How tall is Ted Cassidy

Halb said on 29/Apr/23
I'm surprised he's only 6'8".

Robbe said on 30/Jul/22
Ted appears exactly 6'8 if Jackie Coogan is 5'7 Click Here

Ted's head seems to be 11.5in range there. Like Rob said, pretty big noggin..

Tech noir said on 15/May/22
6-8 imo.

Toby Barrett said on 20/Apr/22
hey Rob Paul is 6 ft 9 possible?

Jerry (lurch) Casey said on 9/Nov/21
Definitely 6'9. Like me...

Ian Vector said on 15/Oct/21
He was definitely 6' 9".

Ian C. said on 24/Aug/21
Hello Sandy. I do know (casually) a man who is six foot nine. He was once a professional wrestler and is now a policeman. That is, he is athletic and strong. I asked his father if his son had ever considered his height to be a handicap, and the father said no.

But the guy is just huge. He's a friendly man but, in his early thirties, is unmarried. I would never dream of asking him about this, but I suspect that his astonishing size is a handicap in finding a mate.

On the other hand, being enormous when you're a policeman is clearly an advantage. The cops in the Canadian city where I live are all big guys. They don't hire any Al Pacinos in our police force.

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 15/Aug/21
@ Ian C - What an interesting and informative composition, provoking thoughts about a very tall actor who was typecast into playing roles befitting his height.

Whether he feels attractive or not, that is simply not the way most women would judge him. I've always felt that people of extreme heights must feel they stand out, which cannot be pleasant on the days they just want to pop out to do some shopping. Actors like tall Ted and very small ones should be thoroughly proud of having achieved stardom, regardless of whether their height has been the trigger.

Cheers Ian,

Sandy XXX 😁👌

6ft8. 🏆😀🎬

Ian C. said on 15/Aug/21
Cassidy was on record as saying that he didn't like any of the roles he played. This is an example of someone who was physically odd, and therefore limited to playing certain types of characters. Most of them weren't in any way like real people, and a lot of them were monsters.

Cassidy was only two inches taller than James Arness. Arness could be cast as a heroic leading man, but Cassidy had to accept roles as freaks and monsters. (Althughh admittedly Arness was handsome and Cassidy had a sight but noticeable facial deformity.) Two inches is a trivial difference in height when you're in the normal range Paul Newman was five foot nine and Elvis Presley was five foot eleven,, but they were similar in physical appeal and impact. Unfortunately, when you're at the margins at either end of the height range, two inches too short or too tall will disqualify you from consideration for many roles. There is quite a difference in physical impact between a man who is five foot seven and five foot five. In considerations of human height, there are naturally occurring thresholds and ceilings, and Cassidy was above the allowed ceiling.

Robbe said on 31/Jul/21
Ted might have been just 6'7 range. Here he appears 6'7.5 with John Astin, but John is not standing at his best Click Here

Looks slightly under 6'7 with 5'7 Jackie Coogan Click Here

Jackie's posture is also not so good there.

6'9 is definitely out of question for Ted. He was somewhere between 6'7/6'8.

Gail Hsusmann said on 31/Mar/21
Whatever happened to Ted Cassidy's ex Wife?
I grew up in the 1960's & loved Ted on
The Addams Family.....He had a great speaking voice & died much to uoung.

Chaos Control 6'2.5 said on 18/Mar/21
Costa said on 17/Apr/19
The funny thing about Cassidy, is not only his height, but how physically quick he was for a big man. I remember seeing him run up a flight of stairs and grab William Shatner in a Star Trek episode and I was like “whoa, that guy is quick for a big man”.

Yeah that’s what all the wrestling commentators say

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/Jul/20
Ted is only an inch taller than my tallest ever hairdresser, who was 6ft7, had dark brown hair and impeccable manners. He was only too happy to tell me how tall he was!

Ted Cassidy can have 6ft8 from me this morning. 🌄😉👍

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 13/May/19
I remember that episode Costa! You can catch all the old 'Star Trek' episodes on the Horror Channel - that's if you're British.

6ft8.5. The guy's a giant, with a voice to match - very theatrical! 🎭

Costa said on 17/Apr/19
The funny thing about Cassidy, is not only his height, but how physically quick he was for a big man. I remember seeing him run up a flight of stairs and grab William Shatner in a Star Trek episode and I was like “whoa, that guy is quick for a big man”.

Ian C. said on 28/Aug/18
I wonder if there is a strong correlation between height and depth of voice. Cassidy's voice was like one of those Russian opera guys in its depth and power, and it makes you wonder if pituitary giantism produces correspondingly large larynxes. Richard Kiel's voice is similarly deep.

Ruben mejia said on 7/Jul/18
There is some similarities with him and Tony Robbins. With Ted being a few inches Taller. But similiar in facial structures and general builds. 6 foot 9 sounds good as Lurch he was Towering

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 9/Jun/18
204cm is arguable

176cm guy said on 26/Mar/18
Hey Rob, do you think it's possible that Ted might have dealt with Acromegaly? Some parts in his facial features seem to show signs that he may have dealt with it which may be the reason why he is so tall.

Logan said on 2/Feb/18
I say 6'9"

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 18/Jan/18
Rob, how about you spice things up and go with 6ft8⅛?

Junior said on 23/Oct/17
I don't think Ted Cassidy was 6'9 like some visitors say. Maybe at most 6'8.25" and more like a legit 6'8 to what i have see him enough. His gigantic features and that 10.5-10.75" long head in length might have give impression being taller.

Height Sky said on 10/Oct/17
6'7 is trash for Ted, under 6'8" is maybe impossible and over that is possible

tree said on 28/Sep/17
Editor Rob: he was given 6ft 7, 8 and 9, I've read them all, but actually I am not so sure he was as tall as I thought.
A downgrade in the near future?
I can't find a pic or scene where he really looks 6ft9

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 22/Sep/17
Rob, what made you go with the 6ft9 over 6ft7?

Usually I would have thought you'd always go with lowest figure that a celeb has been described at. Personally I do think he was closer to 6ft9

even said on 24/Jul/17
at least 205 cm

hunt said on 2/Jul/17
Too bad he wasn't 7 feet tall he would look like this Click Here
That guy next to the statue is 5ft6.5 Tom Savini

Logan said on 29/May/17
I think he is 6,9

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 24/May/17
6ft7-8 is too low...

Lurch said on 9/Mar/17
Yes thats always been my nick name. Ted was 6'9 and always listed as 6'9. Why would people say 6'7 or 6'8? Just to be difficult?

S.J.H said on 25/Jan/17
Ted Cassidy had some american southern accent same as one of my father side uncle who was german-american. I believe his at least 6'8

Shadow2 said on 31/May/15
Ted appeared in the TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies" but almost all his scenes were with actors no more than 5' 10" in height (to accentuate Ted's character's size). It is only in the very last scene that there is a momentary comparison with 6' 3" Buddy Ebsen and 6' 4" Max Baer Jnr. Ted seems clearly a minimum three inches taller than Max but certainly not five inches.

josey wales said on 8/May/15
Im currently watching the dvd serious for fun. Eithout a doubr my favourite adams character and a bug guy. Big hands. Strong to in how he sometimes lift people without much effort. But i myst say in alot of scenes he doesnt quite tower the others as much as i expect a 6'9 feller would. I think 6'7" but not less

Ian C. said on 28/Sep/14
An interesting question might be, was Cassidy's height a blessing or a curse? He had a small career in show business drawing roles that required giants, which was a good thing, but his height probably affected his health as he aged, and would certainly have been a social handicap in his everyday life. Being 6 foot 9 would have been even worse than being morbidly obese. People aren't reflexively afraid of fat people, but enormously tall people frequently cause alarm. I'm only 6 foot 4, and I once got moved out of a job I was good at, because it was thought that my height was intimidating customers. I thought they were kidding when they told me that, but they weren't.

Ian C. said on 16/Oct/13
Cassidy's height was almost certainly the result of a pituitary abnormality. His face seems distorted somehow. He does look strong and athletic. He looks heroic with his shirt off in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

avi said on 11/Aug/13
I believe he had acromelagy . It said he died of complications due to his size. He was probably very close to 6'9.

Mathew said on 7/Jan/13
@Arch Stanton: He seems to have very small feet for his height in that photo, and does look quite tall there.

Arch Stanton said on 8/Dec/12
Click Here

Looks near this. In that photo he defines "imposing", looks like a bigger Dolph Lundgren in that photo.

matt789 said on 26/Jul/12
6 foot 8 to me seems more correct but at that height he's still going to tower over almost everybody

Shadow2 said on 10/Jun/12
The previous post (29 Dec) links to a photograph supposedly of Ted in "The Monkees". Ted was never in that show, the photograph is of the much taller Richard Kiel with the Monkees.

fricanman said on 29/Dec/11
Ted was an easy 6'9" would be my guess, that's why he was cast if the kind of roles he was. Compare hie Lurch (played in what look like normal shoes) to Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, the producers felt the need to put 6'5" Fred in 4"ish block shoes to make him tower above everyone else, not so for Ted.
You have to remember Ted was not just an unusually tall guy he was an "acromegalic giant", his growth caused by a fault in his pituitary gland. This would have caused his hands, feet, ears, nose and facial bones to continue growing, giving the characteristic 'look' also seen in Richard Kiel and Andre the Giant.
Best comparison pic I kind find is from the Monkees where he dwarfs 5'8" Peter Tork by at least a foot. Remember Mike Nesmith (in the foreground, so not so close to Ted)was the tallest Monkee at peak 6'1"!
Click Here

G-Ray said on 31/Jul/11
Ted was 6'9 wheb he played basketball in the 50's at Stetson and worked as a lifeguard in the Daytona Beach area.

avi said on 10/Apr/11
When you get to the heights of 6'5 1/2-6'10ish it is easy to exagerate and inflate height by 2 - 3 inches. the simple fact is most humans are between 5'0-6'2. so a 6'7 man claiming 6'9 or 6'10 isnt as outrageous as it may seem. a 6'1 man claiming 6'4 is unbelievable.

Shaun said on 23/Mar/11
Click Here

A rare photo of him as a young man barefoot on a beach while he was a lifeguard. C'mon he aint under 6'7" Lord Zeus. To me he looks a genuine 6 ft 8-6 ft 9". What do you think Rob? I know we don't know the other people's heights but in terms of proportions he does look close to this I think, I'd say 6 ft 8 barefoot.

Shadow2 said on 17/Jan/11
After seeing Ted in an episode of 1972's "Banecek" last night, I think he was 6'7" max. There is a long scene where he walks alongside 6' George Peppard on flat ground, with both of them wearing flat heeled shoes. Peppard's eyes are at Ted's shoulder level, not the huge difference in height I was expecting to see. In the "Addams Family", Ted never really towered over tall guest actors such as 6'3" Frank Wilcox and (near) 6'2" Richard Deacon. And he may have used lifts to make "Lurch" look more imposing. I've seen him many times in normal roles playing the imposing "big guy", and he never seemed 6'9". He did good work in his "short" career, dying at just 46.

guyfrommars said on 24/Dec/10
Robert Justman and Herb Solow wrote in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story that "the built-up Cassidy stood 7 feet tall" (in the episode What are Little Girls Made Of?).

Looking at his footwear in the episode, those extra 3 inches are quite noticable:
Click Here

Polo said on 30/Jun/09
I have a photo of Ted next to my father - both in swim trunks in Florida

My father was a life guard- He spoke fondly of Ted

Of course being a kid of the 60's and having a dad who knew "Lurch" was cool

RIP big guy

I was told he also

Anonymous said on 20/Jun/09
He had a great voice. It made Lee Marvin sound like a soprano !

BIGGUY65 said on 11/Nov/08
i think that tall people are the superior people, we the best

Liberachi said on 10/Nov/08
My great uncle met Ted in 1964. My uncle was about 6'2 at the time. When he was introduced by an old friend he shook his hand ad it literally wrapped around my uncle's hand! Ted towered over him by 7inches. But he was very nice. 6'9 is pretty accurate

jopagi said on 15/Sep/08
Ted used to sometimes hang out in a Highland Park (L.A.) coffee shop named RJ's on the corner of York and Figueroa blvd. He was hot for a waitress who worked there and would stare down anyone who looked at her but he never said a word to anyone. He caught me staring at him once and I was scared as hell and thought I might explode or something. I was only 5 or 6 years old.

Bob Stevens said on 13/Aug/08
Back in the early 1950s, I was a student at Stetson University in Deland, FL, at the same time Ted Cassidy was a student there. Ted was 6' 9" tall, one of two players the same height on the Stetson basketball team. He had a close friend there who was about 5' 9" tall and I saw Ted being carried around campus one day on the shoulders of his friend, a really strange sight. One day I was in the campus soda shop when Ted was there. He was sitting at the opposite end of the shop with some friends and, although he seemed to be talking in a normal conversational voice, I could hear the deep rumble of his voice above everything else in the room; his voice was so distinctive. He was very active in the Deland Little Theatre (which was located on campus) and I saw him act and sing in the musical "Carousel" while I was there. Also, I was at a fraternity party one night and heard him sing "Begin the Beguine", dressed in a white dinner jacket, quite a striking sight (and sound!). I understand that he died immediately after or during heart surgery and was buried in the back yard of his home at that time, although I'm not sure about the burial information. He played in a lot more movies than I think a lot of people are aware, including his TV gigs. I have pictures of him in my college yearbook, including pictures in his basketball uniform, an imposing sight!

Frank2 said on 6/Aug/08
Back in the mid-1970s I saw him one day walking past me at Universal Studios. He was so large that I felt like a child. Not only was he very tall, he was big boned to the point where he looked sort of unnatural. I've been around people his height such as Michael Crichton who I worked with on WESTWORLD. I never got that feeling with him. He's also very tall, but not huge like Cassidy was.

ALNA70 said on 13/Mar/08
The bartender in the commercial is Ted Cassidy.

bela said on 11/Mar/08
JT says on 11/Feb/08
"Ted Cassidy (on a platform) with Wilt. Cassidy was around 6'9"."

That's Richard Kiel, not Ted Cassidy.

DTC said on 22/Feb/08
We just saw Ted on an episode of the Beverly Hill Billies and he was a whole head over Max Bear and Buddy Epson.

JT said on 11/Feb/08
Ted Cassidy (on a platform) with Wilt Click Here Cassidy was around 6'9".

D-lurker said on 10/Feb/08
hahaha, it gets worse for me doesn't it :)..Im sorry i actually saw d.rays comment as a standalone in the latest 50 comments section, and thought it was slightly odd :), which by then i had forgotten about your clever david joke..My apoligies!!.

sf said on 9/Feb/08
D-lurker - Ted Kennedy is who D. Ray is joking about..

sf said on 9/Feb/08
Sorry, D. Ray - I dropped the ball! I don't know if anyone else got it...

D-lurker said on 9/Feb/08
I enjoyed the david cassidy joke..I should have made the connection :)

D. Ray Morton said on 8/Feb/08
Pictures of TC with anyone seem near-impossible to come by, so he's really hard to judge. But he always looked so much taller than everyone on the show that I'd err on the side of 6'9", if not taller.

sf - We've got to stick together here. I'll laugh at your sharp-witted-but-poorly-received play on names if you laugh at mine. ;)

D-lurker said on 7/Feb/08
D-ray, Ted died in the seventies, so its quite unlikely he was able to support obama's campaign

D. Ray Morton said on 7/Feb/08
The immortal Lurch. I always thought he looked around 7-feet. But when you get up that high, the numbers no longer matter. "F***ing tall" would suffice just fine for a listing on this guy.

On another note, I was shocked when he endorsed Barack Obama.

sf said on 1/Feb/08
I've always heard 6'9". Yet, his son, David Cassidy, is only 5'6".

WTF???? Okay, trying to be funny..

Big Show said on 1/Feb/08
He always looked like a big hulking guy. In the Addams Family he probably wore big shoes to make him taller, but in the movie MacKenna's Gold he did look like 5 or 6 inches taller than 6'3 Gregory Peck.