10 Best Tall Actors

Who are the 10 best tall actors of all time? Here is a countdown of 10 guys who didn’t need lower camera angles to help them stand above the rest.

1. Robert Mitchum. With a deep baritone voice and a cool swagger, no man dead or alive could have convincingly intimidated Robert Mitchum on screen. Standing 6’1” with a chest the size of a whiskey barrel, Mitchum nonchalantly made his way through some of the most overlooked great movies in history. His performances in “Out Of The Past“, “The Lusty Men” and “Cape Fear“ alone qualify him as one of the ten best tall actors of all time. His performance in “Night Of The Hunter” is still one of the most terrifying in film history.
2. Clint Eastwood. Like Mitchum, the 6’4” Clint Eastwood needed very few words to convey his point. In “A Fistful Of Dollars”, he had a squint in his eye, a chopped off cigar in his mouth and a grimace on his face that could scare the boogie man. Eastwood’s art has always been the art of presence. In the Dirty Hair series, he found the perfect prop to go along with his tall, lean stature: a .44 magnum.
3. James Stewart. His portrayal of a man with unfulfilled dreams and money problems in “It’s A Wonderful Life”, as well as his courage in the name of truth and democracy in “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington”, reminds each new generation of film goers why Jimmy Stewart was the every-man actor. Watch “The Naked Spur and “Vertigo” to see the 6’3” actor express a more deranged, obsessive and borderline psychotic range of emotions .
4. Cary Grant. He could alternate between screwball comedies like “Bringing Up Baby” and adrenaline charged suspense thrillers like “North By Northwest” with the kind of ease that made it impossible to pin him down. Terms like “dramatic actor” or “comedienne” almost seemed irrelevant when it came to describing a man whose style could express both at the same time. As one of the ten best tall actors of all time, Cary Grant was known for having the nicest face in Hollywood, with enough charm to sweep any woman off her feet. Oh, and it didn’t hurt that he was 6’1“.
5. John Wayne. Old fashioned American values personified, the Duke stood 6’5” in over 150 films. John Wayne was mostly known for his westerns, though he also did some of the great war films, including “The Longest Day” and possibly the most underrated of all WWII movies, “They Were Expendable“. An American film icon if their ever was one, Wayne’s greatest performance was also one of his most tormented. His portrayal as the lonely and bitter Ethan Edwards in “The Searchers” will make anyone who thinks of him as just a monotone with spurs think twice.
6. John Carradine. Appearing in over 350 films between 1930 and his death in 1988, the 6’1” John Carradine might not only be the one of the ten best tall actors of all time, but the best tall character actor period.
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He might blow up half the planet in order to save the world, but he never takes himself too seriously while doing it. It’s no mystery why the 6’2” former Mr. Olympia is one of the ten best tall actors of all time, as well as the world’s greatest live-action cartoon character.
8. Charlton Heston. For an example of his greatness, see “Planet Of The Apes”. Who else could have cried out lines of dialogue like “You bloody baboon! You cut up his brain!” while acting opposite of men and women wearing ape costumes and still pull it off? The 6’3” Charlton Heston. That’s who.
9. Gregory Peck. As Atticus Finch in “To Kill A Mockingbird“, the 6’3” Gregory Peck stood for honesty and courage in the face of intolerance.
10. Gary Cooper. The very definition of meek, this 6’3” actor personified integrity in such classic roles as “High Noon“, “Sergeant York” and “Mr. Deeds Goes To Town“, ensuring him a spot on our list as one of the ten best tall actors of all time .

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