A man who grows up: a vaudeville actor who became a mystery to scientists (5 photos)

The amazing features of the body that nature has endowed can be regarded as a curse and suffer, or you can use them to earn money.





In 1913, a man came to the US Embassy in London and asked for a passport. He introduced himself as Clarence Willard from Pinesville, Ohio, and provided the necessary information: age, hair color, weight, etc. But when the clerk asked his height, Willard replied: “Oh, five feet nine and three quarters of an inch to six feet.” four inches."



The newspaper article telling the story states that the clerk, Edward Hobson, was puzzled by this answer, so Willard explained. “I am Willard, a man who grows. I'll show you what I mean."

Willard did just that. As the report said, he "began to grow slowly, increasing in height until, instead of looking straight into the eyes of Hobson, who was a man of average height, he was looking down at the top of his head." Hobson called Frank Page and Harold Fowler, the American ambassador's son and private secretary, and Willard repeated the trick in their presence. Page and Fowler carefully examined the man, feeling his legs, trying to find hidden springs or other mechanical devices, but, in the end, they were convinced that this was just a feature of his physique.





Photo of Willard from the December 3, 1956 issue of Life magazine, published with a double exposure effect to show the extent of his abilities

Willard, born in 1882, shared his talents far beyond the embassy. As a boy, he began working in Barnum and Bailey's circus and then spent years performing his "most wonderful act" in vaudeville. He was known to increase his height by 7 ½ inches (about 19 centimeters) and stretch his arms to 6 ¼ inches (almost 16 centimeters) in just a few minutes - like a real clay man.

The September 1927 issue of Science and Invention magazine was devoted to explaining how Willard grew on command. The editors x-rayed him and determined that The Man Who Grows' spinal curvature was possibly greater than normal. With purely muscular effort, he is able to force the vertebrae to take an almost ideal straight line. This way he can increase the length of his neck.



Clarence Willard advertisement

Outside the concert halls, he also surprised audiences. While performing on stage, Willard invited a volunteer from the audience - one who was taller. And he began to stretch himself until he surpassed the height of the volunteer. He also regaled viewers with stories similar to the one that happened at the embassy:

In Madrid in 1912 I watched a parade. As King Alfonso approached, I stretched out a few inches to get a better view. One woman saw me and screamed. The crowd stared at me and left me standing alone.

The amazing telescopic artist died in 1962 at the age of 80.



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