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World's tallest woman dies in Indiana at age 53
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-14 09:26

Allen appeared on television shows and spoke to church and school groups to bring youngsters her message that it was all right to be different.

After Allen was listed by Guinness as the world's tallest woman, she won a role in Federico Fellini's 1976 film "Casanova," appearing as "Angelina the Giantess." She was featured in the 1981 Canadian documentary "Being Different." She also appeared in a TV movie called "Side Show" in 1981.

In this Sept. 2, 1995 file photo, Sandy Allen, poses for a picture with Will Denk, at the library in Shelbyville, Ind. The 7-foot-7 Allen considered the world's tallest woman died early Wednesday Aug. 13, 2008 at a nursing home in her hometown of Shelbyville. She was 53. [Agencies]
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said he met Allen twice.

"Then, and from a distance, I admired very much the way she handled a uniquely difficult situation with uncomplaining grace," he said.

Allen weighed six and a half pounds when she was born in June 1955. By the age of 10 she had grown to be 6 feet, 3 inches, and by age 16 she was over 7 feet.

She wrote to Guinness World Records in 1974, saying she would like to get to know someone her own height.

"It is needless to say my social life is practically nil and perhaps the publicity from your book may brighten my life," she wrote.

The recognition as the world's tallest woman helped Allen accept her height and become less shy, Rose said.

"It kind of brought her out of her shell," Rose said. "She got to the point where she could joke about it."