Sandy Allen, Fellini’s Wondrous Angelina the Giantess

Yesterday you probably heard of the death of Sandy Allen, the World’s Tallest Woman.  She was only 53, which might seem a pretty decent age for someone with as many attendant medical troubles as Ms. Allen, but it was far too short a life for a woman who bore her extraordinary lot in life with incredible grace, humor and intelligence.  She became famous, of course, because of her size, her place of honor secure in the Guinness Book of World Records, but Sandy’s lasting contribution was her message of tolerance for people who were different.  And along the way, she made her mark in the movies, too. 

Director Federico Fellini chose Sandy to portray the magnificent giantess Angelina in his 1976 film Casanova, loosely based on the life of the legendary 18th century amorous adventurer.  Photographed in color and filled with an assortment of erotic, unusual and unforgettable images, Casanova‘s title character was played by Canadian actor Donald Sutherland in highly stylized make-up emphasizing the dissipated and exhausting toll of the great lover’s picaresque lifestyle. 

Sandy, in addition to being slightly over 7 feet, 7 inches tall, was a down-home working girl from Indiana, and the trip to Rome and the filming of Casanova must have been surreal, to say the least.  Dramatically gowned and coiffed, Sandy Elaine Allen became, under Fellini’s hand, the mysterious and memorable Angelina whose encounter with Casanova leaves him changed and moved by her tender humanity.  Though undoubtedly Fellini chose her for the role on the basis of her physical size, he must have been gratified to discover Sandy’s gentle and beautiful soul which made her transformation into the character of Angelina even more successful.  I couldn’t find a clip of the pertinent scenes between Sutherland and Ms. Allen, but here is the scene where Casanova first comes upon the carnival where Angelina is in residence:

I won’t recount Sandy Allen’s life story here; her obituaries gave all the awe-inspiring details, but I will say that if you had ever seen her on any television program or in an interview, she came across as a warm, witty and ever so kind human being.  I have always been touched by her personality and her smile, and it is fitting and wonderful that one of filmdom’s most creative directors was also impressed by her special qualities.  The world is a less-amazing place with Sandy Allen gone now.

Riposare in pace, Sandy.

 

 

4 Responses Sandy Allen, Fellini’s Wondrous Angelina the Giantess
Posted By morlockjeff : August 23, 2008 12:27 pm

I really didn’t know much about Sandy so thank you for this. I obviously need to see FELLINI CASANOVA again since I have a very dim memory of it. I mainly remember Donald Sutherland’s nose and an ocean made out of sheets of black polyurethane. I loved the fact that Sandy had t-shirts made up for herself that read “I’m with Shorty.”

Posted By kristinaa : May 6, 2009 2:16 pm

Sandy was a big part of my life, and in the best way possible.
i have known Sandy since i was introuduced to her when i was 2 years old. My parents were close friends with her. Like i said she was a BIG part of my life. She taought me alot and let me experience alot.i dont know what else to say really. except that i lover her & miss her to death.
forever and alwayss.
r.i.p.Sandy.
i will NEVER forget you and whats yu have tought me.

Posted By greg campbell : August 10, 2010 10:38 pm

hi here is a letter i sent to the church that handeld funeral. as the letter states i have had very stong fellings about her and i wish i had the opertunity to be a big part of her life. she would have been so much fun to be with.i have admired her way back in 1978. i was yung at that time and only 17 years old and how i would have loved her, she shure had a very warm heart and that is the kind of lady i would have wanted to be with. PS i do hope that some one will emal me back on this subject it would mean a lot to me.her hi my name is greg campbell.i live in pampa texas witch is about 60 miles east of amarillo texas.the reason i am writing you is in regards to sandy allen and my deep fillings i had for her threw the years. it started in 1978 and i was about 17 years of age. about two years later i wrote her with my voice on cassette tapes as of my feelings of her. i never got a reply back, i assumed that she had got a lot of disrespected letters from a lot of people or had a lot going on in her life at the time, i really wished that i could have been a part of her life in later years and makes me very sad that we couldn’t have had a wonderful friendship and life together. her death to me breaks my heart very deeply and i wanted to be there and willing to help in any way i could” i felt i new her looking at the things she did for others, i also did a lot for others myself with money or helping fix there car or whatever. i have been a christen for about that long and god has blessed me all my life. about three years ago i sent some get well cards and a letter hoping she would have gotten better but never herd back. i know very well what she went thou a lot in her life, i also was made fun of at school also. they called me a nerd and any thing else that they could think of. like sandy i just didn’t fit in. i was very good at fixing things , i was so good at that, they gave me my own room in school just to fix all the schools stuff like tape recorders typriters coke machines and so on and i was very good at it and never went to school for it. i just know how to do it and at that time i was only 15 years old. when i was in my last year of school i worked at a tv shop here in town and when i was done with school i still worked for dons tv shop for another 12 years, don was a very good man and treated me well also my family life was not very good ether. one thing i will say is i owe my whole life to jesus are lord. just like sandy’s life my life was about the same, the only time that they were nice to me was when they wanted something or wanted me to fix there stuff most of the time for free and i would do it most of the time. for now i work at some radio stations here in pampa texas and also in amarillo as a electronic engineer and keep all there stuff working, also i work at a christen radio station also, it is called the kigdomkeys network and god has blessed it well, also they have a church in amarillo and they call it the kidomkeys church look it up on the web i think the web site is kindomkeys.org if not just use google and search for kindomkeys church the pesters name is ricky phile he also runs the radio station. i go to this church.a am now 49 years of age and i am only 5,9 in tall and 160 pounds and think what life would have been like if her and me have met etch other and got marred, i think she would have lived a lot longer if she had some one in her personal life who would have loved her and taken care of her and wish i had that opportunity. boy wouldn’t that give them something to talk about. well that is how i feel about all of this and i will pray for you church maybe some day i will come there to visit and see the town and visit your church also god bless all of you i know that the devil gets us down but i know that jesus is coming very soon death will be swallowed up in victory and sandy and all our loved ones will rise again and what a day that will be and when that day will come i will meet sandy in the sky and take her by the hand and say i love you and live forever together with our lord and savor jesus christ ps god bless your church. love greg. also if you want to email me it is gregscottcampbell1961@hotmail.com

Posted By medusamorlock : August 11, 2010 12:09 pm

Hi Greg! I’m glad you found my Sandy Allen tribute here, and thanks for sharing your Sandy Allen story. I think many of us had such fond feelings for her and what she stood for.

She’ll never be forgotten, that is a sure bet. She was a great role model of a kind and generous human being.

Thanks again, Greg!

-Medusa

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