America’s tallest man — a 7-foot, 8-inch former Virginia law officer, actor and Harlem Globetrotter known as a “gentle giant” — has died at his family home North Carolina, officials said.

When he tried out for the LA Clippers in 1988, he briefly qualified as the tallest man on an NBA roster. That dream fizzled. But later on, he wore another crown: Tallest Man in America.

NORFOLK, Va. — George Bell, a former Norfolk sheriff's deputy who was recognized by Guinness World Records as the tallest man in America at a towering 7-foot-8, has died. He was 67 years old.