Fred says on 15/Jun/08
One summer, I caddied for Rex many times... he was about 5'11. He was a really wonderful human being.

William says on 2/Aug/07
I walked past him in Baltimore when he was in his late 70's, and he appeared to be about 5'10", but he was not standing straight. I was too afraid to say anything to him. He was still handsome, even at that age.

Frank2 says on 4/May/06
Leon Ames in his youth was about 5'8" and Raft was about 5'7" possibly even 5'6".

Rob, in Rex's own book he describes himself as being 6'1".

Paul says on 3/May/06
Frank2, two great actors from the golden era were in Hammersmith: Leon Ames and George Raft. Would you care to size them up for us? Granted they were senior citizens then.

Many thanks.

Editor Rob says on 27/Apr/06
Going back to that mention of lifts, here was another quote from a harrison book:

"Rex took no chances. They story goes he had lifts put in his boots to bring him up to heston's eyelevel...then he found his fellow player mysteriously rising in height and managing still to out-top him...lifts or 'will power'"...book also described Rex as 6ft 2.

Frank2 says on 9/Apr/06
To answer Haylie's question as to whether I ever met Liz Taylor, the answer is no, but I did see her and Richard Burton as they entered the projection room at MGM to see the film Hammersmith is Out which I worked on. Up till then its director, Peter Ustinov had been wonderful to work with. He was one of the funniest people I've ever been around. Then the day the two stars showed up they didn't wish to have anyone with them in the room while they watched it with Peter. I could tell that Peter was caught in a bind since he wouldn't have cared one bit if I was in there with them which I should have been since whatever notes they had it was my job to take down. Taylor looked fat and short and Burton was three sheets to the wind. FYI he was about 5'10". (no lifts that day) I think I related the following on another thread, but when I first met Ustinov I told him that "I loved Billy Budd" meaning the classic film he had directed. He looked at me and leaned over whispering into my ear, "It'll be our little secret. I won't tell a soul." After that I was usually laughing so much I could barely do my job!

Frank2 says on 8/Apr/06
Many of the old female stars were quite small. Compare them with today's female stars who are a bunch of mooses! In fact during most casting calls done when I was at Fox, I'd say 90% of the woman were at least 5'7". Many were 5'10". I'll never forget the day I saw Bridget Neilson. She was wearing boots with four inch heels and looked 6'4"! No wonder Stallone wore lifts!

I met many of the old timers and hardly any were more than 5'4". Being 5'6" back then for an actress was considered tall. Debra Paget who I fell in love with the first time I saw her and got to later meet was tiny. Joan Crawford was no more that 5'2". Lana Turner was small. Ava Gardner was only 5'5" which seemed tall back then.

Haylie says on 8/Apr/06
Thanks Frank2! I really agree with Liz Taylor being 5'2" because she looks tiny in her films and was always described as short and if she really was 5'4" that would be 1 inch taller than the 1950's average of 5'3"

Frank2 says on 8/Apr/06
Lana Turner wasn't really tall. She was probably around 5'4" maybe even less. Liz taylor was shorter -no more than 5'2". And for those arguing Marilyn Monroe's height using the excuse that being heavy makes one look shorter, I'd like to remind everyone that Liz had a weight problem and most people thought she looked taller than she really was. And Orson Welles had a serious weight problem and his height was so inflated that when I finally met him I was surprised he was my height or 5'11". In fairness to Welles I think he had shrunk a bit. I'd say he was a solid 6'1" when he was young. But some sites list him at nearly 6'4" which is not the case.

Haylie says on 7/Apr/06
Out of interest what height was Lana Turner? Also I believe Frank2 on this one because I've seen Cleopatra A LOT but if Rex is 6ft I don't know what height that would make Elizabeth Taylor because she was sustantially shorter than him and I noticed she wore 3 or 4 inch heels under her dresses. Did you ever meet Taylor Frank2 (I'm a big fan!!!)?

Frank2 says on 7/Apr/06
Bull! Cukor was a shrimp. And by the time he was an old man he had shrunk down to under 5'5". I last saw him on the Universal lot where he was lost and trying to find a specific screening room. We spoke for a few minutes and he came up to my nose! That's how short he had become. Years earlier when I worked with him at MGM he was no more than 5'6". Neither was Jack Warner. And like Hitchcock, Cukor used to be fat. He had lost a lot of weight by the time of Travels With My Aunt.

Back in the Golden Days, almost all the studio chiefs were little guys - all except Sam Goldwyn who was about 5'9" and Walt Disney who was 5'10". Louis B. Mayer, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn, Jack Warner and Adolph Zucker were all little guys with Mayer the shortest at 5'3". Zanuck's son Richard who's a very successful independent producer is shorter than his 5'5" father. Dick is about 5'3".

Frank2 says on 7/Apr/06
In the photo of Rex with Fox, I meant Edward Fox, not James. I tend to confuse the names of the two brothers, Edward is quite short while James is quite tall, about 6'1".