Jake Erlich - Tallest Man In The World

Many of us know of Erlich as the “world’s tallest man,” as the Guinness Book of Records once deemed him. He was also an extraordinary artist. But his fame as a painter was overshadowed by his fame for being more than eight feet tall.He was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1906, the son of Jewish immigrants. He was born at a weight of less than four pounds. Jacob was small for his age, until he reached his seventh birthday. By the time he was ten, he was over six feet tall. His family lived in El Paso, Texas at this time and the locals nicknamed him "Pecos Bill" (a title he used for over twenty years.) Erlich, who lived much of his life in El Paso , was a movie star featured in several silent films, and he also was a circus performer for several years. Also, Erlich is an El Paso High graduate. But Erlich was famous mainly for being taller than everyone else. In fact, he was once named the "Tallest Man in the World," standing, by most accounts, at 8 feet, 6 inches tall. Jake Erlich died in 1952 at the age of 46 in El Paso. To the left of Jake Erlich in the middle is Hope M. Smith - who was owner of Magnolia Coke Cola Company in El Paso, Texas.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Reference ID: Tall Man.jpeg

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Report this item

Comments

Add a comment

Thank you for your comment

22 February 2019 by Nathalie Coro

wow so cool cant relate 5"1

13 October 2018 by anonymous

I never knew that.

22 August 2018 by Bernadette

Where was his home located in El Paso?

01 April 2018 by sarah

coool

04 March 2018 by SMAKE

Neat

05 October 2017 by ben martinez

oh wow, i dont think many people from El Paso know this! I sure didn´t and i saw a display of his shoes in Hollywood at the carl ripley´s believe it or not museum. unfortunately, they didn´t mention him being from here.

29 January 2016 by matthew

hes my great ucle

31 July 2015 by Charla Vanhoutan

Totally awesome Love that it is kid friendly

20 July 2015 by dominic

i was here

16 July 2015 by alexis

omg thats super tall!! but very interesting