How tall was Johnny Briggs

Johnny Briggs Height

5ft 6 (167.6 cm)

English actor, best remembered for playing Mike Baldwin in ITV soap Coronation Street. In an early 70's Spotlight Page, he listed himself as 5ft 8.
I am 5ft 7in and 11 stone 4lbs, which is about half a stone heavier than I would like. I remember asking Sir Cliff Richard how he managed to stay so slim and he said he ate strictly one meal a day, so now I aim for that.
-- The Daily Record, 1998 (Nov 4)

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Add a Comment37 comments

Average Guess (26 Votes)
5ft 5.25in (165.7cm)
Torrinator said on 21/Apr/24
@Sandy

R.I.P John Savident, he sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 86.

A recent ‘Classic Coronation Street’ episode had his character set up an online dating profile, where Fred gave a very specific height of “5ft 11 and a quarter”. He was in his 60’s then and carrying a lot of weight, so it’s hard to pin down what his peak height might be!
Sandy Cowell said on 8/Feb/23
Well done to Mike Baldwin for standing up for his friend, Fred Elliott, who has signed his pub over to his ‘wife’, who is, in fact, a bigamist.

John turned 85 on 21st January, and starred in Coronation Street, A Clockwork Orange and many other productions.

I’ve found 5ft11.5 for his peak and 5ft11 nowadays, which I suspect to be less. A page for him would make a great addition, Rob!
Sandy Cowell said on 6/Jan/23
It’s Mike Baldwin’s 60th birthday in Classic Coronation Street, and Deirdre, Ken and Emily have prepared him a lovely party!

It’s great to see him having a civilised conversation with Ken Barlow. Even his little son has shown up.

I can’t see more than 5ft5.5.
Torrinator said on 19/Nov/22
At least 2 inches shorter than 5ft 7 Chris Gascoyne in 2001: Click Here

About 4 inches shorter than 5ft 8.5 Bradley Walsh in 2004 Click Here

Downgrade needed? Granted this was in his 60’s but a 5ft6 peak height is hard to swallow.
Sandy Cowell said on 1/Sep/22
Now you look after Alma, your ex-wife, Mike, now that you know she is dying of cancer. 😪

I don’t believe that love can ever truly fade away.

5ft6.
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 4/May/22
I feel genuinely sorry for Mike, having found out that his son, Mark, has been having an affair with his (newly married) wife. To find something like this out on your wedding day is truly sad, AND the hard working man has had a heart attack recently.

Believe me, Mike, partners like this aren’t worth fighting for. She - Linda Sykes, played by Jaqueline Pirie - is spewing lies at the middle-aged businessman, and heaping the blame on Mark, which is utter piffle. 😖

5ft6.
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 24/Jan/22
Next to his much younger girlfriend, Mike Baldwin looks quite tall, so....

5ft6 this time! 😁👌
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 3/Jan/22
@ Nik - It's not impossible for terms like 'short ar$e' to change and develop into slightly different things over the years due to simple misunderstanding. They're only terms, after all, and there aren't any wrong or right ones, so they're rarely going to be found in the dictionary. The same applies to words, which, of course, do make the dictionary - even rude ones. Whether the word is 'slang' or 'vulger' will be entered next to the slightly offensive word where appropriate.
Nik Ashton said on 17/Dec/21
@ Sandy Cowell - 5’6” ain’t that short though and I know you agree, a man from Mike’s generation would only come over as being noticeably (but only slightly noticeably) short at 5’5”.

I think the term “short a***” is used a lot more than “short🏠” ! They do sound pretty similar though!
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 17/Dec/21
Mike Baldwin was called 'short house' in this morning's 'Classic Coronation Street', a term I haven't heard for absolutely years and years.
It's been taken over by something rather different, but sounding nearly the same, and referring to a particular part of the body situated below the waist and round the back! 😆
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 8/Dec/21
Today in Classic Coronation Street, it's Ken Barlow's 60th Birthday. Deirdre's mother, Blanche, boasts to Mike Baldwin that Ken is about to receive a very substantial pension, so what does the tight-fisted Baldwin do? He approaches the family for Deirdre's £10K court costs, as his marriage break-up is going to cost him a fortune.

What a nasty thing to do on someone's Big 6-0. 😤

5ft5.5 though he's taller than his latest young squeeze, Linda Sykes!
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 11/Oct/21
It's not often that I feel sorry for Mike Baldwin but right now, I do. The silly man fell for the charms of a woman, but it was all a hoax. Now the bloke who set him up, Greg Kelly, is blackmailing extortionate amounts of money out of him. He's paid up once, but with people like that, it doesn't stop there.

Poor old Mike has had to employ the help of one of his heavies, but the cowardly Kelly has burst in on Sally and her two young daughters, and holding them hostage in their own home.

5ft5.75, peak. 🕯️
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 1/Mar/21
So sorry to read this morning that Johnny Briggs has passed on, aged 85. Sending sympathy to his family and all those who knew and loved him.

RIP Johnny 🕯️ XXX
CD said on 2/Jan/21
Rob, what are the chances of him being 5ft 5.5 at peak? I think he really looked 3 inches shorter than Bill Roache in the 1980s, and compared to other cast members I don't see a full 5ft 6 either.
Editor Rob
last thing I seen him in was an old Professionals episode, he did look quite short beside Roger Moore in the brief scene they had together, but I am not sure if he was under 5ft 6...certainly far from 5ft 8 though!
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 10/Dec/20
Johnny looks absolutely tiny next to Jeff Hordley, better known for his part as Emmerdale's Cain Dingle.

5ft5. 😁👌
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 6/Aug/20
Baldwin has just employed a new cleaning girl, played by Tracy Brabin, and she's afraid of mice.

She is worried that the animals are, in fact, much bigger than mice, judging by the size of their 'leavings'! 💩💩💩

Mike is not amused and certainly doesn't wish to examine the proof the rodents have been leaving behind! I don't think it would bother me, considering the size of my cats' 'leavings'! Sometimes they're as big as any human's and at LEAST five times as smelly!

😹😹😹😷

Mike, or Johnny Briggs, who I spotted in an Agatha Christie play the other day, can have 5ft5, and I'm 'leavings' him another half-inch because he fitted in quite well with the size of the Christie cast, many of whom were women.
Sandy A Cowell said on 8/Apr/20
The other day on Classic Coronation Street, some drinkers were singing songs from “The Wizard 🧙‍♂️ of Oz”. Mike Baldwin marched in for his normal double scotch and somebody said, “....and here comes a munchkin!”

Mike took no notice whatsoever and I thought, “Good luck to you!”

I’ve been called that enough times myself. 🤪

I’m going for 5ft5.5 for the former opera singer. 🎶
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 26/Mar/20
Ha ha ha! Mike actually had me laughing in this morning's 'Classic Coronation Street'! It was regarding Reg Holdsworth's new 'rug', or toupee! Well, somebody was bound to say something before the wind blew it into a tree...

He suggested Reg should take the seller to Court, though with that on his bonce, they would 'probably mistake him for the judge'!

We had a toupee-wearing teacher, and the mini-rug didn't even match the rest of his hair! The kids in the year below me clubbed together and bought him a comedy wig. I'd have loved to have seen his facial expression when he opened it - he had the temper of all tempers and stank of B.O.!

5ft5.5.😃
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 16/Aug/19
Those cigars he smokes look almost as big as him! No, seriously, they look like a much-needed extension of his manhood! 🚬

It wouldn't work on me though! 😝🖕

5ft5.
Paul Wood said on 19/Jul/19
I think 5ft 5.5in or 5ft 5.75in peak. I'm watching Classic Coronation Street from the early 90s at the moment and he always looks a fraction shorter standing next to 5ft 6in Michael Le Vell or 5ft 6in Bill Waddington (who played Percy Sugden).
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 1/Jul/19
What a miserable old fart! He tried to charge a perfectly nice girl a fortune for doing some mending in his factory! 😝
I'm watching his 'son' now. Bradley Walsh is SO MUCH nicer than he is, AND he hosts 'The Chase'!
Miss Sandy Cowell said on 17/Apr/19
In today's 'Classic Coronation Street', Mike was called a 'wee piranha' by the 6ft Jim MacDonald! I used to live with piranha fish as my ex kept them and I can assure miserable Mike Baldwin would have been in for some stiff competition!
He makes Kevin (played by Michael Le Vell, 5ft6.25) look tall...

5ft5. 🐡
Sandy Cowell said on 30/Jan/19
Ha ha! Now that he's newly married to Jackie, she has cottoned on to the fact that he's after her money!

It took one meeting with his former girlfriend, Alma, whom she realised was an absolute darling, for her to start suspecting things weren't as smooth as they ought to be. Alma said, "It's me who should be wishing YOU luck!"

It isn't long before you see Jackie sobbing in bed, with only a large bottle of gin for company!

Alma, played by Amanda Barrie, described Jackie as 'an inch shorter than me!' She is 5ft4, making Jackie 5ft3, and she doesn't doesn't clonk around in massive heels, just enough of a heel to make her look the professional woman she is. Johnny's Mike is neck and neck with Jackie, but his shoulders are a bit higher than hers.

5ft5 is quite enough for Baldwin, who is doubtless a nice guy in real life!

Probably 5ft6 in his prime though....
Sandy Cowell said on 18/Dec/18
Last time I talked about his appropriately miserable face! This time I am in disbelief of this person, who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend. When will these women realise what sort of scheming piece of work he really is?

Bah and humbug in the extreme! 😝

He's unbelievably selfish and 5ft6 going on 2" tall!
Sandy Cowell said on 11/Jul/18
Isn't he pulling a miserable face? That, coupled with the way he is treating the women on 'Vintage Coronation Street' at the moment say he might be suffering from small man syndrome, so today's vote will reflect that! I will go for nearer the average today, giving him 5ft5.

I wonder if he wore lifts for the show? Not that they do him much good. Deirdre Barlow towers over him and I read - many moons ago - that the late actress who played her, Anne Kirkbride, was 5ft7 or 8.
Sandy Cowell said on 8/Jan/18
I saw Johnny this afternoon on an episode of 'On the Buses'! He was being chatted up - by Olive - who answered the door without her specs on!
Johnny was young, attractive and about 5ft6 at the very most. He will have been his peak height in this and no way could he EVER have been the 5ft8 he claimed! In fact, he can have 5ft5.5 this time round, because he really was super, prime-of-his-life young in this programme - and super short!
Sandy Cowell said on 17/Nov/17
I can't see Johnny to ever have been as tall as 5ft8, even in the 1970's! I'm watching week day episodes from the year 1986 (ITV3 @ 2.40pm Monday to Friday, repeated at 6 o'clock the following morning), and on these old shows you can see that he can't be taller than 5f6.5 at the most, though probably 5ft6 even back then!
Furthermore, I think it's imperative that 5ft6 is the only height I have ever read for Johnny. It is usually added in an article enlightening us about his former career - as an opera singer!

I am sticking with 5ft6 - optimum!
CD said on 14/Nov/17
Rob what did William Roache who plays the long-standing Ken Barlow claim in the Spotlight directory? I'm guessing 5 feet 9 but I would peg him between 5'6" and 5'7" today in his 80s and say he was a peak 5'8.5" range, he was about 3 inches taller than Briggs who I would put at a peak 5'5.5" in all honesty.
Editor Rob
in the mid 70's William had his height listed at a whopping 5 feet 11 inches!
Tommy said on 31/Oct/16
I saw him in real life once, back in 2002. It was at some WWF/WWE event that he took his kids to.

I'm 5'6.5 and I could see the top of his head. He's 5'4 max.

Pretty much everyone under 6' seem to add one or two inches to their height. And I'm not even just talking celebs. The amount of people who think they're 5'8 and they're not even as tall as me... not sure what people are using to measure themselves with.
cd said on 29/Nov/14
That is a bit generous, he looked more of a 5ft 5 guy than 5ft 6 to be honest. Maybe even 5ft 4 in his later years in Coro.
Chris said on 6/Dec/11
maybe he had a different peak height like 5ft6 1/2 or 5ft 7
Robby D said on 21/Jun/11
I have never met him in person but I always thought he was around 5'6" perhaps less. Ironically, he used to claim 5'7" some years back and in an interview even stated, "I am four inches under six foot." I just noticed that one of the sites on the internet has him listed as 5'7.5" (171cm) which is laughable!
Shaun said on 29/Oct/10
Yeah he always looked short 5'5"-5'6" seems about right. I remember him next to Gail's mother in Coronation Street and she looked a lot taller than him.
TJ said on 15/Feb/08
Looking shorter than 5'6 on Echo Beach. I'd say 5'5 now.
Anonymous said on 14/Feb/08
I would say he was 167cm currently. He did look a bit short in corrie.
Editor Rob said on 28/Feb/07
His claim was in 1998, Daily Record, he said "I am 5ft 7in and 11 stone 4lbs"
Robert.R said on 18/Jan/07
I think 5'6" was exactly right in his prime. He looks shorter now whether this is because he has lost height over the years or because he has put on weight I am not sure about. He used to be really slim in his younger days, in fact I heard that when he went into the navy he only weighed about 105lbs.

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