The Jewish Giant at the Freak Show
When you think about tall guys today, most people think of the NBA. But sixty years ago, you would have been more likely to think of the circus.
And you may have thought about Eddie Carmel, specifically. Born in Tel Aviv in , Carmel suffered from gigantism and acromegaly, an abnormal growth disorder of the hands, feet, and face. His family moved to the Bronx while Carmel was a kid, where he grew into an entertainer—not that he had much choice.
Billed as standing 8’9″, Carmel made a living exploiting his towering physique: he worked in sideshows in Times Square, made two films, and was a member of both the Ringling Brothers and the Barnum and Bailey Circus in the s.
Despite his recurring roles as “The World’s Greatest Giant” or “The Tallest Man on the Earth,” Carmel was probably most famous for being the subject of a Diane Arbus photograph, “Jewish Giant, taken at Home with His Parents in the Bronx.”
In his life, Carmel wanted to be respected for his talent, not his size. “I’d like someday to reach the point when I’m known as the reverse Mickey Rooney,” he’s quoted as saying.
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Watch The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (), an Eddie Carmel film
Eddie Carmel - 7 feet 3 inches ( cm)
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Eddie Carmel's abnormal growth started when he was a teenager. He suffered from acromegaly because of a pituitary gland tumor that was incurable at the time. As an adult, the only work he could find involved exploiting his freakishness. With his best friend, Irwin Sherman, they worked together as stand-up comedians in New York.
Carmel starred in a B-grade monster movie (The Brain That Wouldn't Die ()) and made two rpm records ("The Happy Giant" and "The Good Monster"). He joined the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baliey Circus from to They presented him as "The World's Greatest Giant" and "The Tallest Man on Earth." His height was billed at 8' 9" (a inch exaggeration). He very much wanted to be respected for his talent and said, "I'd like someday to reach the point when I'm known as the reverse Mickey Rooney."
He developed severe kyphoscoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine) at the time of his death that shortened his height to about 7 feet ( cm). Eddie died at the age of 37 in Montefiore Hospital.
BornMarch 16,
DiedJuly 30, (37)
Diane Arbus&#; &#;Jewish Giant&#; honored in poignant exhibit
Diane Arbus met “The World’s Tallest Man” at a flea circus in — but waited 11 years to shoot him at his parents’ home, his head bowed to keep from hitting the ceiling.
The man she called “the Jewish Giant” was Eddie Carmel; though he died two years later, Arbus’ photo made him immortal. The Jewish Museum has now made it the centerpiece of a small but poignant show, opening April
Surrounding that image of Carmel — only 34 but ailing, his parents looking up at him with wonder and concern — are his size 24 shoes and other artifacts testifying to what curator Daniel Palmer calls “the fickleness of the human body.” As family photos show, Carmel was a normal child until age 15, when a hormonal condition made him freakish.
He boasted he was 9 feet tall, but no one ever measured him. Alas, it was a living.
Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street;
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