Lock Martin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lock Martin (February 22, 1916 - January 19, 1959) was the stage name of American actor Joseph Lockard Martin Jr. He was from Pennsylvania and had a series of odd jobs before going into acting. He was reportedly 7 foot 7 inches (about 231 cm) tall. If true, this makes him one of the tallest actors in history. He is today most remembered for playing Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Although this was not his first acting job, he was working as a doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater when he was hired for the role of Gort. He was also in The Incredible Shrinking Man as a giant, but his scenes were deleted. He was married to Ethel Babcock.
[edit] Trivia
His unusual height did not translate into strength and in fact he had difficulty with managing his robot suit in The Day the Earth Stood Still. He also had trouble with scenes where he was intended to physically lift Patricia Neal. He also had a twin brother who died at birth. He was nicknamed "the Gentle Giant" as he liked reading stories to children and for a time had a local show devoted to that.
