Matthew McGrory is a kind and sad giant actor

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

He played Teeny in House of a Thousand Corpses and Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, Carl in Tim Burton's Big Fish. He often got the role of giants in other famous films and TV shows: he was a demon in "Constantine", a tall alien in the fantastic comedy "Men in Black", an ogre in "Charmed". Although his roles were not the main ones, they were remembered by the audience, and all because this actor brought something to the images of his characters that distinguished them from all the others. He must have given them part of his soul. This is Matthew McGrory, a giant actor who, unfortunately, has already passed away.

Early years

Matthew was born on May 17, 1973 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Already at an early age, the boy began to manifest a disease associated with disruption of the pituitary gland - gigantism. It is known that when Matthew entered the first grade of elementary school, his height was already more than one and a half meters.

In his native West Chester, McGrory learned the difficult profession of a medical examiner. But, having discovered acting talent in himself, he decidedquit a prestigious job. Thus began the career of a giant actor.

Matthew McGrory Movies

The actor's film debut was God on TV (1999), in which he got the predictable role of a giant. A year later, there was a tape called "The Dead Hate the Living", and again McGrory played a tall strong man in it.

In the comedy series "Malcolm in the Middle" Matthew got the role of Lothar. This character was also insignificant, like the same tall alien in Men in Black. They began to recognize McGrory after the painting by Rob Zombie "House of a Thousand Corpses". In it, the actor played Tiny. This character also suffered from gigantism and was covered in scars, as Dr. Satan experimented on him in childhood. In the sequel to House of a Thousand Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, Teeny saves his family and enters the burning manor because he no longer wants to live like the other members of this clan of brutal murderers.

In the film "Big Fish" McGrory played the giant Carl, kind and sad, who wants to empathize, sympathize. Then there were roles in the series Charmed and Carnival, work on the films Long Time, Planet Pitts, The Narrator, Constantine: Lord of Darkness, Shadow Fight, Existence. All the characters played by McGrory were giants, but many of them also turned out to be as sincere and kind as himself.

A little about gigantism and features of the disease in McGrory

Matthew McGrory, whose height was extremely tall - 2 meters and 29 centimeters, suffered from gigantism. Thispathology usually manifests itself already in early childhood, as happened with Matthew. Then, when such a child enters the phase of puberty, another growth spurt occurs.

This disease is manifested not only externally, it also has a number of specific symptoms that a person has to put up with throughout his life. These are headaches and pains in the joints, fatigue and general weakness, blurred vision. In addition, gigantism is often accompanied by diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, pulmonary emphysema, and infertility.

There is a cure for the disease. As a rule, it is carried out when the patient is still in childhood, and consists in taking special hormones and orthopedic posture correction. But still it is impossible to completely recover from gigantism. The prognosis for patients is disappointing: usually their lives end early due to comorbidities. This happened to McGrory.

Matthew McGrory: cause of death

The actor passed away early. It happened in 2005, when McGrory was thirty-two. He lived in Sherman Oaks, California with his girlfriend Melissa. On August 8, the actor had an attack of heart failure, and the doctors could not help him. Released after McGrory's death, Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects was dedicated to the memory of the giant actor.

In 2005, McGrory was busy filming André: The Heart of a Giant, where he played an athlete. Unfortunately, his work on this painting was never completed.

Another noteworthya fact about the actor concerns an entry about him in the Guinness Book of Records. In 2006, it was re-released and McGrory was listed in it as the owner of the longest feet (75 cm) among living people.

What was Matthew McGrory like?

Everyone who knew the actor personally said that Matthew was a gentle and kind person, a pleasant conversationalist and an attentive listener. Yes, he made an intimidating impression on some people at the first meeting, but it quickly disappeared. McGrory was endearing, he wanted to trust, he wanted to talk to him.

The actor was associated not only with cinema, but also with music. He appeared in the Iron Maiden video for The Wicker Man and in the video for Marilyn Manson's Coma White. And if in the first video McGrory had a frightening mask (but, again, he inevitably wanted to follow the main character of the plot), then in the second the actor seemed to embody himself. A fragile dancer clung to him in search of support, Manson sought solace from him in the form of President Kennedy. And invariably Matthew McGrory, sad and thoughtful, as if tired of this mortal world, supported and helped, gave the heroes hope and strength to fight on.