How tall was Moe Howard

Moe Howard's Height

5ft 3 ½ (161.3 cm)

American comedian and actor, best remembered for The Three Stooges. His Columbia Pictures employee card listed his height as 5ft 3.5 and weight as 168 pounds. In his biography he claimed "I was five foot four".

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Average Guess (5 Votes)
5ft 3.7in (161.8cm)
Mark2 said on 17/Apr/20
I just remembered the post I made here years ago, my opinions still stand, although I did underestimate Curly a bit. He definitely pulls off a full 5'5", at times he could look 2-3 inches taller than Moe depending on the shot, other times the difference is not as much.
5feet3onehalf said on 16/Dec/19
Rob,at what time of day would you say was a person's real height? I've been curious.....
Editor Rob
I think if we get measured after being up several hours then it fits in with the kind of timeframe most people get measured at appointments.
5feet3onehalf said on 16/Dec/19
Rob do you thing 5 feet3 and a half was his height during the stooges? That's my height....cool...
Editor Rob
Yeah I think he wasn't far off it.
jabberwocky said on 15/Mar/18
Moe and Larry I'd say were both 5' 4", Curly was 5' 5" and Shemp was the tallest at 5' 6".
Scott said on 22/Nov/16
I have been a Stooges fan for many years, and Larry Fine has always been my favorite. He has been described as 'about 5'4'' which could mean 5'3 1/2'' to 5'4'' on the nose. Moe Howard has been described as 5'4'' the entire time I have viewed his height in all media. However, I once read where a fellow who met him described Moe as ''5'3'' not long before he passed in 1975. I am sure he lost at least an inch during his 70's. As many stooges shorts I have seen in my 31 years, I'd say Moe and Larry were roughly around 5'4'' in their youth, and Shemp and Curly were around the 5'5''mark. Joe Besser was most likely marginally taller (5'41/2'') and Curly Joe DeRita may have been 5'6'' tops.
Carl said on 6/Jan/16
Moe and Larry were in the lower 5'3 range, Curly in the upper 5'4 range, and Shemp around 5'5 (edging out Curly anyway). On a semi-related note, 5'7 John Kassir played a very great Shemp in 2000 (average height has risen 2 inches since the 1940s) both personality and physically speaking (of course the former mattering much more).
Brian said on 18/Apr/15
Both Moe and Larry were 5'4, Curly was 5'5 and Shemp was 5'6
Phil said on 10/Apr/15
@Steve: I'd say Moe was more in the mid-5'1" range there, he looked a bit taller than Mike's chin (the best comparison in my eyes was when Moe walked by Mike to do his pie-throwing demonstration, and yes I took perspective, stance and the like into account as well). Furthermore, it's hard to tell with the low quality (using the same scene), but I think Mike's footwear looked a bit heftier than Moe's, so that could obviously make the latter look even shorter.

It's also worth mentioning that by the time of this episode's filming, Moe was 76, and considering the physical activity involved in the slapstick he and the other Stooges did, I wouldn't be surprised if Moe had lost 2 inches (or close to it, more than 1.5 inches anyway) by this time. So Moe's listing here is reasonable, maybe a fraction less. I'd say for all the well-known Stooges (meaning no Joe Besser nor Curly-Joe), I'd say:

Moe-5'3.25"
Larry-5'3"
Curly 5'4.75"
Shemp-5'5.75"
Steve said on 9/Apr/15
I doubt Moe was any talker than 5'. When he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, he came up to Mike's chin. And Douglas was no more than 5'9".
Shadow2 said on 8/Apr/15
Interesting how in that recent movie recreation of the Three Stooges, but set in today's world (and not to be confused with the Mel Gibson produced biography film), the actor playing Curly seemed to be about 6' 3".
the shredder said on 3/Apr/15
I disagree , Larry looks 5'4 and Curly 5 '6 .
the shredder said on 3/Apr/15
Rob , what about the other Stooges
Editor Rob
not so sure, would need to watch some again.
Sam said on 2/Apr/15
Mark's listings seem fairly accurate, didn't known Shemp edged out Curly though, I thought Curly was the biggest stooge. Wow, the Marx brothers actually averaged taller than the Howard/Horwitz brothers...
Mark said on 1/Apr/15
In their first short at Columbia 'Women Haters', you can see during the scene when he and Curly initiate Walter Brennan's character (listed here at 6'0") that Moe comes up to his lips more or less. However, in that same short, Moe has some pretty hefty footwear on, so taking that into account, Moe's definitely no shorter than 5'3". The Stooges, like Keaton and Chaplin, used techniques to make themselves look shorter than they already were to appear more as the diminutive antiheroes we know them for. Since we have Moe on here now, I think we can figure out the rest of the Stooge's heights. Larry 5'3-5'3.5" (like Moe), Curly 5'4.5" (could appear to pull off a full 5'5" at times), Shemp 5'5.5".

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