# Arnold Schwarzenegger is only 5''10? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124 "2005-08-01T12:39:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/21 "2014-08-31T21:34:47Z")
> [@MadderMitch](#): > > Could _Leno_ also be another who exaggerates his height? > Jeez with these guys you can’t seem to be too sure I’ve met Jay several times, I don’t think he is exaggerating his height. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/22 "2014-08-31T21:41:45Z")
My dad met Arnie a few years after the OP. Dad’s an even six feet, and he noticed that the Goverator was slightly shorter than him. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/23 "2014-08-31T21:47:14Z")
> [@1maddd2mackxxx](#): > > I have seen 5foot 8 Sylvester Stallone in the 1st Expendables, Shortzenegger should be towering over Sly if that was correct now wouldn’t he? Hollywood has been using boxes for short actors since at least the 1930s. Clark Gable practically had a monogrammed one he carried around. LOTS of ways to make a short actor appear taller than cast mates, even in full-height shots. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/24 "2014-09-01T02:33:01Z")
More vague, anecdotal data: My sister once found herself sharing an elevator with Arnie, exchanged pleasantries with him during their 36 seconds together. She’s 5’6" and was quite surprised by his height-- Not that he was “short”, but that he wasn’t nearly as tall as she would have imagined. ETA: Damn it! I didn’t notice he was a not-so-tall Zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/25 "2014-09-01T03:34:15Z")
If you watch “Pumping Iron” to is almost impossible to imagine that he is less than six feet. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/26 "2014-09-01T03:51:46Z")
This is purely anecdotal, but Arnie tried out for the part of the Incredible Hulk on the TV series and lost out to Lou Ferrigno because he wasn’t tall enough. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/27 "2014-09-01T04:05:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > This is purely anecdotal, but Arnie tried out for the part of the Incredible Hulk on the TV series and lost out to Lou Ferrigno because he wasn’t tall enough. See? I’ve heard that story so many times over the years and I have _always_ heard it told that he lost out on the part because he was _too_ tall. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/28 "2014-09-01T04:23:00Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > See? I’ve heard that story so many times over the years and I have _always_ heard it told that he lost out on the part because he was _too_ tall. According to Kenneth Johnson, executive producer of The Incredible Hulk, on the first season DVD commentary Schwarzenegger was rejected because of his “inadequate height”. Lou Ferrigno is 6’5", so even if Arnie were 6’2", Ferrigno still had a height advantage of several inches. In fact, Richard Kiel was initially hired, but Johnson didn’t feel even he was big enough, so he was replaced by Ferrigno. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/29 "2014-09-01T05:04:09Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Lou Ferrigno is 6’5" Wow! I’ve got _everything_ backwards. I always thought Ferrigno was not particularly tall. I imagined him as the ultimate short stocky bodybuilder type. In my imagination, his appeal as The Hulk was that a broad stocky physique, when filmed to _appear tall_, would suggest a truly huge character- whereas a tall actor would have the character simply look tall. I’m just all kinds of wrong on this board today. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/30 "2014-09-01T05:15:25Z")
I have a former friend, a restauranteur who was born in Groz around the time Arnold was. He has a photo of the two together at the restaurant. (Massimo’s in Walnut Creek if anyone cares it is on the wall). They are both about the same height in the picture, and Massimo is about 5’10" according to himself and my estimate, I’m a lot taller than he is at a mere 6’2". No way is AS 6’2" as claimed. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/31 "2014-09-01T08:38:06Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Wow! I’ve got _everything_ backwards. > I always thought Ferrigno was not particularly tall. I imagined him as the ultimate short stocky bodybuilder type. In my imagination, his appeal as The Hulk was that a broad stocky physique, when filmed to _appear tall_, would suggest a truly huge character- whereas a tall actor would have the character simply look tall. > > I’m just all kinds of wrong on this board today. Actually, that’s why Kiel lost the part. He was simply tall, but without the broad physique. Ferrigno is both tall and muscular. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/32 "2014-09-01T09:14:32Z")
At 6’5" and built like that, Ferrigno was damn scary big. At 5’10", Arnie’s just a munchkin. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/33 "2014-09-01T12:53:39Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > At 6’5" and built like that, Ferrigno was damn scary big. > > At 5’10", Arnie’s just a munchkin. [http://www.vpfunworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lou-ferrigno-vs-arnold-schwarzenegger-style.jpg](http://www.vpfunworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lou-ferrigno-vs-arnold-schwarzenegger-style.jpg) If Lou Ferrigno was 6’5" and Arnold was 5’10", then there is something off about this picture. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/34 "2014-09-01T13:36:28Z")
All you need to do is have the two of them stand at different distances from the camera to even out their height from that viewpoint. 2D photos can mislead, and Hollywood has been taking advantage of that for decades to make short leading men look taller than they actually are. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/35 "2014-09-01T13:46:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > All you need to do is have the two of them stand at different distances from the camera to even out their height from that viewpoint. 2D photos can mislead, and Hollywood has been taking advantage of that for decades to make short leading men look taller than they actually are. OK, I can agree with that as a possibility; but then there is the matter of an entire documentary film(Pumping Iron) which has him next to many different people, and he absolutely towers over some of them in a way that a 5’10" man could not. A whole film is much harder to fake than one picture, especially if it was made in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/36 "2014-09-01T14:01:10Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Hollywood has been using boxes for short actors since at least the 1930s. Clark Gable practically had a monogrammed one he carried around. > > LOTS of ways to make a short actor appear taller than cast mates, even in full-height shots. It says on the internet Clark Gable was 6’ 1" tall. Isn’t that tall enough? ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/37 "2014-09-01T17:27:23Z")
Arnold was in a WWE ring earlier this year and was easily the shortest person in there. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/38 "2014-09-01T18:26:31Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > Arnold was in a WWE ring earlier this year and was easily the shortest person in there. Given [this](http://www.beawwewrestler.com/wwe-recruiting/how-be-wwe-wrestler-height-and-weight-edition) chart, your statement does nothing to really settle the issue, or sway the evidence in one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/39 "2014-09-01T18:53:48Z")
A lot of what I am reading on the net about this says he was 6’1.5" maximum in his prime, but since shrunk to 5’11". This seems much more plausible to me; it seems hard to refute all the measurements and photo documentation taken in his pro bodybuilding career, but it is hard to refute the large number of people who seem to think he is significantly shorter than 6’2" after meeting him in person. The only thing I wonder is, “do people really shrink that much as they age?” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124/40 "2014-09-01T19:03:31Z")
They can. Shrinking an inch as you age (and remember, Arnold is in his late 60’s now) is nothing unusual. If you’re talking about going from 6’ 1" to 5’ 11" that’s two inches (about 5 cm for you metric types) which is a bit more than typical but not unheard of. If a person suffers from osteoporosis and their spine is affected (leading to “Dowager’s hump”, for example) the loss of height can be even more significant. While osteoporosis is generally considered a woman’s disease it most certainly does affect men, too. Which is all just wild speculation, I hasten to add. It’s a possible reason for height loss over time. Yes, it’s _possible_ he’s shrunk 2-3 inches over time. It’s also possible his height was exaggerated, he wears/wore lifts in his shoes, and even some combination of the above. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arnold-schwarzenegger-is-only-510/315124.md?page=3)