Sandra Elaine Allen (June , â€" August , ) was an American woman
recognized by the Guinness World Records as the tallest woman in the
world. She was feet inches ( cm) tall.Allen wrote a book, Cast A
Giant Shadow. Although over the years other women have taken over the
title, Allen had held it for the last sixteen years of her life. Her
height was due to a tumor in her pituitary gland that caused it to
release growth hormone uncontrollably. At the age of twenty-two years,
she underwent surgery for the condition. Lacking this procedure, Allen
would have continued to grow and suffer further medical problems
associated with gigantism.[citation needed]She appeared in Fellini's
Casanova, in the TV movie Side Show, and in a Canadian/American
documentary film Being Different. The New Zealand band Split Enz wrote
a song about her, "Hello Sandy Allen," released on their album Time
and Tide. Allen never married.In later years Allen used a wheelchair
because her legs and back could not support her tall stature in a
standing position. At one point in her life, she was bedridden due to
disease, causing atrophy of the muscles. Due to this limitation, she
spent her last years in Shelbyville, Indiana, in the same retirement
center as Edna Parker, the record holder of oldest living human at the
time.
recognized by the Guinness World Records as the tallest woman in the
world. She was feet inches ( cm) tall.Allen wrote a book, Cast A
Giant Shadow. Although over the years other women have taken over the
title, Allen had held it for the last sixteen years of her life. Her
height was due to a tumor in her pituitary gland that caused it to
release growth hormone uncontrollably. At the age of twenty-two years,
she underwent surgery for the condition. Lacking this procedure, Allen
would have continued to grow and suffer further medical problems
associated with gigantism.[citation needed]She appeared in Fellini's
Casanova, in the TV movie Side Show, and in a Canadian/American
documentary film Being Different. The New Zealand band Split Enz wrote
a song about her, "Hello Sandy Allen," released on their album Time
and Tide. Allen never married.In later years Allen used a wheelchair
because her legs and back could not support her tall stature in a
standing position. At one point in her life, she was bedridden due to
disease, causing atrophy of the muscles. Due to this limitation, she
spent her last years in Shelbyville, Indiana, in the same retirement
center as Edna Parker, the record holder of oldest living human at the
time.
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