Neil Fingleton, the tall basketball star: career, family, siblings, education, death!

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In Career , Death , Interesting Facts

Neil Fingleton was just 36 years when he died. This famous basketball player and British actor was 7 feet and 7.56 inches tall. A new documentary Big Smooth narrates his story. His relatives and friends were present for its screening and were emotional on watching it.

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Neil Fingleton and his short life and career

Neil Fingleton was a Britisher. He was born in Durham in England on 18 December 1980. Guinness Book of world records confirmed in 2007 summer that Neil was the tallest man in the European Union. His height was 7 feet and 7.56 inches. He was the tallest British born person who was living at that time. His father was Michael and mother Christine. He has two siblings; brother Michael and sister Keely. Both are older than him. Most of his family members are taller than average. Neil had said:

“I have never been self conscious about my height. I am more conscious of going bald so that should tell you. I never let my height play a negative part in my life. I always do what I want, some tall people may be restricted as they are constantly stared at or people ask the same questions over and over. This is the only bad thing about being tall – the s***** remarks and questions. Other than that, being tall is great.”

Basketball star Neil studied in the UK until his age of 16. At that are, he attended a basketball camp in Connecticut and made the decision to continue his further studies in the USA. He joined the Holy Name Central Catholic High School in Worcester, MA and graduated it in 2000. He was part of the basketball team of his institute and helped them win titles.

Neil got basketball scholarships and joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Later, he switched to College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA. in 2002. He left the college in 2004 with a degree in history.

Neil began professional play first with Boston Frenzy of the ABA and later with English Basketball League team, Tees Valley Mohawks. He also played for Spanish CB Illescas and Ciudad Real.

Life cut short

Neil suffered an injury in 2007 and decided to switch to the show business. He had said:

“I have been doing acting work since my basketball career finished…..I have played professionally in Greece, Italy, Spain. Now I am concentrating on acting and trying to move to LA soon to jump in with both feet so to speak.”

He starred in several documentaries, films, and later in the TV series Game of Thrones. However, he died due to heart failure at his home in Gilesgate in 2017 on 25 February. It was a sad end of a positive and inspiring person.

The screening of Big Smooth

In May 2023, Blackstone Valley 14 Cinema de Lux screened the documentary on Neil called Big Smooth for his family and friends. The hall was packed. Neil’s coach J.P. Ricciardi said:

“I thought Paul [Stainthorpe, the film’s director] did a great job,”
“I thought they captured Worcester, they captured Holy Name, they captured Neil, they captured his teamates. It was just a great night, it was a great night for a lot of people. Really a celebration of Neil’s life, we miss him tremendously. I wish he was here to see it. I think those guys hit a home run tonight.”

Holy Name assistant coach Eddie Russell commented:

“Emotional night, I’ll tell you that much,”
“You just miss the big man, and I think that came through with everybody who talked about him. It was really good.”

Neil’s mother said:

“Well tonight I watched ‘Big Smooth’ for the second time, and I thought it was absolutely wonderful,”
“It was a massive tribute to Neil, my son, and all the people who made it possible. And the family is Neil’s second family in Worcester.”

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