How tall was Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison's Height

5ft 10 ½ (179.1 cm)

American Singer-Songwriter best remembered for songs such as Oh Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely, In Dreams, You Got It and Crying.

Roy Orbison 1965 (2)

How tall is Roy Orbison
1968 Passport

How tall is Roy Orbison
1973 Passport

Add a Comment33 comments

Average Guess (13 Votes)
5ft 10.37in (178.7cm)
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 13/Jun/22
I was watching a special on how The Traveling Wilburys got
together, which was quite a fluke really, but a happy and successful one.

Jeff Lynne felt honoured to work with this man, adding that it
was one of his ambitions. Iโ€™m sure the other three Wilburys felt the same way.

5ft10.75.
Dave B. said on 24/Jun/20
I met and interviewed Roy Orbison back in the late 1970s. I was 6'3" at the time and was quite a bit taller than him. I'd put him at 5'10" at best.

Orbison had one of the greatest voices in rock/pop/country music history. Tom Waits had the best description of his voice: "operatic hillbilly".
berta said on 30/May/20
there is a video of him and bruce springstten performing together and they seems about the same height. i think roy looked little taller. but not 3,5 cm. maybe 1-2 cm if bruce was 177 peak then i think 179 could be closer for roy.
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 23/Apr/20
Roy Orbison was born 84 years ago today. Of the old-style rock 'n' rollers, he was one of my favourites. AND he was part of the Supergroup 'The Traveling Wilburys', but alas, the first to pass on.

Unbelievable to think that Roy was just 52 when he died. I didn't realize how young that is at that time, but as life passes by, it's a completely different ballgame.

Happy Birthday in Heaven to the Big O.

๐ŸŽถ๐ŸŽบ๐Ÿ‘ผ๐Ÿ˜Ž๐Ÿงšโ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿงšโ€โ™‚๏ธ

5ft11.

RIP Roy XXX ๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Dec/19
Yes, that's just what I found for Roy, who died, aged just 52, on this day in 1988.

I loved his work with the supergroup The Traveling Wilburies. He had such a distinctive voice. The only members of the Wilburies still alive are Jeff Lynne and Bob Dylan. George Harrison and Tom Petty have both passed on too, alas.

5ft11.
Stuart Munro said on 26/Oct/18
My father worked with Roy in Bielefeld in Germany in the late 60's and said without his Cuban heels he was 5'8 - 5'9 tops. I had this validated by a guy who acted as his bodyguard on tour. My Dad said he was a really nice guy quiet and intellectual. Always cheerful. I really miss him. Live his records.
berta said on 23/Aug/18
i think he is overlisted. the guy was never 180 cm. maybe 178
Ian C. said on 12/Apr/18
My wife and I play a game rating singers called, looks-singing. The way it works is, a singer gets a double score from 1 to 10 for looks and singing, with the idea being to sort out how much of a singer's appeal is based on actual singing talent. So for example, Robert Plant gets looks:9 and singing:6. Or Phil Collins gets looks:3, singing:6. Elvis gets looks:9, singing:9. Madonna gets looks: 7, singing:2 (vulgarity: 10).

Orbison gets looks:3, singing: 10. He's the only singing:10 we've awarded. We've never awarded a looks:10 score.
James said on 30/Nov/17
He looked 5'10".
Scarlett Rose said on 20/May/17
little sue said on 8/Jan/14
Arch it always baffles me how tall Kylie Minogue looks, she probably only about 4ft 11 to 5ft but her legs look like someone about 5ft 4.

Message to Little Sue. Thought you said the length of someone's legs makes no difference to someone's height. If you were wearing shorts that show the bottom of your bum cheeks, your legs would look longer too! Why is Kylie Minogue discussed on a page dedicated to Roy Orbison, unless you are comparing her height to his - and why would you? ๐Ÿš• Taxi for Little Sue. LOL
MysteryGirl said on 26/Apr/17
I'm 5'3.5" tall, and I've only worn flat shoes for decades. So let's say the shoes made me 5'4" tall. I've had my picture taken with Roy a few times. All of the official biographies I've ever seen say that Roy was 5'11" tall. I'm not convinced - no way was he 8" taller than me. Maybe 5 or 6inches taller.
Giorgi said on 4/Feb/17
Once he sings you can't care less about how tall he was.
Ben said on 27/Apr/16
He was one of the best. 5' 11'' he was. Awesome talent.
Editor Rob
actually I remember in the travelling wilburys video, he could look similar to george harrison.
Cranky said on 8/Feb/14
Roy Orbison usually wore footwear with a lot of heel, so that made him look taller. People usually look taller when younger because they are yet to fill out.
Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 16/Jan/14
Looked more 5ft10 range in his Traveling Wilburys days.
Gonzalo said on 16/Jan/14
Really 5`11?

Click Here

Anyway, he had an amazing voice
Arch Stanton said on 11/Jan/14
Yeah Kylie's another who in photographs of her alone can look a lot taller!! 4'11.5" would be my guess for Kylie. I once read 5'1" for her but she really doesn't look it!
little sue said on 8/Jan/14
Arch it always baffles me how tall Kylie Minogue looks, she probably only about 4ft 11 to 5ft but her legs look like someone about 5ft 4. I suppose being ultra slim helps
Arch Stanton said on 7/Jan/14
Yeah she does look about 5 ft 1 in Man of the West, watching it now. Gary Cooper is twice her height hehe!
Arch Stanton said on 6/Jan/14
Rob would you consider adding Julie and Nat King Cole? Nat King looks tall in Cat Balou, his 185cm listing looks easily accurate. Julie does seem no more than 5'2" looking into it. Proves though that even a well-proportioned short woman like London or Twain can look tallish if a photo is taken by itself and in her favour. London was also an actress an in films like Man of the West with Cooper and The Wonderful Country with Mitchum, haven't got around to seeing them yet for some reason..
Eamon said on 5/Jan/14
Watch Julie London in "Man of the West", she was very short.
Brad said on 4/Jan/14
Julie London was 5' 2" tops, just dwarfed by the Adam 12 guys in one shot. Box work on close-ups on Emergency for sure.
Arch Stanton said on 4/Jan/14
5'1"?? Click Here always gave a tallish impression to me! Although seeing her in photographs with some guys she does look on the short side.
little sue said on 3/Jan/14
I've also found some old film manual that had her at 5ft 1. It says she was known for her 'short stature' so she must have been on the more petite side.
Sam said on 2/Jan/14
He can look from 2 to 3 inches shorter than Johnny Cash and a similar amount shorter than Carl Perkins, who I believe was 6'1" range. Orbison is also range to 5'11" listed Jerry Lee Lewis. If Cash was really 6'1.5" barefoot, Perkins is 6'1" and Orbison and Lewis were a not-very-strong 5'11".
Click Here
Arch Stanton said on 31/Dec/13
5'3" for London? Wow, I'd have guessed like 5'8"-9", I thought she was tall!
Brad said on 31/Dec/13
As listed a foot away in '85.
little sue said on 30/Dec/13
London listed at 5ft 3 on other sites Arch.
Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 29/Dec/13
I'd have said somewhere between 5ft11 and 6ft.
Arch Stanton said on 29/Dec/13
Click Here

That's a great clip of London in a 1956 film singing "Cry me a River", really worth a watch! You might recognize the guy in it (Tom Ewell) who was in the Seven Year Itch the year earlier with Monroe. She looks a bit like a 70s Louise Fletcher I think. No idea how tall she was but she can look quite tall in videos.
Arch Stanton said on 29/Dec/13
I agree with 5'11 for Orbison, I saw a picture of him with Jagger a while back and he think he looked a bit taller BTW..
Arch Stanton said on 29/Dec/13
Rob if you're interested in adding some further classic singers/songwriters would you consider ones like Julie London, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, and Ella Fitzgerald?
James said on 29/Dec/13
I didn't realise he was 5'11". I never understood why a singer like Orbison would smoke 80 cigarettes a day.

Heights are barefeet estimates, derived from quotations, official websites, agency resumes, in person encounters with actors at conventions and pictures/films.

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