Neil Fingleton
Tallest man in Britain invariably cast in giant and monster roles
NEIL FINGLETON, who has died of heart failure aged 36, was a former basketball player who carved out a successful career in science fiction and fantasy television shows thanks to his extraordinary height.
At 7 ft 7 in, Fingleton was officially recognised as the tallest man in Britain by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2007, surpassing the previous record holder Chris Greener by threequarters of an inch.
The subsequent media interest proved a fillip to his fledgling career as an actor, and he made his stage debut later that year alongside Coronation Street’s Jenny Platt in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lighthouse arts centre in Poole.
In 2014 he reached an audience of several million viewers when he was cast in an episode of the television fantasy epic Game of Thrones. As “Mag the Mighty”, making his entrance on a (computergenerated) mammoth, Fingleton proved a suitably imposing figure on set. His costume took four hours to apply every day and totalled more than 75 lb; if he fell over, it took two people to get him upright again. The weight of fake fur and prosthetics still left him with enough range of movement to give full vent to the character’s fury, however, and his climactic fight to the death was one of the more memorable in a show famed for its high body count.
Amiably soft-spoken in person, Fingleton was relaxed about the prospect of being typecast in monster roles, observing: “No one’s going to ask me to play a 7 ft 7 in waiter or something.” He was philosophical, too, about the practical difficulties of being outside the physical norm. Food and drink were a significant outlay. He needed 8,000 calories a day (almost three times the recommended intake) in order to maintain his weight, and alcohol scarcely affected him unless consumed in vast quantities.
“I do like a drink now and again but I really don’t do it very often,” he explained. “It’s quite expensive if you’re drinking 20 pints every night.”
Neil Fingleton was born on December 18 1980 and grew up in Durham. Though both parents were over 6 ft, the only family member to come close to Neil’s height was his brother Michael, who reached 6 ft 8 in. Medical tests revealed nothing untoward that might explain their growth.
Aged 16, Neil won a scholarship to play basketball at the University of North Carolina, later transferring to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. His professional career on the court was short-lived, however, and after a series of injuries he returned to Britain looking to break into acting. Among his early mentors was Richard Kiel, the 7ft 1½in former nightclub bouncer best remembered as the metal-toothed Bond villain Jaws.
Prior to being cast in Game of Thrones, Fingleton made cameo appearances in X-Men: First Class (2011) and the samurai action flop 47 Ronin (2013). His last screen appearance was in Doctor Who in 2015, when he played the Fisher King, an alien warlord.
Towards the end of his life Fingleton launched Seven Foot Seven, a clothing line for exceptionally tall people. “I have never been self-conscious about my height,” he told the Guinness Book of World Records. “I am more conscious of going bald, so that should tell you.”