Home of the 'Yorkshire giant' up for sale". Daily Mail. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Britain's former tallest man Christopher Greener who was 7ft6in tall laid to rest". Mail Online.
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