Lucille Ball Height

richinkle says on 19/Nov/11
65 year old Lucille Ball starred with 39 year old Shirley MacLaine in a 1976 tv special, and stands at least an inch taller when the two are dancing side by side, in equal heels.
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Ball often leaned on one foot when standing, taking an inch or two off her height. But when she danced she usually stood straight and tall, which is when you notice most clearly her height advantage.

Ball retained her 5'-7"+ height throughout her life. That said, I don't believe MacLaine ever topped 5'-6 1/2". MacLaine is probably under 5'-6" today.

richinkle says on 24/Aug/11
I have some stills from that episode.....indeed Lucy comes up just above his chin. With about a 1" shoe advantage, she is no more than 9" shorter than Clint Walker.

If he's 6'-6", that puts Lucy close to 5'-8". I believe Lucy's peak height is around 5'-7 1/2", as she stated in her autobiography, which was published posthumously.

Dee_Ann says on 24/Aug/11
Right now I am watching Episode #24 of Season 4, "Lucy and Clint Walker".
The giantly scrumptious Clint Walker who is known to be 6' 6" tall is standing next to Lucy a lot in this episode. Once I am finished recording it I will grab a few choice stills to share. Lucy, in heels (I assume to be about 2"), appears to come up to Mr. Walker's chin. Her hair is teased up but it's pretty easy to picture where the top of her head really is.

As to the previous episode with her in front of the police line up, I didn't think about the camera angle, that's a good point. I also wonder if they actually pasted it up correctly or just "slapped it up" with no regards to it being accurate or not.

richinkle says on 17/Aug/11
Thank you, Dee_Ann for those great stills! I think the angle provides a little distortion which makes the women look a little bit taller relative to the height chart beyond.

I think Ball, who was about 5'-7.5", appears closer to 5'-9.5" against this height chart, which leads me to believe that either the chart is about 2" short, or at least the angle is producing a result that looks about 2" short.

Dee_Ann says on 14/Aug/11
I was wondering this myself (how tall is she?) and today I was watching The Lucy Show on Me TV and they showed Season 5, Episode 19 "Lucy Meets the Law".
Lucy was "pinched" by the police and put in a police line up.
Now the question is, were the marks on the wall accurate? Were they lowered for vanity sake? (Some of us wish we were taller) Or did someone just paste them up any old way, "Looks good to me!" ??

I took a few screen captures of it. The woman on Lucy's right looks pretty tall, I could see her being 6' or so.

I don't know. You be the judge..

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richinkle says on 12/Jul/11
Below is a link to a scene with Lucille Ball and Maureen O'Hara in Dance Girl Dance. A terrific, darkly funny scene with a feminist twist. Lucille Ball, wearing 2 1/2" heels, stands several inches taller than most of the other women in bare feet, and about 3" taller than O'Hara, also barefoot.

Click Here

richinkle says on 11/Jul/11
Sam, I completely agree with you. Lucille Ball, looking about as gorgeous as any actress ever, stands slightly taller than Maureen O'Hara in "Dance, Girl, Dance" (1940), who is reported on this site to be 5'-8".

And then, in both "Stage Door" and "Without Love", Ball looks at least an inch taller than Katharine Hepburn, who is shown at 5'-7 1/2".

Ball was probably about 5'-7 1/2" at her peak, not the 5'- 6 1/2" reported here. She wrote that her height was 5'-7 1/2" in her autobiography, which was confirmed by her daughter Lucie Arnaz in her "Ask Lucie" online column.

Sam says on 7/Jul/11
Its strange because she looks taller than actresses who are reportedly taller than her according to this site. Compared her to Katharine Hepburn in Stage Door and Maureen O'Hara in Dance, Girl, Dance

richinkle says on 1/Feb/11
Very interesting....I'd love to know which episode, and which role was played by your grandmother!

Regarding Ann Miller, we watched her get taller, and then watched her get shorter.... in "Stage Door", a great 1937 movie, which if you haven't seen, you absolutely must. In it, Ann Miller looks like she couldn't be more than 5'6", and is about the same height in high heels as Lucille Ball in flat shoes. But, then again, she was only about 14 years old, and probably hadn't finished growing.

Then, in "Too Many Girls", 1940, she had clearly grown at least an inch, if not more. She stood about the same height as Lucille Ball, or a little over 5'-7".

The last time I saw Ann Miller was in "Mulholland Drive", 1999, in which it looks like she was no taller than 5'4.

Shadow2 says on 18/Jan/11
Lucy looked tall alongside MGM co-stars 6'2" Red Skelton and 6'1" Van Johnson, so had to be close to 5'7.5" in her 30's. As we've discussed, she still seemed 5'7" in her early 60's on "Here's Lucy". Anne Miller is an interesting case, she could have easily been 5'8" earlier in her career, but unlike Lucy, lost height later on.

Shadow2 says on 2/Jan/11
richinkle, if Lucy was min 5'7" in 1950 (aged 39), with 3" heels, she would have been 5'10" in the "Fuller Brush Girl". If Eddie Albert was an inch taller, he would have been 5'11" (aged 44), which sounds right for the following reasoning.
Eddie did "Switch" in 1975 to 1978 (aged 69 to 72) with 5'11.5" Robert Wagner (who I've met and can therefore verify his height) and he was only marginally shorter than Wagner at the time, i.e. still a min. 5'10.5".
More proof by deduction that Lucy was TALL back in that era.

Shadow2 says on 25/Dec/10
richinkle, I think you are right about Stevens' height. One of my favorite Lucy movies is 1950's "Fuller Brush Girl", which is a comedy with a film noir twist. Lucy seems tall alongside co-star Eddie Albert, who would have been close to 5'11" at the time. Imagine, "Oliver Douglas" and "Lucy Carmichael/Carter" as a couple solving a murder mystery!

Anonymous says on 12/Dec/10
richinkle, it was remiss of me not to mention Lucy's important role in the go-ahead of "Star Trek" while she was running Desilu. With "Mission Impossible", Lucy herself said she did not fully understand the premise, but supported the talented people behind it.
I've never seen the movie "Lured", yet another film classic locked away from cable and DVD availability. George Sanders was a minimum 6'3", maybe 6'3.5", and I notice 6'6" Alan Napier is also listed in the cast as a detective. If Lucy still looks tall around these big men, it may well prove that she was then 5'7.5" at 36 years old.

Shadow2 says on 8/Dec/10
Lucy always looked tall for a woman without being imposing, whether with 5'8" Esther Williams at MGM in the 1940's, or with 5'9.5" Bea Arthur in "Mame". As CEO of Desilu in the mid 1960's, she gave the go-ahead to long running classic series "Mission Impossible" and "Mannix". She was the first woman studio head in Hollywood, quite an achievement. richinkle, Lucy would be very proud of your ongoing support for her career as a performer, executive, and much loved star.

Shadow2 says on 4/Dec/10
I've just seen a 1973 episode of "Here's Lucy", and agree Lucy was still close to 5'7" at 62 years of age. She's wearing very flat heeled shoes in several scenes with 6'3" Dick Sargent (No2 Darrin in "Bewitched"), 6' Al Lewis (6'1" earlier in his career), 5'10" Mary Wickes, 5'9" Gary Crosby, and 5'9" (plus heels) daughter Lucie Arnaz. With so many people of known height all around her, Lucy seems a tall woman for her age, with no heel advantage to assist her. She was a great star!