Quick Facts
Biography
Igor Vovkovinskiy (Ukrainian: Ігор Вовковинський (aka Igor Ladan) born September 18, 1982) is a Ukrainian-American law student, interviewee, and actor, best known for being the current tallest living person in the United States, at 7 feet 8.33 inches (234.5 cm), overtaking the record from George Bell.
Originally from Ukraine, Vovkovinskiy moved to Rochester, Minnesota in 1989 (at the age of seven) to be treated at the Mayo Clinic. At that time he was already 5 ft 4 in tall and weighed 110 pounds.
Most recently, he has acted in commercials and films, notably the 2011 comedy film Hall Pass, and also became well known for wearing a T-shirt that read "World's Biggest Obama Supporter". He is also the first tallest living person from two different countries. In September 2012, a story on Igor on the Australian version of 60 Minutes erroneously billed him to be over 243 cm (8 ft 0 in) tall. In 2013, Vovkovinskiy joined singer Zlata Ognevich as part of Ukraine's stage performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
Vovkovinskiy's height has been attributed to having a tumor pressing on his pituitary gland, causing his body to have released excessive amounts of growth hormone.