#66
Post
by ian16th » Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:45 pm
Alan Ladd
Height
Most biographical sources speculate on Ladd's height, which legend contends was slight. Reports of his height vary from 5 ft 5 in to 5 ft 9 in (1.65 m – 1.75 m), with 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) being the most generally accepted today. His U.S. Army enlistment record, however, indicates a height of 5 ft 7 in.
Ladd and Veronica Lake became a particularly popular pairing because, at 4 ft 11 in, she was one of the few Hollywood actresses substantially shorter than he was. In his memoirs, actor/producer John Houseman wrote of Ladd: "Since he himself was extremely short, he had only one standard by which he judged his fellow players: their height.” To compensate for Ladd's height, during the filming of Boy on a Dolphin, co-starring the 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sophia Loren, the cinematographer used special low stands to light Ladd and the crew built a ramp system of heavy planks to enable the two actors to stand at equal eye level.[128] In outdoor scenes, trenches were dug for Loren to stand in. For the film Saskatchewan, director Raoul Walsh had a six-inch hole dug for 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m) co-star Hugh O'Brian to stand in, while using the excavated dirt to build a mound for Ladd to stand on, thereby overcoming the disparity in height.
Cynicism improves with age