Irish actor best remembered for roles in films such as Going My Way, And Then There Was None, The Quiet Man, How Green Was My Valley, The Naked City, The Plough and the Stars, None but the Lonely Heart, Union Station and Bringing Up Baby. In a 1945 biography yearbook he is mentioned as:
"of small build, five feet three inches tall."
Sam said on 6/Jan/15
Yeah, I know what you mean. It's not trickery to make someone look taller but more so the mechanics of getting two people of divergent height in the same close-up or medium range shot.
Arch Stanton said on 5/Jan/15
In scenes where you can't see legs, they used to do it all the time in Hollywood. A lot of Alan Ladd's films were shot with that trick :-) I frequently notice it more in films with very tall guys or very short guys that in distant scenes you'll see one tower over the other and then in a close up of them talking or whatever, suddenly the actress has grown 6 inches. Psycho's opening scene between John Gavin and Janet Leigh and Desiree with Jean Simmons and Michael Rennie spring immediately to mind on that one.
Andrea said on 5/Jan/15
Arch, i am the first one who says a picture is never enough!!! I was just wondering how the hell a 5'3 man can look so "tall" next to a guy who's supposed to be near 6'4! He must be standing on something, then...
Arch Stanton said on 4/Jan/15
@Andrea All I can say is never trust one photo. Watch the film and you'll see Wayne looked easily a foot taller!!
Steve said on 2/Jan/15
Ediie Robinson wore giant elevator shoes in The Sea Wolf. In reality he was just an inch taller.
Iyolo said on 2/Jan/15
I thought it was George Sanders :)
Andrea said on 2/Jan/15
Arch, a 5'3 man should be (barely) around the "shoulders level" of a big 192 man! This guy is well above John's shoulders! I'm obviously not considering the hat, if i did, i would have said 5'10-5'11 range for the tall guy...
I mean, look at a big 6'4 guy with a 5'3.5:
Click Here
Sam said on 2/Jan/15
Wayne did look more than a foot taller than Fitzgerald in The Quiet Man, I suspect in that photo Fitzgerald is standing on heigher ground or Wayne is standing on lower ground.
Sam said on 2/Jan/15
Here's some more comparison shots.
w/ Wayne and Maureen O'Hara:
Click Here
w/ Edward G. Robinson:
Click Here
w/ William Holden:
Click Here
w/ Cary Grant (& Ethel Barrymore):
Click Here
Pretty accurate listing
Andrea said on 2/Jan/15
Which means he's standing on something? That's certainly not a near 6'4 guy next to a 5'3!!!
Arch Stanton said on 2/Jan/15
LOL Andrea, the bowler hat fooled you!!
Andrea said on 1/Jan/15
Rob, how tall is the guy with him? He looks a full head taller... Maybe 6'1 range (if he's got near 10 inch head)?
Editor Rob
it's big John Wayne!
Arch Stanton said on 1/Jan/15
Thanks Rob, can you squeeze in The Plough and the Stars, None but the Lonely Heart and Union Station? There you go, I was spot on in my guess!! Made Bing look tall and McLagen had about a foot on him.