How tall was Montgomery Clift

Scarlett Rose said on 20/May/17
little sue said on 3/Dec/13
I always thought Katherine Hepburn was more around the 5ft 6.5 mark, she only got about 2 inch heels in Sudenly Last Summer so would take her only to about 5ft 7.5 which would account for Clift looking an inch or two taller.

Maths is not one of Little Sue's strong points! 5 feet, 6.5 inches plus another two is 5 feet, 8.5 inches, of course. 📏 There's a ruler.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 25/Mar/16
"Duke was not impressed by the frail 5ft10 actor"

Right....and Wayne would probably have a massive stroke if he was put in a room with Conan Stevens , Ralph Moeller, Kim Kold and Nathan Jones. He'd know what guys like Monty Clift had to go through.

ff said on 29/Nov/14
he wass taller then brando

littlesue said on 23/Jun/14
I always thought he looked more round 5ft 9 especially round Liz Taylor who we now all agree was never more than 5ft 2.5

Arch Stanton said on 21/Jun/14
He really does look max 5 ft 9 next to Lee Marvin in Raintree though, slightly below eye level, looked about 5 inches. I think 5'9" is definitely more accurate than 5 ft 10 anyway.

Arch Stanton said on 21/Jun/14
Looks even less than 135 pounds in Raintree County, Sinatra level skinny, but I think he's had an accident around that time and wasn't his best.

Arch Stanton said on 19/Jun/14
Shorter than the German actress in The Big Lift. Should have worn big lifts to compensate :-) I haven't noticed her footwear, but given that he'd be probably 5'10.5 in shoes she was pretty tall, she looks several inches taller.

Arch Stanton said on 19/Jun/14
Robert Ryan dwarfed him in Lonelyhearts, he was barely above mouth level. Difference looked easily 7 inches. He looked more 5'9" in comparison, sub 5 ft 10 I think is accurate anyway although at times he could look it.

Arch Stanton said on 19/Jun/14
Rob you might want to mention that Clift claimed 135 pounds in The Young Lions when Martin asked him his weight which is probably worth mentioning, just sure if you can find a height quote/ Can you add a photo, an earlier one was than later though! Actually seeing him next to Lee Van Cleef he was about eye level to 4-4.5 inches would be right. I got a good glimpse of Martin's footwear when he was walking and they look almost as thick as your new Dons! Like boats.

Arch Stanton said on 19/Jun/14
Looked 2 inches shorter than Dean Martin in The Young Lions but who knows what Martin had in his shoes. Martin was wearing lifts from early on in his film career.

Arch Stanton said on 22/May/14
Rob can you add A Place in the Sun, I Confess and Wild River? Looks 5'9" range in Wild River. His eyes look really strange in that film, sort of glassy eyed.

Arch Stanton said on 18/May/14
Looks about right in I Confess too. I've seen most of his films now and he always looked lost in them! He was a funny chap, unusually shy for a movie star anyway..

Arch Stanton said on 13/Mar/14
I felt sorry for Clift in Red River actually, I got a strong sense that Wayne thought he was a little wimp who had no right to be opposite him. In the fight scene Wayne seemed to thoroughly enjoy it LOL. Very bad casting but it was his first film I believe so the producers quickly realized they'd got it wrong casting him in a western and he soon turned to romantic and dramatic roles!

Arch Stanton said on 13/Mar/14
Katherine Hepburn was between 1 and 2 inches shorter barefoot than Spencer Tracy in Adam's Rib Sue, eye to eye, barefoot. Some people say Tracy was 5 ft 8 but he looked nearer 5'9 to me. Clift looked 3 inches shorter than Walter Brennan in Red River yet looked almost as tall as Ralph Richardson in The Heiress!! I think 5'9.5" is a good listing though, although he actually looks 5'11" range in The Heiress, lifts maybe although when he was seated at the piano his shoes looked normal..

Arch Stanton said on 13/Mar/14
Katherine Hepburn was between 1 and 2 inches barefoot than Spencer Tracy in Adam's Rib Sue, eye to eye, barefoot. Some people say Tracy was 5 ft 8 but he looked nearer 5'9 to me. Clift looked 3 inches shorter than Walter Brennan in Red River yet looked almost as tall as Ralph Richardson in The Heiress!! I think 5'9.5" is a good listing though, although he actually looks 5'11" range in The Heiress, lifts maybe although when he was seated at the piano his shoes looked normal..

little sue said on 3/Dec/13
I always thought Katherine Hepburn was more around the 5ft 6.5 mark, she only got about 2 inch heels in Sudenly Last Summer so would take her only to about 5ft 7.5 which would account for Clift looking an inch or two taller.

Arch Stanton said on 2/Dec/13
Oddly still seems taller than a heeled Katherine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer.

Arch Stanton said on 28/Sep/13
Nah actually he's stood face to face with Strudwick later on and I'd say 177 looks spot on. Winters had a little footwear advantage I think, not quite flats. But this is definitely nearer than 5'10" IMO.

Arch Stanton said on 28/Sep/13
Looks nearer 5 ft 9 next to both him and 5'4" Shelly Winters,

Arch Stanton said on 28/Sep/13
In Place in the Sun he looks rather short next to 6'1.5" listed Shepperd Strudwick. 5'10" looks impossible in comparison, unless Strudwick was nearer 6'3".

Arch Stanton said on 16/Sep/13
Clift can look a lot like Jean Claude Van Damme both facially and physically on screen, makes sense that you have them at 177.

Arch Stanton said on 16/Sep/13
Thanks Rob, I think that's about right now. Difficult to see a full 5'10" next to Lancaster. Borgnine though looked easily as tall as Clift. I think I and the official listing for Donna Reed is wrong. I think she was more 5'5" range, 5'6" max. I saw her recently in Its a Wonderful Life and I think 5'7 is false. She didn't look it next to Clift either.

Arch Stanton said on 12/Sep/13
Rob, what do you think?

little sue said on 1/Sep/13
I would have always put Clift at about 5ft 9.5

Arch Stanton said on 31/Aug/13
Rob can you look into this? More 5'9.5" I think.

Arch Stanton said on 31/Aug/13
Rob, Clift looked a bit shorter than Borgnine in that film but it might have been the angle. You have him at 5'9"! Maybe 177 for both would be nearer?

Arch Stanton said on 30/Aug/13
See 16:52 and 18:57. Proportionally he doesn't look a full 5'10 next to Sinatra, I think 176-7 would be nearer.

Arch Stanton said on 30/Aug/13
Rob pause at 7:32 Click Here (just deleted the ad that pops up behind your browser). Doesn't look a real 5'10" next to Lancaster. I think a downgrade at least to 5'9.5" might be nearer, I'll watch out for how he compares to Sinatra.

Arch Stanton said on 30/Aug/13
Burt Lancaster makes him look 5'9" range in From Here to Eternity.

Mark70 said on 5/Jun/13
Dear Rob,sorry for my english.As we can see in the Clift's with De Sica's photos of the site Click Here the real clift's height is 176 cm as Vittorio De Sica (from his biography). Change this height? Thank You

Knowitall said on 25/Feb/13
Ernest Borgnine was taller than five nine. I believe he was at least five ten. He was the same height as Bill Holden in The Wild Bunch and the same height as Glenn Ford in Jubal. Both Holden and Ford are listed as being five eleven. I think Borgnine was closer to five eleven which is why he appeared to be taller than Clift.

Clift was almost as tall as Clark Gable in The Misfits.

Clift was three inches taller than five foot seven Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity.

I believe Clift was five ten, no shorter. He was two inches shorter than six foot Ralph Richardson in The Heiress.

Mark70 said on 11/Sep/12
Hi i'm a italian supporter of this site,sorry for my english.Clift was in Italy in fifty years and near the famous director Vittorio De Sica (his height was 176 cm in the biography)Montgomery looks as tall as De Sica.in the movie " The young lions" he was shorter about 3 cm then Dean Martin (listed here 179 cm).Thank You.

Ayda said on 5/Sep/12
In Suddenly last summer, he looks as tall as Liz Taylor. She's 5.1,most certainly wearing heals, but that would make her 5.4 or so. I think he was 5.5

FrankieCee said on 7/Dec/11
I believe it impossible...just watched "From here to eternity" and Ernie Borgnine (listed @ 5'9") was by far a couple of inches taller...Monty must have been nearer 5'8" (+/- an inch), anyway that's my observation...

Toby said on 1/May/11
He was 5'10. Taller then Brando

guyfrommars said on 14/Jun/09
Sinatra wore lifts. Although John Wayne was at least 6ft3 he also wore lifts. Maybe Clift also wore some lifts to look full 5ft10. Everyone is Hollywood wore lifts those days...

RisingForce said on 10/Jun/09
Maybe 5'10" is a stretch for Clift. Frank Sinatra is supposedly about 5'7" and appeared about an inch shorter than Clift in From Here To Eternity, in full shots as well. 6'1" Burt Lancaster did look like he could have been as much as 4 inches taller and Clift even seemed shorter than 5'9" Ernest Borgnine in a scene! Though when they were walking they were about the same Ernest's shoes were obviously bigger.

Jackie said on 21/May/07
stumbled upon the movie "Red River" (1948) in which Clift played opposite John Wayne, John Ireland and Walter Brennan. It was amazing to see how many tricks were used, rather inconsistently, to make up for Clift's (enormous) lack of height, compared to his co-stars. In one scene he was with Wayne and Brennan. Standing next to Wayne, he was significantly shorter, of course. Brennan was surprisingly close to Wayne in height (although I.MDB only has him at 5'11", he looked 2 inches shorter than Wayne at best). Considering how much shorter Clift was than Wayne, in one wide camerashot, you could also see he was about as much shorter than Brennan. But: when the camera got closer and the shot became above the waist Clift, in a shot right next to Brennan, was suddenly about 2 inches taller!!! He then walked away, while Brennan remained in place and then walked in a semi circle behind Brennan to the other side before returning to stand next to Brennan, but now on that other side, again looking about two inches taller! But the director forgot one thing: you could see that Brennan's arms were much longer. The next shot had them walking to their horses and conveniently, Brennan's horse was several feet behind Clift's and so - from that perspective - Brennan remained smaller than Clift who was much closer to the camera. I watched that little scene absolutely dumbfounded at the use of every trick available in the book to make a difference in height supposedly less obvious, yet achieving quite the opposite! LOL. Having seen this movie and some of its scenes in particular I can in no way believe Clift's official height of 5'10". Compared to supposed 5'11" Brennan he looked to be less than 5'8". It was quite shocking. He looked like a boy.

Frank2 said on 20/Mar/06
Frank was 5'7". He usually wore lifts that made him appear to be two inches taller. I've met Franz and he's about 5'9".

Frank2 said on 8/Mar/06
Who by the way appeared at least three inches taller than Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity. Ernie Borgnine was taller in that film than Clift and appeared several inches taller than Sinatra.