Jacob Reuben “Jack” Erlich — The Gentle Giant



R.O.T.C. Band, El Paso High School, mid-1920s. Jacob “Jake” Erlich (center) — later known as Jack Earle.

Jacob Reuben Erlich was born in Denver in 1906 to Jewish immigrant parents and raised in El Paso, Texas. Though a premature baby who weighed just over three pounds at birth, he grew to extraordinary height — six feet by age ten and an astonishing eight feet six inches by age seventeen. As a teenager at El Paso High School, Jake already stood out, as seen in this R.O.T.C. Band photo. Quiet, kind, and artistic, he was known among classmates for his gentle manner despite the attention his size attracted.

In his teens Jake traveled to Los Angeles and, using the stage name Jack Earle, appeared in nearly 50 silent films during the 1920s, including Hansel and Gretel (1923) and Jack and the Beanstalk (1924). A serious on-set fall revealed a pituitary tumor pressing against his optic nerve; after X-ray treatment his eyesight returned and his rapid growth slowed.

He later joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as the billed “World’s Tallest Man,” touring for fourteen years and developing close friendships with fellow performers. In the 1940s Jack left the circus and became a traveling salesman for the Roma Wine Company, earning the affectionate nickname “the world’s largest traveling salesman.” He was also an accomplished artist — painting, sculpting, and taking prize-winning photographs — and served as a giant Santa to hospitalized children each holiday season.

Jack adapted to a world not built for his size with practical humor: custom-made golf clubs (donated later to the USGA Museum), modified cars, and bespoke watch clasps. He sought to be treated as an ordinary man and once reflected, “If I had a chance now to become a man of average size, I don’t think I’d take it.” Jacob “Jack” Erlich passed away at home in El Paso on July 18, 1952. He did not marry and had no children, but he left a lasting legacy of resilience, creativity, and compassion.