Manitobaboy says on 18/Apr/08
Those are fair to impressive heights based on today's standards. In the 19th C. they would have been notably tall. What's you source for this?

larry says on 3/Apr/06
Frank2 - Sorry about the late reply. "Camping out" with slaves... er, I mean: GRADUATE STUDENTS in Montana now. Oh, post DIVORCE ire, huh! :-) Dan Daily?! That's a SCREAM!!! And Daily was a dancer too (unlike Jeff). Yep: saw a screening of the new THE ALAMO IN San Antonio with my daughter. OK, it was more historically accurate AS FAR AS ANYONE KNOWS. It didn't play well in San Antonio EXCEPT with the historians BECAUSE (in this version) David Crockett was taken alive, then executed. I liked it, BUT I like the John Wayne movie too (even though I know some of the history was dubious). Of course I grew up with Fess Parker (all 6'5" plus) swinging away at the end! But Billy Bob did (IMO) a good job of portraying the man BEHIND the bigger than life legend. BTW: "Col" Crockett NEVER believed his own BS - he was supposed to have been a funny guy. He also was probably about 5'10" to 6' tall in real life. Don't know HOW tall Billy Bob Thornton is. In MY opinion as a South Texan AND a history buff the best movie version was THE LAST COMMAND with Sterling Hayden, Richard Calson, and Ernest Borgnine. Just to kind of stay on topic the heights of the main participants in the battle of The Alamo are NOW thought to be:
David Crockett - 5'11", 180 pounds
William Travis - 6'0", 170 pounds
James Bowie - 6'1", 190 pounds (though much thinner at the time of his death)
James Bonham - 6'2", 185 pounds
Santa Anna - 5'10", 175 pounds (yes, he was described as that height many times)

larry says on 2/Apr/06
Thank you Frank2! :-) a 6'3" cross-dresser? Must have looked like Tugboat Annie!!! The Thimblerig character Conreid played played was based on a historical character: James Erastis Stewart. He was played by Denver Pyle in John Wayne's THE ALAMO. SUPPOSEDLY he was an ancestor of ours. But EVERYONE in Texas claims they had an ancestor who died at the Alamo! :-) If they'd had that many men they would have won!

Frank2 says on 1/Apr/06
Jeff Chandler was 6'3". (not in heels! Hahahahahaha!) Buddy Ebson was also 6'3". I met him on the set of The Beverly Hillbillies. Hans Conreid was a good friend of my family and I saw him frequently. He was about 6'2". And for those who still think Danny Thomas was nearly 6', please check out one of the episodes of Make Room For Daddy where Conreid played Danny's Uncle Tonoose and you'll see quite clearly that Thomas was just 5'10" Conreid is a good four inches taller.

I'd say that Fess Parker was closer to 6'6". He wasn't much shorter than James Arness in Them.

larry says on 1/Apr/06
That movie was called THE JAYHAWKERS. Fess looked 2-3 inches taller than Jeff Chandler, but how tall was Jeff Chandler? Where's Frank2? Also Fess looked at least 2" taller than Budy Ebsen and Hans Conreid in the DAVY CROCKETT series. Weren't they both 6' 2 or 3"?