The biggest woman and the smallest man - the story of one photograph

There is often an old photograph on the Internet in which a large lady with a bouffant hairstyle is holding a tiny man in a suit and hat in her arms. Usually it is signed like this: “The biggest woman and the smallest man.” Who is this couple and were they really the best at one time?

This unusual photo was taken in 1922 in the USA. It depicts circus performers Nellie Blanche Lane and Clarence Chesterfield Howerton. Often under the photo you can see a caption that these are record holders - the largest lady and the smallest man. But in fact, this is not entirely true and we will tell you the story of this photo.

Nellie Blanche Lane was born in 1898 in West Virginia, USA, to Charles Lane and Jennie Showalter. She had two brothers and one sister, and it was a very ordinary American family with little income. From early childhood, Nellie was larger than her peers, and already at the age of 5 she looked 10. Of course, the girl was constantly teased at school and on the street, which made her very worried.

After graduating from school, Nellie could neither study further nor get a job. At 18 years old, she was 2 meters tall and weighed 292 kg. That is why circus owner John Robinson paid attention to her. At the beginning of the 20th century, shows of special people were popular and an enterprising businessman immediately saw a future star in the girl.

In 1918, 20-year-old Nellie Blanche Lane signed a contract with Robinson and became a circus performer. She entered the arena under the pseudonym “Merry Nellie,” and the compere announced her as “the biggest woman in the world.” Of course, this was not true, but the Americans, greedy for outlandish sights, were pleased. Nellie joked, danced and sometimes lifted weights. With her solid build, the girl had great strength and could outshine many men.

To his credit, Mr. Robinson treated his artists well and paid them good money. He also respected their right to self-determination and never considered them his property. Therefore, when in 1923 in Los Angeles Nellie was offered to act in a movie, the circus owner was not against it.

The woman received a supporting role in the film “Circus Days.” The silent film was about a little boy who ran away from home to join a traveling circus. It was a cameo - Nellie Blanche Lane played herself in the film. Of course, she didn’t become a star, but filmmakers took a liking to the tall, plump woman. In 1926, Nellie appeared again in the film Sequins, again about the circus.

In the same 1926, Nellie went on tour to Hawaii, where she met circus motorcyclist and stuntman Carl Leon Terrell. Despite the fact that the man was two heads shorter than Lane and 4 times lighter, a romance broke out between them. It all started when Terrell broke his leg while performing one of his stunts. Nelly carefully looked after him for several weeks, winning the stuntman’s heart.

Soon they got married and began performing together. The couple earned enough money to leave their employers and open their own show. The couple toured the USA and Europe and their performances were a success. In 1933, Nellie's younger sister Alice joined them. She was also a very large woman and only slightly inferior in build to the elder Lane.

Lane and Terrell's marriage broke up in the mid-30s, and the artists went their separate ways. Nellie and her sister toured with various circus troupes and acted in films. They can be seen in the 1947 film “Nightmare Alley”, as well as as extras in several other films. Nellie died of cancer on September 5, 1955 at the age of 57 in a Los Angeles County hospital.

The woman was lonely and there was no one to take care of her funeral. On September 12, 1955, the body of “the greatest woman,” Nellie Blanche Lane, was cremated and the ashes were mailed to her brother Carl in California. It was he who took care of the artist’s final resting place, placing the urn with her remains in the columbarium of the Rose Hills Memorial Park cemetery in Whittier.

As for the baby captured with Lane in the famous photo, he is not a man at all. At the time of filming in 1922, Clarence Chesterfield Howerton was only 9 years old. He was a midget, and with quite correct body proportions he grew to only 71 cm. A series of photos were taken at Robinson's circus for advertising purposes, and the owner of the circus himself came up with a name for them. Howerton also worked in the circus all his life, devoting more than 25 years to this business.

He was called “the smallest man in the world,” although it is unlikely that his height was record-breaking. But Clarence was incredibly popular in the United States and was even introduced to the president at the White House. He also acted in films. Howerton's career in Hollywood was not as eventful as Lane's. But after playing a role in the film “The Wizard of Oz,” the man became a real star.

In 1949, Clarence Chesterfield Howerton became wealthy enough to retire. After finishing his career, the man lived quietly for his own pleasure. He did not communicate with journalists and avoided fans. He died in 1975.