John Aasen was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 who was one of the tallest actors in history.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

, Aasen's mother, Kristi (Danielsen) from Rollag

Rollag

Rollag is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The municipality of Rollag was established on 1 January 1838 . Nore og Uvdal was separated from Rollag in 1858....

 in Numedal

Numedal

Numedal is a traditional district and valley Buskerud, Norway. Running north–south, it extends between Kongsberg in the south to Rødberg in the north, passing through the municipalities of Kongsberg, Flesberg, Rollag and Nore og Uvdal.. The river Numedalslågen, the third-longest in the country,...

, was an extremely tall Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 woman of around 2.20 m (almost 7 ft 3 inches) in height (latest information from Sept. 2008, sets her height to 188 cm). It is not certain who his father was, but according to Aasen's sister Evelyn (who died 1988), his father was Alfred Aasen.