America’s tallest man George Bell known as a “gentle giant” has died at his family home in North Carolina aged 67 according to cops.
Bell was a 7-foot, 8-inch former Virginia law officer and actor who played roles in “American Horror Story” and AMC’s “Freakshow.”
On Wednesday, March 19, Bell’s former co-workers said he was a beloved former Norfolk Sheriff’s deputy known for his “kind and fun-loving personality” after learning of his passing.
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“We are saddened to learn of the passing of former deputy George Bell,” the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office told the local station wtkr.com.
“He was well known for many things, but for those who worked with him, he will be remembered for his kind and fun-loving personality. Our heartfelt prayers and condolences go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the cause of Bell’s death was not immediately clear.
Bell was born in Portsmouth, Va. in 1957 and was initially granted the title of the tallest man by Guinness World Records in 2007 before Ukraine’s Igor Vovkovinskiy dethroned him.
George Bell then reclaimed the title as the tallest man in America in 2021 when Vovkovinskiy died.
Bell stated at the time that he was born an average size, yet knew he was different by fourth grade when he had a growth spurt and clinched 5 feet.
George Bell was then diagnosed with a form of gigantism, in which an excess of hormones creates loads of growth.
By middle school, he was already six feet and seven-foot-six at the time of his high school graduation.
“People ask me that all the time. It was a great childhood. I was always a very outgoing guy,” he told the Las Vegas Review Journal in 2019. “They really adopted me as I was. My teachers … my neighbors and friends I grew up with, they accepted me as George. I never was teased.”
The 67-year-old played college basketball at Morris Brown College and Biola University before briefly joining the Harlem Globetrotters in the 1980s.
While teaching basketball at a summer camp last year, Bell revealed that kids were often startled by his towering height at first. “One of the biggest things is the stares, but once they get comfortable, they shake my hand, give me a hug, and ask questions,” he said. “We’re just here to have fun and teach them some skills.”
It was in 1984 his performing career reportedly began when he played an alien landing atop the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the Olympic closing ceremony.
“I was scared,” he recalled. “I was standing on the edge, leaning forward, thinking, ‘Oh, my God.’”
He later landed roles in acclaimed shows like American Horror Story, where he played a “tall ghost” alongside Jessica Lange before he died in March 2025.
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His fame also led to encounters with other giants, including 6-foot-9 strongman Hafthor Bjornsson, famous as The Mountain in Game of Thrones.
