Clarence E. Willard

Clarence E Willard (1882 – July 31, 1962) was an American vaudeville performer. After carrying out stretching exercises, Willard found he was able to increase his height at will by and also elongate his arms and legs. He developed this into a freak show act under the name "The Man Who Grows". From around 1910 Willard performed in vaudeville in the United States and was also claimed to have performed at the Berlin Wintergarten theatre. He became associated with Robert Ripley, performing at the Believe It or Not! odditoriums and appearing in a short film. Willard appeared at the 1936–37 Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio, and later ran a restaurant in Alameda, California.

Life Clarence E. Willard was born in 1882 and lived in Painesville, Ohio. He claimed to be a relative of the painter Archibald Willard. He found that through these means he could add to his natural height of ; he was also able to extend the length of his arms by and make one leg longer than the other.

Willard used his ability to become a freak act vaudeville entertainer from around 1910, billed as "The Man Who Grows". He also performed card tricks. Willard performed vaudeville until at least 1914 and at one point performed in Germany, being later billed as "the star attraction of the Wintergarten, Berlin".

Willard performed at the 1936–37 Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio. Willard was a friend of fellow California resident, the astrologer Sydney Omarr. Willard died on July 31, 1962, at a hospital in Oakland, California and was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery.