Frank2 says on 3/Aug/08
A.C. Lyles who I've known since I was a wee lad and was good friends with Cagney told me he was about 5'5".

AG, NYC says on 1/Aug/08
Watch Cagney in 'Angels With Dirty Faces' in scenes with Bogie (who was 5'8") and Bogie towers over him. Cagney was about 5'6".

Frank2 says on 31/Jul/08
Nope. Cagney was at best 5'5".

john o'neill says on 30/Jul/08
at his prime james cagney stood 5'8,according to ralph bellamy.he also said that cagney would look like a giant compared to most of the stars today.he seemed shorter in his day because leading men like gable,cooper,stewart,wayne,bellamy,etc all were several inches over 6'with gable being the shortest at 6'2.

BREWZER says on 10/Jul/08
ON HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE IS CLEARLY READS 5' 3" IN THE HEIGHT BOX

JOSH says on 15/Jun/08
Richard harris said he was only 5ft 5-6 when he starred with him in an irish film.

Aimie says on 31/May/08
Actually that is considered short today but I read that back in the 70's the average height for the American male was 5'6'' to 5'7''. Back in the 30's when this fine actor was in his prime, he probably was just considered of average height. He certainly is one of the actors with the strongest presences on screen. I love him.

glenn says on 16/Apr/08
wow.had no clue on this guy.i wouldve guessed 5-8.and i think i read that too.then again,when i think about it,he did look shorter at times.

Manitobaboy says on 15/Apr/08
Michael J. Fox once said his favourite actor was Cagney and he wanted to meet him before he (Cagney) died. By then Cagney was 86 but Fox said they were pretty much the same height then. If Fox was 5'4.5" in 1986, Cagney could have been 5'5" - 5'6" in his prime.

Seb says on 5/Feb/08
In his autobiography 'Cagney on Cagney' (1976) he talks about how other people were always asking about his height. He reckoned that his wife had to look up to him and that he was at least 5'8". I was not convinced then nor am I now of that height. But there's where they got that height from. 5'5" sound right to me. Pleasant enought book though.

addie says on 6/Jan/08
On TCM, the other day, in a little bio on James Cagney, his height was given as 5' 8". I got hysterical. They must have gotten that figure from an old studio publicity file or something. The man was almost too talented, so I was not laughing at him, just at someone who would report that height, for him, as fact, he wasn't any 5'8', for Pete's sake!
A 1986 article had him at 5'8.5"?? Are you trying to kill me? Maybe, in his heeled tap shoes, with lifts??
But I don't remember him being taller than any of the actresses in "Yankee Doodle Dandy", when he wore those shoe. I'll have to watch it again.

Mr. T says on 17/Jul/07
Yeah, he was small-shouldered and rarely ever close to his co-stars in height. Still a tough **** and a great actor.

patrick says on 13/Feb/07
Small but not "short" which is pelorative in my opinion; J. Cagney was "giant" and much tougher than so many biger guys above all, from today!
Like E.G Robinson or even UNDERATED Alan Ladd, J. Cagney was able to act anything and ALWAYS more than credible.
He didn't need to be "a standard" nor being handsome or tall or this or that to be what he was: one of the greatest actor (and man) ever!

Frank2 says on 3/Mar/06
If it was true that he was 5ft 8.5 then co-stars like Bogart and Raft were giants! My best guess is that Cagney was around five five, no more.

sam says on 15/Aug/05
I read in his biography that he was once listed as 5'6 1/2" and once measured as 5'8 1/2", and they were both exactly one inch off: that he was 5'7 1/2". Don't know if this is true.