How tall was Tony Curtis

Gerald S said on 27/Aug/23
Agreed Rob, so can we please roll with 5’10.5” for Keenan Wynn?

Gerald S said on 26/Aug/23
Rob, Curtis must have been in heels in that film. See him with the "taller" Jack Lemmon below!

Click Here

Therefore, 5'10.5" for Keenan Wynn still stands in my opinion, although Frank2 stated he met Wynn on the Jerry Lewis page and said Wynn was no taller than 5'10". Wynn never seemed as low as a flat 5'10" to me on film.

Gerald S said on 25/Aug/23
Rob, can you please add a page for his THE GREAT RACE co-star, Keenan Wynn?

Wynn remains one really big Hollywood name missing from your site to rectify; he appeared in so many classic films (Dr. Strangelove, Point Blank, Herbie Rides Again, The Absent Minded Professor, The Mechanic, Nashville, Once Upon a Time in the West). He typically cleared 5’10” even in his old age but always fell a little short of 5’11”; Wynn did not seem much taller than Curtis in The Great Race.

Gerald S said on 13/May/23
Rob, please add Curtis and Charles Bronson to the Classic Hollywood Actors tag.

Sandy Cowell said on 9/May/23
I saw a brilliant programme on Tony this morning. He’s the first man who stood up and said “I’m Spartacus!”

Then everybody joined in and the look on Kirk Douglas’s face was magical.

Yes, they were all willing to be crucified for the man who set them free!

Sandy Cowell said on 2/May/23
Tony sure starred in some excellent films. 👌🏼

5ft8.25.

Arch Stanton said on 15/Mar/23
Curtis was an easy inch taller than Charles Bronson in You Can't Win Em All and looked near an inch taller than Kirk Douglas in Spartacus I thought. I'm not sure on his footwear though.

Nicolas said on 9/Feb/23
Curtis looks sometimes 5 inches smaller than Roger

Slamo said on 25/Jan/23
5-8.5 peak. Heavy lifts in footwear

Bradley said on 22/Jan/23
Peak 5-9.

Sinclair said on 12/Sep/22
Rob, if you had to choose between 5'8.5" or 5'9" for Curtis, which one would you choose?

Sinclair said on 28/Jun/22
A policeman described Curtis’ character as six foot in an episode of The Persuaders! No wonder the description he was given, was a bit vague, as he called it.

Sinclair said on 26/May/22
5’8.5” could have been possible for Curtis. He looked around 5’10.5” in The Persuaders but his heels were about 2 inches. Little wonder he seemingly edged out Ian Hendry.

avi said on 24/May/22
@Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 28/Mar/17

You ever see the persuaders with Roger Moore?
Moore next to Curtis looked 3.5 inches taller if I recall.
I think Curtis was looking 5'10ish at times due to lifts of maybe 1-1.5 inches

I doubt Roger wore them
I think Curtis could be 5'8.5 I'll have to look again at the difference between them.

Sinclair said on 25/Feb/22
Rob, how tall would you say George Murcell was? 6’0”?

In an episode of the Persuaders! (Nuisance Value), Murcell has a couple of inches on heel-wearing Curtis and is only about an inch under Moore’s solid 6’1”. In Hell Drivers, Murcell also edges out 5’11” Stanley Baker.

Sinclair said on 11/Feb/22
5’8.75” peak is fine, 5’9” absolute max. In The Persuaders, Curtis wore approximately two inch heels and as a result looked comfortably over 5’10”.

Ian C. said on 7/Feb/21
Definitely wore lifts in Sweet Smell of Success. In his scenes with Burt Lancaster, he seems only an inch shorter.

Sinclair said on 14/Aug/20
Curtis generally fitted a flat 5’9” in all of his early projects, like Sweet Smell of Success, The Vikings, Some Like It Hot, Spartacus etc. I would not be surprised if Kirk Douglas and Jack Lemmon both edged out Curtis at peak. In The Persuaders! roughly four inches between Curtis and Roger Moore could have been the case. I recall Curtis was taller than Larry Storch and Laurence Naismith, amongst other guest stars on The Persuaders! Uneven ground in a scene from The Persuaders! made me think Curtis seemed even taller than Ian Hendry!

Tall Sam said on 16/Jul/20
Interesting his listing at a bit under the 5'9" mark. I would say he was edged by just a bit by Kirk Douglas but pretty close to a dead heat with Jack Lemmon. Jerry Lewis definitely had a comfortable amount of height on him and Curtis usually looked about 4 inches under Burt Lancaster.

Mark said on 10/Jan/18
Curtis never looked 5'9".

RisingForce said on 19/May/17
He's supposed to have claimed 5'9" in his 1993 autobiography and he actually looks close to it so this seems about right. Don't know about the lifts people keep mentioning with him, but it'd be worth looking at his shoes to see if there's anything to it.

Boomer said on 17/Apr/17
He looked about 5'5" in the film Arivaderchi Baby '66 He was playing a 16yo orphan at the beginning so perhaps they tried to make him look smaller.But his gf Nancy Kwan in the film is like 5'2" and he didn't look much taller next to her.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 28/Mar/17
If he wore lifts which would almost be expected of guys his height, he probably was hitting 5ft10+ zone with ease

Tone said on 3/Jun/16
I personally knew him years back. He was a mere 5'6" bare feet. What difference did it make. He was quite wonderful.

Larry said on 27/Oct/15
Curtis was too old to play Albert DeSalvo. He was 5'7" without the lifts he always wore.

Berci said on 26/Jul/15
Just saw Trapeze and he was shorter than Sid James who is listed at 5"7'. It doesn't stop him from being very watchable. Very underrated because of his popularity.

Arch Stanton said on 18/Jun/15
Pulls off looking about 5 ft 10 with Fonda in Sex and the Single Girl!!

Barker said on 27/Dec/14
Tony was almost but not quite, 5' 7" no shoes.

Realist said on 4/Nov/14
Rob watching Some like it hot very carefully, he is Jack Lemmon's height in formal shoes during the sailor scene when Lemmon says he is getting married. Lemmon is barefoot. I think he is 5'8 or 5'7.75. His deep voice could make him look 189 though (if no one saw him ;D ). Lemon is a legit 5'9 (minimum 5'8.75).

MAH said on 3/Aug/14
I stood next to him at a fencing competition in Las Vegas. It was a few years before he died. I think he was 5 ' 7" at the most if you count to the tips of his well coiffed hair.

littlesue said on 6/May/14
I would have said around 5ft 8 to 9, his one daughter Kelly very tall at 5ft 10

Arch Stanton said on 5/May/14
I think you're right actually to have gone sub 5'9" even if he didn't really look shorter than Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot. Lancaster looked between 4 and 5 inches taller in Trapeze. Lancaster at 6'1" flat which he consistently looked that would put Curtis at roughly 5'8.5" which would be my guess.

Arch Stanton said on 5/May/14
Looks more 5'8" actually next to Gina Lollobrigida and Burt Lancaster in Trapeze.

Arch Stanton said on 20/Apr/14
5'10.5 is certainly impossible. Poitier looks near 6 inches taller in The Defiant Ones. I don't think Curtis looked shorter than Lemmon in Some Like It Hot though and he did make Cary grant look 6 ft in Operation Petticoat. Did he ever wear lifts?

guyfrommars said on 28/Jul/13
5'8" in his prime, 5'7 or 5'6" in his older days.

Arch Stanton said on 22/May/13
4 inches shorter than Cary Grant in Operation Petticoat 5'8.5"-5'9" I'd guess, 5'8.75" looks spot on in my opinion.

dee said on 19/May/13
i seen tony curtis with farnk lovejoy they made a war p9ctuer togather he was a small man

Handbag Lover said on 27/Apr/13
Tony Curtis is lucky to be 5'-8" tall. He one of shorter actors in Hollywood. If you look closely you can see his 'lift shoes' in mnay films. Gorgeous man tho - beautiful face in his 1950's films.

guyfrommars said on 23/Mar/11
He could look short next to 6'1.5" Roger Moore in The Persuaders, but I don't think he was shorter than 5'8.5" in his younger days. Near his death, due to his health problems and his age he was closer to 5'6".

Mr. Kaplan said on 4/Feb/11
I'm glad he was upgraded! He was indeed about 5'9".

rob said on 2/Jan/11
Tony needs an upgrade. About an inch taller than jack lemmon who is 5,8. 5,9 for curtis

Anonymous said on 30/Dec/10
a weak 5'9. Always looked 5'9 next to Roger Moore who is 6'1. Moore was NOT 6'2. If he was 6'2 Curtis would be over 5'10.

Anonymous said on 30/Jun/09
There's an image of him with his wife. They stand on a staircase with Tony standing one or two stairs above his wife and they're the same height with this technique. His wife is wearing heels on the picture.

Jeff said on 21/Apr/09
I met Tony in the late '80s and stood talking with him for about 20 minutes. I am 6' even and he was shorter than me by at least a couple of inches, but I don't recall him being what I would call short. He was a very nice guy and very personable to talk to. He was with a very beautiful (and much younger) blonde girl. He was great in Operation Petticoat and a WWII submariner in real life.

Anonymous said on 13/Dec/08
He appeared recently on the Jonathan Ross show. In a wheelchair for part of the time he was able to walk on and off the set with assistance. Said his walking was imporoving all the time.

Frank2 said on 28/Aug/08
It seems Curtis suffered a debilitating stroke last year and lost the use of his legs.

Frank2 said on 27/Aug/08
Poor Tony is now confined to a wheelchair and as you can see from this photo, he no longer wears that awful white carpet on his head:

Click Here

At best his peak height was around 5'9". He was about an inch shorter than 5'10" Jerry Lewis in BOEING BOEING.

Mr. R said on 31/Jul/08
I saw he and his wife on Oscar night, and she is an Amazon! With heels, she must have been 6-3! Tony is about 5-7.

sf said on 31/Jul/08
Somebody remembers the Persuaders! I used to love that show as a kid, I don't know why...

Brad said on 31/Jul/08
He wore huge custom shoes on The Persuaders. I met him last year but he was in a wheel chair.

TJ said on 14/Jun/08
Why do you call him the old Crooner Rob? Tony was never a singer.

Marcelo C. said on 5/Oct/07
What´s happening, boys´n´girls.....? I see very few opinions ´bout such a Great Actor as Tony Curtis. I confess I was surprised at 5´8". I used to watch "The Persuaders", and really thought he was about 5´10". There was an episode where an actress describes Danny Wilde as an "atractive 6 ft. man".....

Maria said on 21/Nov/06
I used to work for Tony. I'd say 5'7 or 5'8 is about right. He's of medium height.

TR said on 15/Aug/06
I met Tony and his wife, Jill Vandenberg at the Hotel Del, Coronado Beach.
I am 5'11" and standing right next to them I was looking
down at Tony and up at Jill. Tony was wearing regular loafers and
I would estimate him to be 5'7 or 5'8' max. Jill was wearing
super sized heels, so without the heels I would still put her
between 5'11 & 6'. A very tall lady.

Azarea said on 27/Apr/06
how tall do u think his wife is rob?

Glenn said on 15/Jan/06
5-8 it is.

TJ said on 10/Jul/05
In his autobiography, he says that he is 5'9. He had a few inches on Marilyn in Some Like it Hot and she was 5'5. Perhaps he has lost an inch with age though.