How tall was Bob Hope

Terry DiPiazza said on 22/Apr/23
Bob Hope always looked fairly tall on stage while entertaining the troops during WWII. I think he started shrinking at an early age, but looked 5’10” until his early 40’s at least.

Frank Col said on 27/Dec/22
Bob was lucky to be over 5ft 9. I would say 5ft 8 with Crosby 5ft 6.5 minus lifts.

avi said on 22/Jun/22
@Rob
I think he really needs a downgrade
I know later in life he was 5'8 zone. But peak was 5'9 area at most. Take a look online you'll see he does not really seem over 5'9. And later in life 5'8ish

Sinclair said on 3/Jun/22
Rob, maybe 5’9.5” peak?

Click Here

5’9.75” Alain Delon had a good inch on Hope at the 1965 oscars. Granted Hope was over sixty but if he had already started losing height by then, it would not have been much.

5'10 Dude said on 19/Feb/21
I think that Bob Hope's peak height may have been 5'9½ rather than 5'10. He just strikes me as more around that area while Dean Martin would have been a solid 5'10. It appears that Hope just wore regular dress shoes while Dean wore lifts. Dean can look noticeably taller than Hope in photos because of his lifts. They were above average for their time, but I wouldn't call them tall per say.

gio pizzi said on 22/Nov/20
I was looking at a Dean Martin Christmas show on Youtube and Bobo Hope made a cameo .He stood near Dean side by side and Dean who is supposed to be 5"10 also was at least 1" taller than Bob.

M.P.R.Stephenson. said on 20/Oct/20
Don't forget that , in the 1940s ,when he was in his prime , 5 7ins was a good average height . Bob looked above this , and 5ft 9 ins seems about right , no more .

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/May/20
Bob Hope was born 117 years ago today. He made it to 100 years of age!

I think 5ft10 for his peak height is right for him.

RIP Bob 🕯️

Bob Hope
29/5/1903 - 27/7/2003

Marge said on 8/Dec/19
Bob Hope looked 5'8" tall on the Johnny Carson show -- 2" shorter than Carson, who is listed as 5'10" tall.

Anonymous said on 3/Dec/17
On the Bob Hope show he looks 1.5-2" shorter than John Denver, unless J.D had been 5'11 rather than 5'9.5 I couldn't find any other possible and plausible explanation. He was 69-70 years old in 1973, I guess a 2-cm loss might've been possible.

Robert M. said on 12/Oct/17
Why does Bobe Hope appear to be less than 3" from 5'7" Bing Crosby in movies?

Ian said on 12/Sep/17
He was definitely taller than James Cagney.

I always enjoyed his films with Rhonda Fleming, Dorothy Lamour, Jane Russell, Lucille Ball and Bing Crosby.

In the films co starring Lucille Ball, Bob was a good 3 - 4 inches taller throughout them. However in the 1980s he looked to have shrunk. In his television appearances with Miss Ball, Bob Hope is noticeably shorter, barely above Lucy in height.

Bob was around 5'9" - 5''10" peak height.

Arch Stanton said on 20/Jun/17
Mmm in fairness at 23:12 she is in a really big heel but at 23:16 you can see he has a fair heel himself and could have a lift! I still think he was in 5 ft 9 range barefoot.

Arch Stanton said on 20/Jun/17
See 22:50 with Hedy Lamarr Click Here there's little chance he was 5 ft 11 in shoes there though we can't see how big her heels are.

Arch Stanton said on 20/Jun/17
I have Brando at 5'8.75, 5'9.5 for Hope is really a better shout I think.

Arch Stanton said on 20/Jun/17
Rob, I think this is too high still, seriously. I wouldn't put him at more than 5'9.5, he looked too short and squat for the period to have really been a legit 5 ft 10. Any chance of tweaking to 5'9.5 and then assuming lifts occasionally and the two inch rule for 5'11.75? @Charlie, you're forgetting that Bing Crosby lived in lifts to look 5 ft 9.

Sandy Cowell said on 9/Jun/17
I just saw 5ft10 written for Bob Hope and I thought, "...but he would have stuck out those days as tall!"
Then I arrive at his page to find that he boasted a quarter- inch under 6ft! Come off it Bob! Had you been smoking something?
I wouldn't have thought his peak was any more than 5ft9 - quite tall for back in his era! That's what I shall go for then!

JarMa13 said on 31/Mar/17
youre absolutely right. I was watching him on the golden girls, which prompted my google search. Hes only a couple inches taller than rue. Bea towers over her and she is 5'9. I speculated he was 5'4, so seeing your words convinced me.
I dont know why they lie.
Whats wrong with being short?
Little guys are often quite cute

Charlie said on 25/Feb/17
Bob Hope was 5'7. He was the exact same height as Bing Crosby who is 5'7. No way was he 5'10 in his prime. Matter of fact when he became old he looked a solid 5'4. He never struck me as being a tall man.

Tom said on 29/Aug/16
'"If you watch him and Jimmy Cagney in The Seven Little Foys, they look exactly the same height''

Some people say the dumbest things on forums: Click Here

gx79 said on 27/Aug/16
Click Here rob look at this

Sam said on 19/Aug/15
IMO looks maybe three-quarters an inch taller than Brando while trying to pry his Oscar away...LOL.
Click Here

C.D. Logsdon said on 8/May/15
Met Bob Hope personally at Hartsfield Atlanta Airport 1974 as I was one of three Atlanta P.D. officers accompanying him to his flight and is 5'3". Information published to the contrary is erroneous.

Arch Stanton said on 17/Dec/14
Nice, thanks, haha a smidge under 6 ft, I don't think so!!

Arch Stanton said on 16/Dec/14
Rob can you update with a photo and add films The Paleface, My Favorite Blonde, My Favorite Brunette, Star Spangled Rhythm, Nothing But the Truth, Some Like It Hot (1939), The Seven Little Foys, The Iron Petticoat, Off Limits and Paris Holiday?

Arch Stanton said on 14/Dec/14
Also did you see Cagney's footwear? A fair heel and a bit built up at the back, the sort of shoe with a bit of a boost I'd say.

Arch Stanton said on 14/Dec/14
Watching the Seven Little Foys now and to claim Cagney and Hope were the same height is absurd. There's a scene in which Hope is given a trophy by Cagney and when stood straight Hope looked 4-5 inches taller.

Mel John said on 6/Nov/14
Here is the dance from Seven Little Foys with Jimmy Cagney, who is listed here at 5'5". I certainly can't see 5" between then - a couple of inches at best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWudkoO-BDU

Auggie said on 20/Sep/14
Uh, no. I once was in a publicity photo right next to Hope and I towered over him - so much so that I had them crop me out so he didn't look ridiculous. I'm 6'3" and I'd say he was 5'4"-5'5". If you watch him and Jimmy Cagney in The Seven Little Foys, they look exactly the same height - and Cagney's listed at 5'5".

Arch Stanton said on 26/Apr/14
5'10.5" pretty much looks impossible in The Pale Face put it that way. Even 5'10" looks questionable. He's wearing big cowboy boots and he looks about 1.5 inches taller than Jane Russell, and she doesn't have much footwear advantage.

Arch Stanton said on 7/Nov/13
I mean if you take somebody like Fred Astaire, almost always wore very flat almost dap like shoes, ideal for dancing. He wasn't at all height conscious I don't think, at 5'9" he was taller than most of his female co stars anyway. But if you compare the very flat shoes Astaire wore to dance and see the type of shoes than Bing often wore I think you can see just how height conscious he was.

Arch Stanton said on 7/Nov/13
What baffles me though is that I think as you say Hope could look 5'9 range at that stage but often seemed near 3 inches taller than Bing Crosby even then although difficult to gauge exactly the height difference because of the footwear. Maybe Bing was more 5'7" flat and Hope 5'9.5" I dunno, but Bing's footwear really looked dodgy in most of the films I've seen him in. It takes a certain type of fella to dance in lifts!! Actually at the end of Road to Hong Kong they're on the beach and are in sandals and although a beach isn't the best way to gauge a height it looked pretty level, they were stood next to each other and I'd say Hope was between 2 and 3 inches taller. But if Hope was more 5'9" range by then it makes you wonder if Crosby was really 5'7.5" by that stage too.. I must try to see High Society and Did you Evah as I'd be interested to see how he fared next to Frank Sinatra. Haven't seen High Society in about 15 years.

Arch Stanton said on 6/Nov/13
I've concluded that Hope is between 2 and 3 inches taller than Crosby so this listing seems about right and it's Crosby's footwear and posture at times which account for him virtually looking the same height as Hope at times. If you watch Crosby when he's stood close to somebody taller he assumes the "rake up ass" Sly type forced posture. Crosby was extremely height conscious without a doubt. Whether Hope was or not it isn't so obvious to me but I can believe he often wore lifts in his films.

Arch Stanton said on 5/Nov/13
then Bing Crosby enters and he goes back to looking 2.5 inches taller than Bing!

Arch Stanton said on 5/Nov/13
Rob see 1 hr 7:50 Click Here I think Joan Collins is in heels and he's barefoot. Bizarrely he does actually look like he could be 5 ft 8 there doesn't he!

Arch Stanton said on 5/Nov/13
Good call on the downgrade anyway I think he was 179cm on here before. He's definitely taller than Crosby but by how much in reality, very tough to tell given the footwear variations!

Arch Stanton said on 5/Nov/13
Yeah I suppose Thomas Hamm isn't really a big enough name to warrant attention. I've been watching some of the Road to films of late and it's difficult to see him over 5 ft 10 anyway. Not easy to tell with Bing Crosby who I'm pretty sure was wearing lifts. In Road to Bali the height difference oculd look 3 inches one minute and then 10 minutes later they'd look almost the same height! I'll give Road to Hong Kong a watch shortly with a young Joan Collins to ogle at...

Arch Stanton said on 3/Nov/13
I thought that quote would interest you Rob, obviously not..

Arch Stanton said on 30/Oct/13
Rob I've found a quote here in which somebody says "Bob was five eight" and mentions that he wore lifts. Click Here
I was actually trying to find a quote for Crosby but stumbled upon that. His shoes don't look sus in Road to Bali unlike Crosby's. Hope looks about 1.5-2 inches taller but I think Crosby was clearly wearing shoes with a wedge in them. At times they can look nearer the same height though.

Kid said on 26/Jul/12
When I first met Bob Hope in 1984 he was quite a few inches shorter than me (I must've been around 6ft in my shoes), but he was 81. I met him again 10 years later, but if he had shrunk further, it wasn't obvious. Interestingly, Bob Monkhouse describes Hope as being well over 6ft tall when he first met him back in the '40s or '50s, but I think we can put this down to Monkhouse being quite small himself and probably confusing Hope's towering charisma with his height. Whenever I heard Bob Hope (in character) referring to his height in a movie, it was usually about 5' 10" or 5' 10 & a half, but it wasn't uncommon for the studios to 'big up' their stars in the height (and other) departments, even when just playing a role.

PS: So this is where you hide out, eh, Rob?

dolphfan2011 said on 6/Aug/11
Click Here

J. Mendoza said on 17/Nov/10
It was summer of 1973 and I was in line for the Johnny Carson show, when everyone got seated except me since they were one seat short and I had to wait in the waiting room and watch the show through the monitors instead. When after about 20 minutes there, in walks Bob Hope and asks me if I was enjoying the show from the room. He spoke to me for about 10 minutes. The one thing that did surprise me is that he was so much shorter than I thought. for I am exactly 5'10" and he looked no taller than 5'7", maybe even 5'6". But then again I understand that he was around 70 years old at the time and some people do shrink a few inches. However, I left realizing that I had met a giant of a man. What mega star would spend their time conversing with someone ordinary like myself with no cameras or audience around. What a lovable and unassuming man, he never even spoke about himself---it was all about how good Burt Reynolds and Dianne Cannon looked. I was just a 19 year old Hispanic young man at the time when this occured.

RisingForce said on 15/Feb/09
He was a lot shorter than Telly Savalas by the late 70's. He must have lost a good amount of height by then.

glenn said on 13/Dec/08
i have a crappy photo with him.seemed 5-6ish.5-8 straightened out.

BD said on 11/Dec/08
I was in a room with Hope in the late 1980's, i was not more than five feet from him, I'm 5'11" and I towered over him. He seemed quite small.

Don said on 11/Oct/08
Back in about 1982 when I was a reporter at the Denver Carousel Ball, I took a headshot photo of Bob Hope from about 2 feet away. I'm 5'10", and had a 35mm camera at my eye level -- but the photo appears that I'm looking down at Bob -- he seemed to be closer to maybe 5'8". He wasn't exactly a tall guy. But I really don't think he was 5'10", at least not at that time!

Frank2 said on 3/Aug/08
Hope did shrink by several inches. When I first saw him back in the 1950s, he and my dad were close to the same height. If anything, Hope was slightly taller. My father was about 5'9-1/2". Then I saw him at a luncheon of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters that I attended with my mom. At that point in time which was in the 1970s, Hope had lost at least two inches. When I last saw him standing which was in the late 1980s he was about 5'6". The very last time I saw him was from afar when he was in a parade in Toluca Lake. He was in a wheelchair and had to be helped into the car. That was a few years before he died. Oh, I also saw him at a department store with his wife when they were advertising some fragrance his wife was either selling or had some affiliation with. He was seated at that time. That was in the early 1990s.

SAZ said on 3/Jul/08
this is totally incorrect, I had the opportunity to meet him on several occasions... I stand 5' 10" and he is nowhere close... On one occasion, I had to escort him and Phylis Diller at the Omni Hotel... MS Diller is about 5'5" (on a good day) and Bob Hope is no taller than she.

Frank2 said on 18/May/06
When my mom started acting which was back in 1940 she was told by her agent that her height of 5'4" was the perfect for getting her better parts with well-known leading men. By the way, she told me that William Holden was no more than 5'10". I watched Texas and noticed that Glenn Ford was at least two inches taller than Holden so she might be right. I met both men, but in their later years. Holden was shorter than me by at least an inch and Ford was possibly a half an inch taller. Ford was in his fifties so I doubt he had lost height. Holden was in his early sixties and could have lost an inch. But then I just watched Sunset Blvd. once again and noticed that Holden was at least three inches shorter than 6'1" Fred Clark who plays Sheldrake the studio producer who turned down Gone With the Wind because he felt nobody would pay to see a film about the Civil war.

Editor Rob said on 17/May/06
An actress (Doris Goddard) who popped up in Iron Petticoat, I just mention an interesting quote about acting in England from abc.net.au interview:

"I found I had an irreversible physical disability. I was 5'8". And the tallest actress that they would allow was about 5'5". And all the actors, very few were more than 5'6" or 7", so, you know, I was towering over them. They said, "Forget going on the stage. And forget going to be a film star." So I turned to the cabaret. And all of a sudden they needed a tall girl to play opposite Bill Travers who was 6'4" in the movie 'Geordie'. And of course there were no tall actresses, they'd all been weeded out"

richinkle said on 9/May/06
That Hope-on-a-Box pic is one of the most instructive photos I've seen on this site. Fascinating! Why did Bob, or his publicist, think it was so essential to tower over Joe DiMagio??

Frank2 said on 31/Mar/06
Here's Hope on that box!: Click Here
Looks like the one Alan Ladd used.

Frank2 said on 30/Mar/06
Here's Bob standing on a box photographed with Marilyn Monroe and Joe DeMagio: Click Here

Paul said on 23/Mar/06
Crosby's biography by Gary Giddins (a great book) references 5'7" also.

Frank2 said on 23/Mar/06
Actually Crosby was 5'7" and always wore lifts when on camera. Take a good look at photos of them off the set when Crosby isn't wearing them and you'll see a three inch difference.

Anonymous said on 23/Mar/06
He's definitely 5'10". He was two inches taller than Bing Crosy who 5'8".

Glenn said on 21/Mar/06
He shrunk to 5-8.photo coming.

Frank2 said on 18/Mar/06
In Crosby's situation you can tell since the sides of his shoes are abnormally high and the postion of his ankle is higher than normal. And actors wearing lifts tend to walk differently. I noticed it with Crosby as well as Desi Arnaz.

TJ said on 17/Mar/06
I'm starting to think that when Frank2 says lifts, he's meaning shows with a sizable heel, not actually lifts. The comment that you can see Crosby's lifts in a film (they filmed the inside of his shoe???) and his comments on other pictures suggests that's what he means.

Frank said on 17/Mar/06
Lon Cheney used to go around saying he was only six feet tall. Why? Perhaps he thought that it might get him better roles. But he was way over six feet. 6'2" is probably correct. I have a photo of him standing next to a bunch of stars taken sometime in the 1950's. He's next to Gary Cooper and looks about an inch shorter. He's about two inches taller than Ward Bond, a little taller than Anthony Quinn, the same height as Henry Wilcoxon, and an inch shorter than Jimmy Stewart. Of course all these men aren't standing perfectly straight so it's just a rough estimate.

larry said on 16/Mar/06
Fascinating Frank! :-) So, Mr. Hope was actually 5'9.5" to 5'10" at his peak. Sounds right. He was about 4" less than Chaney Jr. in MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE and about 3" less than Anthony Quinn in one of the ROAD pictures (don't recall which one, sorry).

Frank2 said on 16/Mar/06
In his last three years poor Bob was nearly blind and deaf. He'd sit out on his porch overlooking the vast backyard of his Toluca Lake estate and act as if he was senile, but when you can't see and can hardly hear and you're approaching 100 you're entitled. I saw him last where I could speak with him in the early 1990's. The actual last time I saw him was when he road in a car as the Grand Marshal of a Parade honoring him held in Toluco Lake. That was in the late 1990's. I walked up as a TV news reporter had shoved a microphone into his face asking him what he thought about so many people there to see him and I noticed a tear running down his cheek. By then Hope couln't answer. By the way, I shouldn't admit it, but that's my dad in the above photo with Hope. Rob blocked his face since so far I don't want to let out my true identity. Maybe as I become more comfortable I will. My dad was an independent producer who knew Hope quite well. My father even directed Hope in some TV commercials he did to promote some vitamins. That was around 1960. At the time they shot it at a neighbor's home. My father was about 5'9 1/2" so you can see that when the photo was taken which was about 1950, Hope was a little taller. But I have other photos where they appear to be the exact, same height. Crosby was only 5'7" and wore lifts. You can clearly spot them in all the Road pictures. He was also bald and always wore a toupee when in front of camera.

Paul said on 15/Mar/06
Great pic Frank of Hope with Rush. Hope had to be 96 to 98 in that pic since it was after Rush's weight loss. He looks a little hunched also. I don't think he made any public appearances in his last year or two. Didn't USA Today say he had dementia at the end?

Hope does look 5'10" ish as a younger man. There is a clip of him on a USO tour standing next to 5'7" Crosby who forgot to wear his lifts (and toupee) that day and the differential between the two is considerably greater than it was in the movies.

Frank2 said on 15/Mar/06
Here's a frail Hope with of all people 5'11" Rush Limbaugh: Click Here Limbaugh is eaxtly my height and that's how short Hope looked the last time I saw him. I could look over his head. Many years before he was several inches taller when I met him in the early sixties. Here's Bob with pro golfers : Click Here Bob with 6'4" Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller behind him: Click Here Here's Weissmuller standing behind 6'1" anthony Quinn: Click Here Quinn is another actor who never seemed to shrink as he got older. In the film 1995 film A Walk in the Clouds he was exactly the same height as 6'1" Keanu Reeves. I saw Quinn in person over the years and he was always the same height. I had an uncle who once roomed with Quinn back in the thirties in Hollwood before Quinn met and married CB DeMille's daughter Katherine. After that when my uncle would run into him, Quinn would ignore him. And no they weren't lovers. Quinn was up till he died a real horn dog! I think he ended up with 11 kids!