Vintage shots from days gone by!

Not all folk with medical disorders have entered show
business, though many have. Here are a few famous
people who were born with the pituitary glandular con-
dition known as Acromegaly, often marked by tallness
but, often, by progressive misshapenness, most no-
ticeable in facial features. Some did exceedingly well
in other pursuits, among them sports and even politics.




Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President, as photographed by Alexander
Gardner in February 1865, near the end of his life. Thanks to Shorpy.





Rondo Hatton, Soldier, Reporter, Actor -- Photo thanks
to tumblr. Hatton's condition eventually caused a fatal
heart attack, in 1943.

 

Andre the Giant, Pro Wrestler and Actor -- Shown here tangling with King Kong Bundy,
THANKS to the WikiMedia Commons project. Died of congestive heart failure at 46.




Primo Carnera, World Heavyweight Boxing
Champ -- The ordinary human being looks
to me to be actress Jean Harlow. Photo
thanks to MolinovskyonAllentown.

 

Richard Kiel, Actor and Activist -- Keil's long character-acting career
dates from "Eegah!" in 1962. Here, he clowns for a publicity shot with
Roger "Bond" Moore, his co-star in "The Spy Who Loved Me" and
"Moonraker" in which he famously personified "Jaws," the spy's cold-
blooded, steel-toothed arch enemy! Photo thanks to ThisIsNotPorn.
Today, Kiel still makes public appearances, including speaking for
public awareness of Acromegaly.





Robert Wadlow, the Alton Giant -- Robert grew to 8 feet, 11 inches, due
to pituitary Hypertrophy, technically not Acromegaly. Verifiably the tallest
man ever, Robert poses here with his dad, who stood just under six feet
tall. Photo thanks to Maniac World.

 

That Beverly w/ air horns is ....Unfortunate. Should had taken a picture of the Westchester in the background instead.

 

GOV: "Gentlemen! We have to protect our phoney-baloney jobs! Harrumph!"
Crowd: "Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!"
GOV: "Wait a minute! I didn't get a harrumph out o' that guy over there!"
Rooter: "Harumph! HARRUMPH!"
GOV: "You better watch your ass!"


Photo thanks to TheCheckSpot

 

Gov: "Heddy, can't you see that man is a ni . . . nitwit?"
Lamarr: "That's Hedley!"


Photo thanks to ArtPrintImages

 

"Excuse me while I whip this out!"


Photo thanks to IMassier

 

"Oh! Lawdy! Lawdy! Do what he say!
Do what he sa-a-a-ay!"


Photo thanks to TheConstantViewer

 

Black Bart: "So, Kid! Whadya you like to do ta kill time?"
Kid: "Oh, dear . . . play chess ... screw."
Black Bart: "Let's play chess!"


Photo thanks to the New York Post.

 

Taggart: "Mongo! There's a new sheriff in town! How'd ya like to KILL 'im?"
Mongo: "Mongo not know! Mongo only pawn in game of life."


(Photo thanks to iotsGurrrl)

 

Kid: "No, no! Don't shoot Mongo! You'll just make 'im mad!"
Bart: "Candy-Gram for Mongo! Candy-Gram for Mongo!"


Photo thanks to AllPostersImages

 

Taggart: "Listen, I hired you boys ta try and get a little track
laid, not dance around like a bunch o' Kansas City faggots!"


Photo thanks to BPTigerTown

 

Waco Kid: "Hey, boys! Look what I found!"
Bart: "And for MY next impression: Jesse Owens!"



Photo thanks to JeffWinbush

 

Taggart: "Ah, gol-dang-it! Now somebody's gotta hightail it
back to camp and bring back a whole shitpot-ful o' dimes!!!"


Photo thanks to MyVintagePhotos

 

Hedley Lamarr: "I want an ARMY! Bring me rustlers, cutthroats,
murderers, bounty hunters, desperadoes, mugs, pugs, thugs, nit-
wits, half-wits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents,
Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswag-
glers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass
kickers, shit kickers ...and Methodists!"



Above: Hedley Lamarr, thanks to Mark Bourne. Below: Heddy Lamarr, thanks to MicroWaves.

 

Photo THANKS to SquiDoo



Leave it to comic master Mel Brooks to create a screen symposium lampooning
every sort of bias and stereotype -- and not only make the lesson entertaining
but an all-time comedy classic! Though the cast was populated by innumerable
comedy vets, it is hard to imagine 1974's "Blazing Saddles" without the talents
of inimitable Cleavon Little.

His portrayal of Sheriff Bart --master-minding the salvation of a sterotypical
redneck western town where everyone's surname was Johnson -- is, perhaps
surprisingly, Cleavon's best-remembered screen appearance. But he was, in
fact, a multi-award-wining stage, screen and TV personality. I've always felt
that his nice-guy looks and manner may have actually kept him from landing
more meaty leading roles. Though he never won super-star status in his 53
years, Little amassed an impressive portfolio of work. He died of colorectal
cancer in 1992.

HAMBers will appreciate that he had key supporting parts in the car flicks
"Vanishing Point" and "Greased Lightning."

 

Ha ha! Hey Jimi, is it true that the real Heddy Lamarr had a problem with the Hedley Lamarr character?

 

Ooooops!

​

 

Moonshiner - and this Stutz - met their Maker....looks like maybe mid/late 20s?

​

 

Quite a deal for truckdrivers! This looks like mid/late 30s:

​

 

Photo thanks to TheCheckSpot

Absolutely TRUE, Automaclism! Apparently, Heddy felt Brooks' cavalier handling of her name did not show consideration for her real-life promotional use of her own moniker. (At one point, Brooks as the GOV says to his finicky flunky, Hedley Lamaar, "Relax! This is 1874. You can sue HER!!!" LOL)

Brooks said her settled with the real Heddy Lamarr out of court.

But RE hearsay, I don't know if there was any truth to the contention that Robyn Hilton got double-billing for playing the GOV's busty secretary. Anybody?

 

The 369th. Nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters, ( The Germans named them Hellfighters because they fought like hell, never lost ground, never had any men captured, one third of the 369th diec in combat). Were the first all-black regiment to fight in World War I. Even before they left for duty, the Hellfighters had to endure the racist taunts, jeers and violent attacks of their fellow white soldiers on the Camp Whitman base. The regiment had arrived in France in early 1918 and was trained for several months in French military camps. By May they were fighting on the Front lines, where they spent the next six months— longer than any other American unit during the war. The entire unit was given the distinguished Croix de Guerre by the French national government for their service.
But their heroism and valor were never recognized back home.