How tall was Ava Gardner

Ava Gardner's Height

5ft 5 ½ (166.4 cm)

American Actress, best remembered for roles in movies such as The Killers, On the Beach, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Show Boat, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Barefoot Contessa, The Angel Wore Red, Seven Days in May, Earthquake and The Night of the Iguana. She was Mentioned in newspapers during her heyday as standing 5ft 5.5 (which she claimed herself), with vital statistics of Bra/Bust 37 inches, waist 22 inches, Hips 37 inches and a shoe size of 6. A screentest once had her details as 5ft 6 and weight of 118 pounds.

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Add a Comment51 comments

Average Guess (17 Votes)
5ft 5.56in (166.5cm)
Arch Stanton said on 1/Sep/21
18 inch waist?? I wouldn't have thought that low. She always looked healthy to me, looking like a tall woman there Click Here
Rainee said on 21/Aug/21
Ava was 5’6 and a half according to measurements taken at age 30. Her waist was 18 inches NOT 22. She had the smallest frame and waist in Hollywood. A magnificent beauty , graceful, witty, charming…truly bewitching the likes of which we will never see in this world again!
Arch Stanton said on 27/Jun/21
No photo Rob?? That's a shame!!
Orlando said on 2/May/21
Aged 19, she stated she was 5' 5.5" (1.6637 m) tall and weighted 118 lbs (53.5 kg) according to "Ava Gardner's Completed Questionnaire for Employment at MGM, 1941" Click Here
Editor Rob
yeah Hong had linked to the questionnaire previously. It's a fair claim for her.
Hong said on 1/Mar/21
Click Here
Nowhan Bally said on 9/Nov/20
I give her a perfect 5'6. The most beautiful height ever for the most beautiful woman ever
Arch Stanton said on 2/Jul/20
Victorius 5'10 1/2 said on 10/Dec/19
Unarguably, the most beautiful actress ever!!! She could look as tall as Grace Kelly in Mogambo

If I could name one woman I could spend the night with from the Golden period is would definitely be Ava, closely followed by Kim Novak. Now Jean Simmons, Liz Taylor, Yvonne de Carlo and Jane Russell were smoking but Ava just had that sensual aura about her, Frank Sinatra knew it too!

There's a photo you can use there Rob Click Here, she's too attractive not to photograph!
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Jan/20
Ava will have been in her early 50s when she appeared in 'The Sentinel', so she can't have been far away from 5ft5.5 then. I'm watching that film right now and using her as a measuring tool to see how tall Cristina Raines is, who is playing the main female star in this. I'd say that, considering there's a clip where the two women wear the same heel-heighted shoes, Cristina is about 5ft7.5-5ft8. She plays a model with a disturbing past and Ava is showing her round a scary-looking apartment.

Ava gets 5ft5.5. 😁💐
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 24/Dec/19
Ava would today be celebrating her 97th Birthday. I was heartbroken to read that she died on my Birthday, the 25th January, 1990, aged only 67.

I give this Golden Great 5ft5.5.

RIP Ava Gardner XXX 🕯️
Victorius 5'10 1/2 said on 10/Dec/19
Unarguably, the most beautiful actress ever!!! She could look as tall as Grace Kelly in Mogambo
Sandy Cowell said on 7/Mar/18
I remember reading an article about Ava, amongst others, in a slimming magazine when I was 15. Other than that, my introduction to her amazing on-screen presence wasn't until Saturday last, when I saw her in the film 'The Sentinel'!

I was really excited to see her in such a thrilling film and it jolted me into wondering what else she might be in, but until I do find that one out, here are my observations on her height:

I put her 'about 5ft6', and seeing that she is 5ft5.5, I am very pleased with that! Given her enormous screen presence, and I SO don't say that lightly, it is easy to take someone as a little taller!

5ft5.5 it is!
Marquis said on 17/Sep/17
Looked about 5'6". And probably was the most gorgeous Hollywood actress of all-time...
Fred Wheeler said on 1/Sep/17
The Stars of Yesteryear...Gone...All Gone...
Arch Stanton said on 1/Jun/17
I forget that she lived in London in later years. If I was a retired celeb with that sort of money I'd buy my own little Caribbean island or some quaint spot on the Hawaiian or Californian coast away from the big cities!
Editor Rob
the whole element of respecting privacy and invasion in public has gone through the roof with celebrities, compared to that Golden Era.

With these massive lenses a photographer can be a mile away and still get bikini shots without you having a clue they were taken!
Arch Stanton said on 1/Jun/17
Ava in 1946 - 1954 period, particularly, 1949-51 era she was a goddess, definitely among the elite of screen beauties. I'm not surprised Sinatra was obsessed with her and married her at her peak beauty, I would have been besotted too! Her "loose" personality no doubt added to her appeal, she knew how to have a good time, though had a violent temper and swore like a trooper by all accounts, you'd not have wanted to be in the adjacent hotel room when she was arguing with people!.
Maria Ekaterina said on 9/Mar/17
My neighbor who used to live in Knightsbridge, near her flat and saw her a few times told me that she wasn't a tall woman at all, 5'4 range and I actually saw many picture with Ava and Lana Turner together and in most of them they look the same height, I think Lana might have been around 2,3cm shorter than Ava and @Rob you have Lana listed at 1,61cm. Ava was the most beautiful woman who ever appeared on screen, so much glamour and striking in her 20s
Maria Ekaterina said on 9/Mar/17
My neighbor who used to live in Knightsbridge, near her flat and saw her a few times told me that she wasn't a tall woman at all, 5'4 range and I actually saw many picture with Ava and Lana Turner together and in most of them they look the same height, I think Lana might have been around 2,3cm shorter than Ava and @Rob you have Lana listed at 1,61cm. Ava was the most beautiful woman who ever appeared on screen, so much glamour and striking in her 20s
Arch Stanton said on 2/Oct/16
If you had one word to describe Ava it would be "sensual" I think. Vivien Leigh "volatile", Jean Simmons "saucy" and Grace Kelly "graceful"!
Arch Stanton said on 2/Oct/16
Like Monroe, was in that range when for the period could look a tallish lady in heels and right camera angle.
Arch Stanton said on 18/Jun/16
Yeah I've sene it Shadow, it's quite a good film. Travers could look a strong 6 ft 5 with Granger.
Shadow2 said on 30/Jun/15
Has anyone seen "Bhowani Junction" with Ava, Travers, and Granger? Travers seems about four inches taller than Granger, and I agree with our collective estimations on Travers' height. Re. Sidney Poitier, I had only just seen him in "They call me Mister Tibbs" and he looked 6' 3" in scenes with Martin Landau, but Landau's real height is often confusing. (I hadn't checked Poitier's 6' 2.5" listing here.)
Arch Stanton said on 27/Jun/15
Shadow2 says on 25/Jun/15
Ava still looked great in 1957's "The Little Hut" with Niven and Granger, and 1956's "Bhowani Junction" with Granger and Bill Travers.

She stayed sexy of course, I wouldn't have said no to Ava even on New Year's Eve 1989 put it that way! Vivien Leigh on the other hand by her last years I'm rather doubtful!!
Arch Stanton said on 27/Jun/15
Poitier wasn't a full 6 ft 3 though Shadow, in fact in some films he could look in 6'2-6'2.25 range. He could look 190 ish with Glenn Ford though. I think Rob's 6'2.5 is fine for him. Travers most likely around 6'4.5 possibly 195cm.
Shadow2 said on 25/Jun/15
Ava still looked great in 1957's "The Little Hut" with Niven and Granger, and 1956's "Bhowani Junction" with Granger and Bill Travers. Rob, how tall do you think Bill Travers was? He looks in the 6' 4.5" to 6' 5" range but not quite the 6' 6" sometimes given on-line. In "Duel at Diablo" Travers seems about two inches taller than 6' 3" Sidney Poitier, and four inches taller than James Garner. Perhaps Travers (more famous for "Born Free") should get a page here Rob?
Arch Stanton said on 18/Jun/15
She really aged sooo quickly though, she was smoking hot in the early 50s, and while she returned her sexiness, even by 1959 at the age of 37 in On the Beach she was looking near 50.
Arch Stanton said on 28/Feb/15
This is a great read BTW. Click Here What a little s**t Mickey Rooney was, lucky little devil. Still, some of the personal lives of some of these Golden Hollywood stars really are quite seedy, it is quite surprising. More so than today, and most of us think of society as prim and proper in those days! Hollywood must have been perceived by Christian America in those days as a sort of hell hole or sin city haha!
Arch Stanton said on 28/Feb/15
One could cite Gene Tierney, Hedy Lamarr, Grace Kelly, Paulette Goddard and a few others in the beauty stakes of course, but Ava was certainly right up there among them. Just not sure though she was quite the prettiest facially, it's certainly disputable.
Arch Stanton said on 28/Feb/15
For me yes she might have been the sexiest screen actress, even more so than Liz, Simmons, Leigh and Novak although it's disputable. I'm not sure on the most beautiful actress though, there were prettier actresses facially I think.
Arch Stanton said on 28/Feb/15
Her voice was also especially hot and sensual, the sexiest voice of an actress of that period IMO.
ArjunaKorale said on 2/Jul/14
In her prime, this woman was so lovely & striking (I'm talking purely physically, of course) that she may even rank as the most beautiful screen actress of all time (if such a thing is possible!). I always thought of her as a full 5 ft 6 (168 cm) so I can absolutely accept 5 ft 5.5, lol!
Sam said on 19/Jun/14
Agreed that Paltrow in particular is quite annoying with her health-obsessed, hippie-ish life style, mainly because she rubs in everyone's face with a condescending manner. Gardner would have been a lot more fun to be around, but Paltrow will probably age well like her mom has. In her day, Ava was better than any other actress I can think of in making you think dirty thoughts with just a raise of eyebrow..
littlesue said on 16/Jun/14
With her lifestlyle I'm not surprised, her and Liz enjoyed their self with food, drink, sunshine and men!! more refreshing than today's diet obsessed stars like Kidman and Paltrow
Arch Stanton said on 13/Jun/14
She aged so prematurely though. I mean in 55 Days in Peking you'd think she was only 40, looked more early 50s.
Arch Stanton said on 5/Jun/14
Rob can you add Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, Show Boat, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Barefoot Contessa, The Angel Wore Red, Seven Days in May and Earthquake?
Arch Stanton said on 5/Jun/14
Yeah when you think classic Hollywood you picture her as Pandora or in the early 50s as the icon of Golden Hollywood. More than Marilyn or Liz although they come close and also could claim it.
Gonzalo said on 4/Jun/14
Arguably the most beautiful woman to ever appear on the screen. She looked around 1´66 as Editor Rob has stated
littlesue said on 11/May/14
She was gorgeous in her younger days though a bit skinny, can't see her being more than 5ft 6 though.
Arch Stanton said on 11/May/14
Although barefoot on the boat next to Mason in shoes who would have been about 6 ft in them she looked about 6 inches shorter, so yeah 5'5.5"-5'6" is a good shout.
Arch Stanton said on 10/May/14
Looks close to 5 ft 7 actually in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, managed to find it after all, very difficult to find! Worth watching for her alone, she was amazing looking in the early 50s. Iconic. Those lips, jeez!!
Evana said on 26/May/11
I met her in 1953 and she was taller than me and I am 5'8. She was (along with Rita Hayworth) the most gorgeous and sexy woman and tall. Beautiful eyes! a green-orange color they were. she was very witchy but nice.
Kate said on 24/Nov/10
My grandfather used to make her shoes sometimes.
east meets west said on 4/Apr/09
I knew Ava briefly through a mutual friend some 30 years ago and she was not taller than me. I am 5'4" (although I may have been half an inch taller back then) and she was about the same height or slightly shorter.
east meets west said on 4/Apr/09
I knew Ava briefly through a mutual friend many years ago. I am 5'4" and she was about the same height, certainly no more than 1'2 an inch taller than that. By the way, she was very sweet and charming - almost motherly - towards me, even if she did sometimes have a somewhat fiery reputation.
Anonymous said on 22/Dec/08
my dad met ava once at the airport, he told me she was even shorter than me, I
ck said on 16/Oct/08
First husband Mickey Rooney claimed in his bio that Ava Gardner was 5'1" - yeah right! I don't know why, who does he think he was fooling??? Sinatra's valet wrote a book and described her as 5'7". 5'5"-5'6" is about right I think.
Isabella said on 19/Aug/08
She was not 5.5" -- She was behind me in checkout line in the Ralphs supermarket on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood in the 1970s. We spoke for several minutes (she was with her female assistant). I'm 5'7.5 and the top of her head barely made it to my shoulder. She was tiny, like Jacquelyn Smith tiny. Remember, in movies Ava could wear high heels.
antonio said on 7/May/08
i agree gonzalo,ava was the most beautiful woman i've ever seen.
Gonzalo said on 15/Dec/06
Yes, 5`5 or 5`6 sounds reasonable. She was the most beautiful woman to ever appear on the screen. And a good actress too.
mauiswift said on 5/Dec/06
I think she was about 5'4 to 5'5, Sinatra was about 5'6 to 5'7 and I have seen that photo of them walking on their honeymoon in Miami in 1951, and they were barefoot. She does not appear to be only an inch shorter than him. Sinatra in his earlier days used to add 4 inches to his height. In his army record, it states he was 5'7.
Anonymous said on 31/Oct/06
yes, I agree, and she was really beautiful and the love of Frank's life, too.
Regus said on 29/Sep/06
The one, the only. Yeah that seems about right, look at all those shots of her and Frank Sinatra together, he was maybe 5-8 or so, not that much taller than her.

Heights are barefeet estimates, derived from quotations, official websites, agency resumes, in person encounters with actors at conventions and pictures/films.

Other vital statistics like weight or shoe size measurements have been sourced from newspapers, books, resumes or social media.

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