How tall was Sid James

Sandy Cowell said on 2/Jan/23
@ Gladstone Screwer - Carry On Again Doctor is the one in which Sid plays Gladstone Screwer! 😎

I’ve been itching to know which one it was ever since I came here!

Sid is definitely not as tall as Jim Dale.

Sandy Cowell said on 28/Dec/22
This Carry On Henry is really @rse about face, right down to the height of Henry VIII!

5ft8.

Sandy C said on 30/Jul/22
The cabbies are discussing the drawbacks of taking on a female cab driver. (Carry On Cabby)

One moans to Sid that they’ll have to be minding their language all the time, and in the second place, there’s only one toilet. 🚽

The potential new tiny female driver retorts, “In the first place, I know more swear words than the bunch of you and in the second place, I didn’t want to go 🚽 in the first place!”

Very well said! 😂😂😂

5ft8.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 7/Jan/22
@ Arch - Thanks for joining in the Sid banter! Since you typed that, Christmas has come and gone in a flash - as usual; baaaaah to that!

😝😂🐑😂😂

Anyway, I have overlooked a fair few urges to write on Sid's page, but this bit of info, though not height-related, simply BELONGS here.

There's just been a question on The Chase as to which Carry On actor is said to haunt the Sunderland Empire Theatre. The options were Sid James, Hattie Jacques or Kenneth Williams.

As you'll have gathered, it was Sid James, but one thing I had not the faintest clue about was that Sid died on the stage of the aforementioned theatre while performing.

What a shame, and doesn't it emphasize how terribly stressful live acting is, even for the most seasoned of actors? I mean, Sid was born to act, yet THAT had to happen to him, and likewise with Tommy Cooper, who sadly died during a live TV performance, the variety show of which I was watching with my Mum when he collapsed back in the Spring of 1984. 😢

Sid was coming up to 63. Tommy had only just celebrated his 63rd Birthday.

My Dad said Sid was EXACTLY the same in real life as he was when acting, with the very same addictive laugh.

He can have his usual 5ft8 from me.

Cheers, Arch, and here's wishing you a great weekend!

Arch Stanton said on 1/Sep/21
He was always a dirty uncle-like figure Sandy, the type who would make inappropriate jokes at Christmas! Interesting that your dad knew him!

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 29/Aug/21
How funny! I'm watching 'Carry on Henry' and they are mixing the Stuart Gunpowder plot with Tudor King Henry VIII and the plotters are even wearing Stuart hats.

There are plenty more irregularities in this, which is what makes it worth watching. 😂🤭😂 Henry VIII's original bride, Spanish Catherine of Aragon, is called Marie - and she's French, with garlic breath. If I'm not very much mistaken, they are including Elizabethan explorers in this too. Well, at least Elizabeth I was a Tudor!

5ft8. 👑

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 15/Feb/21
I turned my telly on this morning to see my Dad's former drinking mate, Sid James, on an episode of 'Bless This House'.

It occurred to me while watching the guy who played his son, the late Robin Stewart, that he was hardly tall enough to play Charles II, who stood 185cm, in an old historical movie, so I decided to do some investigating.

The film Robin starred in was the star-studded 1970 extravaganza 'Cromwell'. He actually played Charles, the Prince of Wales, so could have been playing younger. He was 26/27 at the time and his optimum height was 173cm. He certainly had the long, dark hair for playing 'The Merry Monarch', as Charles II was dubbed.

Oliver Cromwell died of natural causes in 1658, aged 59. Three years later, under the rule of King Charles II, his body was dug up, sent to trial and his head removed from his body and put on display as a warning not to mess with the Monarchy! People were so religious those days that they genuinely believed his spirit will have been in torment as a result.

Anyway, Sid - loved him, as did many girls I knew as some kind of Uncle figure - gets 5ft8. 😁

Eric W Tam said on 27/Dec/20
Huh looks like the Brits are way more honest about their heights than we Yanks are. I seldom find a 5'8 Brit on here listed anything above (like 5'9, 5'10, etc.) on Google. Chances are if an American celeb is 5'10 on Google he's really 5'8-9 per Rob's observations.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 5/Dec/20
Sid was described as 'about 5ft9' by his sitcom daughter, Sally Geeson in an episode of 'Bless This House' this morning.

I can't see more than 5ft8 at his peak.

Sandy A Cowell said on 10/Apr/20
Ha ha! One only has to hear Sid’s or Kenneth Williams’s voice and one knows that it just HAS to be a Carry On caper! I’m watching “Carry On Dick” on my TV but I’m not sure how long it will stay on.....

I feel like watching something more sensible at this minute. It’s not terribly easy to laugh right now.

5ft8 for the late, great Sid James. 😀👍

Mark Harrison said on 16/Mar/19
He looked 5'7" in the 1953 film "The House Across the Lake".

Paul Wood said on 14/Aug/18
Personally, I think Sid James was 5ft 8in flat. When you look at photos of him next to Hawtrey and Williams who were both 5ft 7in, he doesn't look all that much taller than them, about an inch. Although a lot of people on this specialist site seem to think an inch is a huge difference, most people would consider it marginal. Also when 5ft 5in Joan Sims wore heels (not all that high, such as in Carry On Abroad) she was on the same level as Sid. As an aside 5ft 10in Margaret Nolan and 5ft 11in Valerie Leon were very tall women for their era, and would often be put in scenes with 6ft 6in Bernard Bresslaw,

James said on 24/Nov/17
Sid was 5'8" in "Hancock's Half Hour", but closer to 5'7" when he died.

PAUL said on 18/Sep/17
Look at Sid James next to Robin Askworth or Terry Scott who are both 5ft 10. They both look only 1 inch taller then Sid. Sid was definitely 5ft 9.

Arch Stanton said on 15/May/17
@PAUL, I saw more a 1.5 inch diff between James and Williams and James and Dale. 5 ft 11 for Jim Dale is too high, but I agree at times he could give the impression of a decent 5 ft 10 range. If you watch him in Carry on Doctor for instance he could pull off looking a tallish guy. I think Williams was under 5 ft 7 as he was edged out by Hawtrey and only looked an inch taller than Jacques in films like Carry on Camping. Williams at 5'6.75, James at 5'8 and Jim Dale at 5'9.5 is just about believable I think.

PAUL said on 25/Apr/17
Kenneth Williams was 5FT 7. That is correct and spot on. Now look at the carry on film - DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD. Look in the film at Sid James and Kenneth Williams about to do a duel and they are back to back. You can not get any closer than that and Sid James is easily 2 inches taller than Williams. Jim dale was actually 5FT 11 in his prime. And Jim Dale was always 2 inches taller than Sid James And Jim Dale easily looked 4 inches taller than Kenneth Williams.

Arch Stanton said on 23/Apr/17
Nah, if he was any taller Jim Dale was over 5 ft 10! A solid 5 ft 8, doubt he dipped under it though. A Rob height listing is possible but I would never guess about 5 ft 9.
Good actor but cocky, reminds me of that very confident **** of an uncle when you visit the family who rips the piss out of you and everybody and sits there in the chair winking with an annoying grin on his face haha.

Terry said on 19/Apr/17
I thought he was taller, looked 5'10 in carry on films to me. I'm surprised. Cool actor.

PAUL said on 7/Apr/17
Sid James was actually 5 foot nine. The proof? Look at the film TOO MANY CROOKS with George Cole ( Who is 5 foot 8 and a half) Sid James is clearly a bit taller than Cole.

Sandy Cowell said on 28/Oct/16
Loads of girls in my class at school loved Sid James for some reason or other! The only one I can comprehend is that he was a lovely, funny uncle-type figure.
Years later I found out that my Dad used to see him down his local and drink with him. He was as one would expect - a 5ft 8 bundle of fun and laughter!

Sandy Cowell said on 28/Oct/16
Loads of girls in my class at school loved Sid James for some reason or other! The only one I can comprehend is that he was a lovely, funny uncle-type figure.
Years later I found out that my Dad used to see him down his local and drink with him. He was as one would expect - a 5ft 8 bundle of fun and laughter!

Tom said on 24/Aug/15
I've watched a lot of Carry On Films lately. He always has an inch or two over Kenneth Williams. Either Williams was a bit under 5' 7 or James was over 5' 8.

Terence said on 19/Jan/15
In the Lavender Hill Mob he's not much different than Alec Guinness who is listed here as 5 feet 9. Stanley Holloway looked taller than him, Rob would you add him? he's listed 5 feet 7 by other websites.