Posted on 03/19/2015 11:06:09 AM PDT by donna
Actors were once strapping hunks, thick-thighed he-men who had only to arrive at a film premiere to make everyone’s eyes bulge.
These Adonises towered above lesser mortals and had their suits made specially for them because they were such muscular specimens.
That’s the way things were when the likes of John Wayne (6ft 4in), Gregory Peck (6ft 3in), Charlton Heston (6ft 3in) and Clint Eastwood (6ft 4in) were in their prime.
They were big men playing big characters, often on top of enormous horses or engaged in butch boxing bouts.
Compare that with the recent Oscars ceremony, when our own Eddie Redmayne was announced as winner of the Best Actor category for his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything. The audience members sitting near him leapt to their feet to applaud — and little Eddie was suddenly dwarfed.
The actress Cate Blanchett loomed over him — she looked so much bigger than him, he could have been her lunch. And yet Redmayne, at 5ft 10in, is one of the taller modern male stars.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
A lot of male stars of the 1920s-40s were short to medium in height. Then, in the post-war years, and especially on television, there was a trend towards some particularly tall stars. Guys in the 6ft5 to 6ft7 range, like James Arness, Chuck Connors, Clint Walker, Fess Parker and such.
What stands out to me about modern-era male leads is not their height, but their bratty, metrosexual comportment and manner. I find them embarrassing, compared to the kind of sturdy, adult masculine protagonists the culture used to promote. I guess it’s just par-for-the-course in today’s faggoty America, but it never ceases to turn my stomach.
WUSSIFICATION.
Except, most actresses are taller than the actors!
It is Feminism oppressing men!
yep like Napoleon...
Yeah, lucky he had that tank to climb up on to kill all those Germans.
I will have to go find this Jack Reacher movie.
It was shot on location here in Pittsburgh.
and I think Nelson also was short...
In today’s Hollywierd Bogart’s lip scar and lisp would be eliminated by CGI.
Steve McQueen also did his own stunt work on the motorcycle in The Great Escape. That was one of the best parts of the movie.
No kidding. Cruise as Reacher.? It don’t fit. Especially since Child makes a point of describing, in every book, Reacher as a big muscular guy. Which would probably make him a foot taller and about 100lbs. larger than Cruise.
I will never watch that movie.
More than size, I think today’s actors have complete baby faces usually. The comedians might be an exception. A lot of the actors that got their start in westerns like Bronson probably couldn’t even get a call back today.
FReegards
Sophia Loren
Ahhhh what a woman! They don’t make true beauty like her as much as they used to.
Gary Cooper did manage to win 2 Oscars as best actor.
IIRC Reacher is 6'4".
Maybe the casting director is dyslexic and thought 4'6". (G)
But, the female costars were shorter than the actors - like real life.
Now days, every actor looks like a little kid next to his female costar.
A little research indicates that the theme of this article simply isn’t correct. Any list of current highest-paid actors is mixed, leaning toward the tall side.
You might want to look at his bio here.
He seems to have been all outdoors-man and Hemingway admired him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Cooper#Romantic_relationships
You have to look hard to find a non-hipster real man actor. Most are skinny jean, loafer wearing dweebs hence why movies are chocked full of cgi and not real acting/action.
But they kept Harrison Ford’s chin scar.
Bogie might still find some work in today’s Hollyweird, but the scripts today are far too weak to suit him.
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