How tall was Rod Steiger

Sinclair said on 20/May/22
5’9.5”

Toby Frank said on 30/Dec/19
Steiger was 5ft 8.5 at his peak but often deluded himself he was as tall as 6 feet. He was a lift wearer, Cuban heels the works. His delusions have had a knock on effect to many other shirt celebrities whose heights are exaggerated on here.

RisingForce said on 11/Mar/17
As for lifts, Steiger was named as a lift wearer in 1980 by an LA shoemaker who also said he made elevator shoes for Burt Reynolds, Kirk Douglas and Andy Williams. I don't believe this claim came out of nowhere. I'll go with 5'9.5" for now.

Realist said on 7/Mar/17
He looked like a massive 6'0 footer in Dr Zhivago. Looked a bit like Pavarotti. Hey Rob an you put up a listing for Luciano Pavarotti, I love that guy. As for Rod Steiger. 5'10.25 peak atleast, he had a bad posture. He looked same as Omar Sharif actually.

Steve said on 24/Feb/15
Steiger was considerably shorter than 5'11" Phil Silvers.

Click Here

Arch Stanton said on 23/Feb/15
I've seen both of them Steve and didn't notice big lifts on him. I know he wore ankle boots in Heat of the Night though and pulled off about 5 ft 10 with Poitier.

Steve said on 21/Feb/15
Watch In the Heat of the Night. Steiger wore boots with huge heels plus lifts.

Steiger and Bogart were roughly the same height.

And Steiger wore lifts in Dr. Zhivago. Somewhere there's a full shot photo of the entire cast where he's obviously wearing them. If I can find it, I'll link it.

Arch Stanton said on 19/Feb/15
I mean take a guy like Bing Crosby or Dean Martin, they're obvious frequent lift wearers. I've really not noticed anything suspicious with Steiger, but I'll keep watching :-)

Arch Stanton said on 19/Feb/15
Rob, maybe 5'9.5" or at least 5'9.75 might be a better overall fit. Now he wasn't as low as 5 ft 8, but perhaps 5'9" range is a better fit. His heavy build could make him look shorter but generally I must admit I generally see him as 5'9 range in films, almost every film in fact I'm getting a more strong 5'9 impression, in fact he can look similar to somebody like Borgnine in proportions. He didn't look much over an inch shorter than Omar Sharif and did manage to look not much more than 4 inches shorter than Poitier but generally I think 177 might be better. He didn't didn't look 5'10 with Joan Collins! Christopher Plummer I think edged him out slightly in Waterloo. He did look 5'9" range with Coburn too. I've seen a good number of his films now. I don't think I've seen him in obvious lifts yet Steve though.. I'll continue to watch em, he's one of my favourite actors.

@Steve and Rob, one I've recently seen which I highly recommend is Across the Bridge from 1957. It's one not many will have seen but it's a masterpiece. A must see.

Arch Stanton said on 14/Jan/15
5 ft 8 is ridiculous for Steiger!

Steve said on 13/Jan/15
Steiger was 5'8". Same height as Bogart in The Harder they Fall, a film Bogart didn't appear to be wearing lifts in.

Also, Steiger was a nortious lift wearer.

Arch Stanton said on 13/Jan/15
Steiger looks about the same height as Christopher Plummer in Waterloo, although Plummer might have edged out Steiger a little.

Arch Stanton said on 13/Jan/15
A photo as well?

Arch Stanton said on 13/Jan/15
Rob, can you squeeze in Waterloo, The Pawnbroker and No Way to Treat a Lady, those more so that Mars Attacks or Oklahoma anyway. He was fantastic as Napoleon.

Arch Stanton said on 29/Oct/14
A full 5 ft 10 does look questionable next to Joan Collins in Seven Thieves. I think when stood straight it was near 3 inches on her in heels but it could frequently look more like 2 inches. Joan had to have been pushing near 5 ft 8 in heels if he was 5'11 in shoes.

Arch Stanton said on 29/Oct/14
Mmm, Joan Collins is about 2 inches shorter in heels in Seven Thieves.

Arch Stanton said on 3/Jul/14
Rob can you add the wonderful A Fistful of Dynamite?
Dug out my DVD earlier. Got to say though in comparison to Coburn in it he mostly looked nearer 5 inches shorter than 4 inches. Coburn made him look 5'9" I thought. There is a case of course for Coburb being peak 6'2.5" which he could often look though. 5'9.5" is quite possible anyway.

Arch Stanton said on 17/Mar/14
Steiger had on normal looking ankle boots, Click Here Granted Poitier looks about 5 inches taller there but in the film it's near 4. Those don't look like lift boots to me. If he did have a lift in them it wouldn't be much because you can see the line of where his foot is.

Arch Stanton said on 17/Mar/14
If anything he looked virtually the same height as Omar Sharif in Dr Zhivago.

Arch Stanton said on 17/Mar/14
No he didn't Knowitall as when I was checking up on him for a request to Rob I paused the film in numerous spots including the railway station with Poitier and you could see he was wearing normal shoes and he looked little more than 4 inches shorter than Poitier. A stocky 5'10" guy is accurate, at worst you could argue 177.

Knowitall said on 7/Jan/14
He was five eight max. I know since met him. This business of five-ten is typical press agent BS.

Steiger wore boots with lifts and huge heels in the feature In the Heat of the Night. He was still five inches shorter than Portier.

Arch Stanton said on 1/Jan/14
@Terbo, since when has 5'10" been very tall?? A 5'10" heavy build guy like Steiger on screen generally looks stocky and average. Very tall is James Cromwell or Alan Napier! He starred opposite a lot of 6'2+ guys throughout his career.

terbo said on 24/Dec/13
He must be deceiving because he never looks very tall on film.

Arch Stanton said on 21/Dec/13
Yes Sam, my requests are reflective of my taste in films!!

Sam said on 20/Dec/13
Another good addition. He looks generally about inch (sometimes less sometimes more) taller than Marlon Brando and a strong 4 inches under Poitier, so he's pretty close to his listing.
Click Here
Click Here

Arch Stanton said on 18/Dec/13
Aw thanks Rob I appreciate it!! I was baffled why you didn't add Steiger before but I guess you've been pretty busy... A case could be made for 5'9.5" but Steiger IMO looked a proper 5'10 next to Sidney Poitier in In The Heat of the Night and Omar Sharif in Dr. Zhivago.