The Extendable Clarence Willard

In 1913, whilst Clarence Willard was staying in England, he needed to renew his passport in order to be able to travel, and most importantly, in order for him to be able to return to the United States, his country of origin. Consequently, Clarence popped into the U.S. Embassy in London, in order to complete the necessary paperwork. Embassy clerk Edward Hobson was the employee tasked with filling in the documentation. At first all went well. His questions about date and place of birth, hair and eye colour, approximate weight, were all answered by Clarence in unremarkable fashion. However, when asked for his height, Willard gave the astonishing reply of “Oh, anywhere from five feet nine and three-quarter inches to six feet four.”

Hobson gave Willard a look of incredulity, obliging Clarence to offer something by way of explanation. “I’m Willard, the man who grows. I will show you what I mean.”, he said, and according to a contemporary newspaper report he “began slowly to grow, increasing in height until, instead of looking straight into the eyes of Hobson, who is a medium-sized man, he was gazing down at the top of the clerk’s head. Hobson called in Frank Page and Harold Fowler, the American Ambassador’s son, and private secretary, and for their edification Willard gave a regular side-show in the reception-room of the embassy, telescoping up and down apparently with the greatest ease. Page and Fowler inspected the man carefully, feeling his legs in an attempt to find hidden springs or other mechanical apparatus, but they were finally convinced that he was only a freak.”

It seems the remarkable young man possessed the extraordinary ability to be able to elongate himself at will. Clarence Willard was born in 1882 and hailed from Painesville, Ohio. So, what was it about this exceptional individual that gave him his freakish ability? In the September 1927 issue of Science of Invention, the magazine set out to explain how Willard grew on command. Editors took him for x-rays and determined that his spinal curvature is “perhaps greater than that of the average man. By purely muscular exertion he is able to cause the vertebrae to assume a nearly perfect straight line. In this way he can extend the length of his neck. By training, Mr. Willard has been able to increase this movement so markedly that his demonstration is daily surprising thousands.” He actually claimed to have developed the skill in childhood in order to compensate for a left side that was entirely paralyzed.

Apparently, Clarence found that he was able to increase his height by carrying out particular exercises. Although history does not seem to have recorded his exercise regime, the 1978 Guinness Book of World Records stated that it was through “constant practice in muscular manipulation of the vertebrae”. However, in 1958 Willard explained to a Society of American Magicians meeting, that by carrying out stretching exercises, he could also separate his hip bones and ribs. He found that through a combination of these means he could add 7 1⁄2 inches (19 cm) to his natural height of 5 feet 9 3⁄4 inches (177 cm); he was also able to extend the length of his arms by 8–15 inches (20–38 cm) and make one leg 4 inches (10 cm) longer than the other.

Of course, there would be little point in him being a human precursor to Stretch Armstrong, if he were not to turn this remarkable capability to his advantage. Consequently, from a comparatively early age, Clarence began a career as a freak act vaudeville entertainer. He began performing with the Barnum and Bailey Circus, inviting a volunteer from the audience to join him on stage. He would always pick someone taller than himself. Standing next to each other, Willard would stretch himself until he became the taller of the two. Willard later became associated with Robert Ripley and his Ripley’s Believe It or Not! newspaper panel series, television show and radio show, which featured odd facts from around the world. Willard was one of a group of freak act performers who appeared at Ripley’s odditoriums, and he would also make appearances at other venues across the United States, Canada and Europe. Willard appeared in the 1930 short film Believe it or Not #3, introduced by Ripley when challenged (in the film’s story) by a journalist to prove the quality of his acts. Clarence also performed at the 1936–37 Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio, and even appeared as a guest on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Later in life, according to an article in the December 3, 1956 issue of Life magazine, Willard moved to Alameda, California, where he managed real estate and ran a restaurant named the Brass Rail. He continued to perform his elongation routine for customers, presumably without putting them off of their dinners. Clarence Willard died on July 31, 1962 at a hospital in Oakland, California, and was buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery. The size of coffin required was not recorded.

One of the most amusing stories related by Clarence concerned a time he was visiting Spain. According to Willard: “In Madrid in 1912, I was watching a parade. As King Alfonso approached, I stretched a few inches to get a better look. A woman saw me and screamed. The crowd stared and left me standing all alone.”

Sources:

wirdhistorian.com

wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_E._Willard