How tall is Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall's Height

5ft 10 ¾ (179.7 cm)

English actor best remembered for roles in TV shows such as The Young Ones, Bottom, Blackadder and The New Statesmen. In film he appeared in Drop Dead Fred, Carry on Columbus, Guest House Paradiso and Churchill: The Hollywood Years. In the 1990's he claimed to be Height 5 feet 11 inches.

How tall is Rik Mayall
Photos by PR Photos

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Add a Comment41 comments

Average Guess (32 Votes)
5ft 10.95in (180.2cm)
5'11james said on 23/Sep/23
He looked like a 5'10 3/4 guy, but thats definitely his low, he probably was 5'10 7/8 in the afternoon.

5'11 was a solid claim for him.

RIP Rik Mayall
Sandy Cowell said on 23/Nov/22
Trust Rik to fart in Blackadder! It was a loud and thunderous one as well! 🤣💨

Five foot eleven for the late and brilliantly humorous Rik, who can be spotted in the film An American Werewolf in London. He’s drinking in the pub.
Sandy C said on 6/Aug/22
I’ve just spent the last 55 minutes watching a terrific programme on Rik entitled, ‘Lord of Misrule’. There were contributions from Tim McInnerny, Lenny Henry, Simon Pegg, Michael Palin, Ben Elton and clips of Rik speaking himself.

The programme traced his career from The Young Ones, Comedy Strip, Catflap, Bottom, Blackadder and plenty more, and I’m so glad I only missed the first few minutes, or I’d have felt devastated. I look forward to seeing it again when I have my recording facility back. It was hilarious, just as you’d expect when watching a special about one of our comedy geniuses.
Sandy C said on 3/Aug/22
Blimey! Rick wasn’t far from 6ft!
Sandy C said on 3/Aug/22
Rik’s sense of humour continued throughout his life. He was always my favourite ‘Young One’, though I loved them all.

Remember when they fiddled with the questions for University Challenge, and Rik came up with, “Who did the world’s stupidest bottom burp?”

It was (P)Rick of Scumbag College, of course!

Is it surprising that we all used to pour round to somebody’s house to watch ‘The Young Ones’, interrupting our evenings down the pub? 😂😂😂📺👍🏼
Sandy C said on 3/Aug/22
Bottom(s).

When I was a kid, we used to call @rses bottoms - always. I’ve started my day with some music from the early 70s band ‘Middle of the Road’ and the song playing now is called ‘I Can’t Tell The Bottom from the Top’.

It must have come out in 1970, as my brother was still in the junior school. There was a boy in his class, a rather naughty and funny boy I might add, who used to sing, ‘I Can’t Tell The
Bottom from the Willy.’

“How could this possibly be?” I thought, so I approached him on the matter. He was flummoxed! His name was Andrew and he used to cheer my brother’s birthday parties up, so I liked him. He remembered when my brother was 7 or 8 and farted in assembly during the Lord’s Prayer, outraging one teacher in particular!

He was the tallest in class.

I reckon Rik Mayall will have had a similarly humorous disposition as a kid! 😂👍🏼

5ft11. 🕯 XXX
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 4/Dec/21
I was preparing some cat meals in the kitchen a few minutes ago and the name 'Alan B'Stard' shot into my head and I couldn't stop laughing!

Rik would have found this funny: I woke up this morning lying in some runny brown stuff. I thought, "Oh no! Has a cat had an accident during the night, or WHAT?"

😒...💩

Then I discovered I'd gone to sleep on a Lindt ball!

5ft11. 🤗😂😹
MaskDeMasque said on 10/Jun/21
Had an inch and a bit on 5'9.5 Edmondson in Bottom. 5'10.75 is fair.
Terry said on 16/Nov/20
A very strong 5'10.
Mr B said on 20/Mar/20
he was 5ft 11.75 182cm
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 1/Jul/19
Hey man! I love this guy! Do you remember what he called Captain Blackadder? He called him Catpain Black Udder! Hmmmmm! I'm gonna stick that on RIGHT NOW! 😂

FIVE ELEVEN.
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 19/Jun/19
Rik loved headbutting Tim McInnerney in 'Blackadder'!

5ft11.
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Apr/19
I remember the look of shock on my Mum's face when I told her I was waiting for a programme called 'The New Statesman', in which Rik played a character hilariously entitled Alan B'Stard! For my Mum, it was a 'New Thing' that I should be showing even the remotest interest in Politics, but I kept the subject matter of the sitcom a secret until she gave it a watch for herself...

She uttered, "I didn't think that Politics was your thing, and here's the proof!"

I was in my late twenties/early thirties.

She watched it nonetheless and it DID afford her a laugh or two! Back in those early days, I would have given Rik 5ft11, and in his days starring as Rick in 'The Young Ones', but more so in 'The New Statesman', when he needed to be smartly dressed.

Conversely, in 'Bottom', wherein he played the slobbish Ritchie Richard with his chief comedy partner and friend Adrian Edmondson, who played Edward Elizabeth Hitler, he was dressed in such a way that made him look positively portly, so could look slightly shorter, say 5ft10, but in 'Blackadder', as Lord Flashheart, he looked every bit his full height.

I will go with 5ft11, optimum height.
Sandy Cowell said on 14/Feb/19
I would have guessed him as even taller TBH!
Sandy Cowell said on 13/Feb/19
Although he's called 'Ritchie' in 'Bottom', his real name in the sitcom is Richard Richard! When I was a kid, I often wondered whether there were any people out there with the same surname and first name; they also have Lord Percy Percy in 'Blackadder'!

But this is fiction! My boyfriend knew a little albino girl called Kelly Kelly. She was a really impish child, the sort that the teacher from when I was 8/9 years old, one Miss Henriksen, would have gladly washed said child's mouth out with soap and water!

Yes, times were strict those days!
Sandy Cowell said on 13/Feb/19
Yes, I saw 'Bells' yesterday, and I definitely noticed that Rik is little short of 5ft11! I also observed that one of his blond eyebrows was hanging lower than the other....

Every woman fell for him in that room, including Blackadder's fiancee, and a little dangly bit hanging out of place wouldn't have put me off Lord Flashheart so much as a single jot, even he admittedly felt more comfortable in a frock!
😁👍
👗
Sandy Cowell said on 11/Feb/19
Rik can be seen in episode 6 of the first series as a prisoner called 'Mad Gerald'. He is almost completely unrecognisable, with overgrown hair and as for his attire...? Well, we won't go there, but I could almost smell him through my television!

If his voice wasn't so distinctive, he might have even fooled me!

There was a little height difference between Rowan and Rik, but Rik's clothes are so shabby that he's wearing socks, and even they have holes in, so I best wait to see him as Lord Flashheart sweeping Bob off her feet in 'Blackadder II'! He looks tall there!

Rik must have found it frightfully amusing to be cast at the end: 'Mad Gerald - himself!'
Sandy Cowell said on 1/Feb/19
I was sitting on the toilet when my boyfriend broke the news that Rik was no longer with us.

I think he might have found it somewhat funny!

He still causes me to crease up in pain every time I watch him.

Rik can have five eleven! xxxx 💋
Man in Black said on 2/Jun/18
Watching The Young Ones now, probably a weak 6" in shoes. Holding his own against Nigel Planer who only looks 1.5" taller. Mid to late 90s he was probably a weak 5'11
Sandy Cowell said on 30/May/17
I miss you Rik. 😖
I love you as well!
My boyfriend chatted to you at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley! I wish I'd been there too!
You were always my favourite 'Young One'!
xxxxx Great fellow! 😉
Sandy Cowell said on 2/Nov/16
It doesn't seem possible that Rik Mayall hasn't been with us for some 2 and a half years now. He was always my favourite 'Young One' and he was great in 'Bottom' with Ade Edmonson, his comedy partner and friend. When I first heard that there was a programme called 'Bottom', I thought someone was winding me up! When I finally saw it, I wasn't in the least bit surprised to see who was in it!
He made a brief appearance in 'An American Werewolf in London' and his 'Blackadder' character, Lord Flashheart, was larger than life and even intimidating to Edmund Blackadder himself!
It was from his role in 'Blackadder' that I noticed he was really quite tall and strong. In 'Bottom' he stuffed his clothes out to make himself into a more convincing slob, and that just made him look shorter!
I would have guessed him to be around 5ft11/6ft and that is what he was.
I'll never get used to the fact that he passed on before his time. He was a comedy genius!
Aza said on 21/Jul/16
Just saw again after many years his performance in the ' warriors of Ghengis Khan' in ' Bad News' ..... Still so funny. May God bless him! Always thought he was more a strong 5'10.
MaskDeMasque said on 3/Nov/14
Broken my ankle a few days ago and spent all of yesterday watching bottom on netflix lol. Rik looks like a strong 5'10 weak 5'11. 5'10.5-75 range i would say. Ade looks about 5'9.5
Editor Rob
hope it heels up well!
Rhonda said on 18/Oct/14
Watching Bottom on Gold, RIP RIk, looks about 5ft10-11 going by visual clues such door frames. He does slouch a lot on the show.
lelman said on 18/Jul/14
He is a good 5ft 11, and Ade seemed like a strong 5ft 9 (he always wore big shoes in Young Ones and Bottom but still got edged out by Rik).
womble said on 7/Jul/14
Look's about 5'10" in Drop dead Fred, so maybe 5'11" in shoes. Rest in peace Rik Mayall comic genius.
Philip Bloom said on 26/Jun/14
Rik is 5'10. 182cm is a gross exaggeration as most celebs like to add an inch or two.
iyolo said on 19/Jun/14
RIP Rik Mayall-you were great....
Reg said on 19/Aug/13
I'd say 182cm at his peak but 180cm today.
Scott 5'11 said on 5/Feb/13
Recently seen him in drop dead fred and hes definitely the tall end of 5'0. 5'11 is believable which would make ade edmondson 5'9.5 possibly just 5'9 judging from Bottom (Ade wears big footwear in the young ones and Bottom).
Scott said on 11/Jan/12
Has always looked around 5'10 to me. Was slimmer in 'the young ones' days. If Ade Edmondson is 5'8 or 5'9 (which I believe he is) Rik would be 5'10. Always seemed to be an inch between them.
Chris Robinson said on 8/Oct/11
I think he is deceptively tall because of the character she plays.
daii said on 17/Jun/08
Rik is definitely about 5'11.5
you can see a 5'10 Ade Edmondson the same height as him in Bottom but Ade is wearing boots which add a 1 inch lift.
Rik looks hell of a lot shorter in The Young Ones, but maybe thats because Nigel Planer (Neil the hippie) is 6'4!?
Tall Guy said on 9/Aug/06
I agree on 5'11. Nigel Planer, however, is taller than 6'2.5, he's 6'4!
Big Show said on 14/Jun/06
Nigel Planner is taller than 6'1. He's about 6'2.5 (he was the exact same size as Hugh Laurie).
Anonymous said on 4/May/06
He probably looked smaller because Nigel Planner (Neil the Hippy) was 6'1".
Jane said on 9/Apr/06
I met Rik Mayall at a book signing and he looks so gorgeous in real life - I could not believe it! I would say he is between 5.10 and 5.11
AD said on 16/Mar/06
I remember an episode of bottom where he was on the phone and described himself as "five feet ten"
CelebHeights Editor said on 20/Nov/05
He is listed 5ft 11 by agency.
Steven said on 5/Aug/05
Yeah in the Young Ones he looks like a 5.8 - 5.9 guy. But when you see him in Blackadder and Bottom you can see he's around 5.11.
Kate said on 14/Jun/05
Yes, I queued behind him in Marks and Spencer and was surprised how tall he was, not very much under 6'. In the Young Ones I always thought him a fair bit smaller.

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