Shorter women with proportionately longer legs "most attractrive" - Study

No wonder guys find Scarlett Johansson attractive. According to this study, the most attractive women have larger chests, are petite with legs long for their height. But this study doesn't go into a lot of detail. How long is, well, "long"? And why are petite, curvy women with long legs more attractive than taller women? Wouldn't having longer legs and a larger chest be enough? We know how tall Scarlett is because we can find the info in interviews and on IMDB. But what if she was just some random girl? If we're shown a picture of her, taken in a white backdrop without props or other people, would we still know she's petite? Would she still fit the ideal? In any case, I guess that's why most people don't find models attractive. While their legs are generally longer in proportion to the rest of their body, they have no boobs and are tall.

(by the way, the ideal man is tall with shorter legs.)

Guy or Girl....height is an issue if you want to win awards...

The average height of a male winner is tall. No different than that of women. However, unlike women, the comedy-drama ratio varies. For women, the dramatic actress is generally taller than the comedy actress, while it isn't necessarily the case for men. In fact, there are several instances where the comedy actor is taller than the dramatic actor in the Golden Globes, both in the television and film categories. In any case, the average heights of Emmy and Golden Globe winners, broken down into comedy and drama categories are (as I didn't include TV movies/miniseries in the posts about women and height, I won't include them for the guys):

Comedy:

Emmy: around 5'11"
Golden Globe (TV): 5'10 3/4"
Golden Globe (Film): 5'11 1/4"

Drama:

Emmy: 5'10 1/2"
Golden Globe (TV): a little over 5'10 1/2"
Golden Globe (Film): 5'11 1/4"

Notice the difference compared to women (where comedic actresses are, on average, shorter than drama), huh?

I am totally not surprised that the average height of an award winning actor is taller than the national average in the US. Why would it be the same? Has Tom Cruise, a SHORT MAN, ever won an Oscar? Nope. Though women are allowed to be shorter, at times (for the Oscars, women can be as short as 5'2" (Reese Witherspoon)), but no male winner has been shorter than 5'9" in the past eight ceremonies.

I've asked a few of my friends about this whole height thing, and many feel that taller people win not because voters prefer taller actors, but because it "just happened to be that way." I don't know if I really believe that, though. Being recognized with an Oscar, Emmy or Golden Globe is like being promoted to senior management or executive. And studies have shown that people in these positions are more likely to be taller than average.

Award Winning Actors and Height, Part III

So how tall is the average Oscar winning actor? For women, the Oscars had an average height of around 5'6 3/4" almost three inches taller than the US national average! 5'6 3/4" is also the average height of a woman in the Netherlands. So what about men? Would the average Oscar winning actor be around 5'11 3/4" or maybe even 6'? While I don't have this year's winners (of course not, they won't be announced until tonight!), I do have a list of winners from the 2001 to 2007 ceremonies.

2007: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), 6'2"

2006: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) 5'9 1/2"

2005: Jamie Foxx (Ray), 5'9"

2004: Sean Penn (Mystic River), 5'9"

2003: Adrien Brody (The Pianist), 6'

2002: Denzel Washington (Training Day), 6' 1/2"

2001: Russell Crowe (The Gladiator), 5'11 1/2"

Average Oscar Winner (2001-2007): Just over 5'11"

This is actually a little shorter than I had thought as I thought that it would complement the women's average of 5'6 3/4".

By the way, this year's nominees are:

George Clooney (Michael Clayton), 5'10 1/2"
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), 6'1 1/2"
Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), 5'9"
Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah), 6'
Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises), 5'11"

Average height for 2008 nominees: Around 5'11 1/4"

(For actresses, the average height of 2008 nominees average to 5'5", with two nominees being truly petite, including the predicted winner)

All signs point to Daniel Day-Lewis, especially since he won the Golden Globe. Daniel is the tallest out of this year's nominees...hmmm

Anyway, break a leg to all of this year's nominees. I'll have an Oscar wrap tomorrow and a wrap-up of this entire series on Tuesday.

Award Winning Actors and Height, Part IIB

Last time, we examined height and male Golden Globe winners for television acting roles. Today, we move on to film, as we inch closer and closer to Oscar Night. For Golden Globe TV winners, we noticed unlike the women, there were actually five years where the actor who won the dramatic role was shorter than the actor who won for comedy. Will this be true for film as well?

2008:

Comedy or Musical: Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street), 5'9"
Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), 6'1 1/2"

Average: 5 '10 1/4"

2007:

Comedy or Musical: Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), 6'3"
Drama: Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), 6'2"

Average: 6'2 1/2"

2006:

Comedy or Musical: Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), 5'8 1/2"
Drama: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), 5'9 1/2"

Average: 5'9"

2005:

Comedy or Musical: Jamie Foxx (Ray), 5'9"
Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator), 6'1"

Average: 5'10"

2004:

Comedy or Musical: Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), 6'1"
Drama: Sean Penn (Mystic River), 5'9"

Average: 5'10"

2003:

Comedy or Musical: Richard Gere (Chicago), 5'11"
Drama: Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt), 5'9 3/4"

Average: just under 5'10 1/2"

2002:

Comedy or Musical: Gene Hackman (The Royal Tannenbaums), 6'2"
Drama: Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), 5'11 1/2"

Average: 6' 3/4"

2001:

Comedy or Musical: George Clooney (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), 5'10 1/2"
Drama: Tom Hanks (Castaway) 6'0 1/2"

Average: 5'11 1/2"


Total Average: 5'11 1/4"

I'm actually not too surprised at the averages. As with the women, the male film average is a quarter of an inch taller than television. Also like the women, the winners in the comedy/musical category tend to be slightly shorter than the winners in drama. The winners' heights also show that there's more discrimination when it comes to short men than short women. Out of all the winners in since the 2001 ceremonies, only Joaquin Phoenix is under 5'9" and at the reported height of 5'8 1/2", he's really close to the 5'9" average. However, with women, there have been three winners, if you include Julie Christie (5'2") who won for actress (drama) this year.

Up Next: OSCAR WINNERS (up to the 2007 ceremonies, of course) on Sunday, February 24, 2008.

Award Winning Actors and Height, Part II a

We continue to look at actors and height in part two of our series. On Monday, we looked at Emmy winners, and it was found that the average actor who won an Emmy was just over 5'10", which is slightly above the US national male average. This matched the female winner, whose height averaged just above 5'5", again, slightly above the US national female average. Today, we continue the series by looking at Golden Globe winners, starting with television

2008 - Television:

Comedy: David Duchovny (Californication), 6' 1/2"

Drama: Jon Hamm (Mad Men), 5'11"

TV movie/miniseries: Jim Broadbent (Longford), 6'1 1/2"

Average 2008 height: Just over 6'

2007

Comedy: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), 5'11"

Drama: Hugh Laurie (House), 6'2 1/2"

TV movie/miniseries: Bill Nighy (Gideon's Daughter), 6'2"

Average 2007 height: Just under 6'2"

2006

Comedy: Steve Carell (The Office), 5'10"

Drama: Hugh Laurie (House), 6'2 1/2"

TV movie/miniseries: Jonathan Rhys Myers (Elvis), 5'10"

Average 2006 height: Just under 5'11"

2005

Comedy: Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), 6'

Drama: Ian McShane (Deadwood), 5'9"

TV movie/miniseries: Geoffrey Rush (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers), 6'

Average 2005 height: 5'11"

2004

Comedy: Ricky Gervais (The Office UK), 5'8"

Drama: Anthony LaPaglia (Without a Trace), 5'11"

TV movie/miniseries: Al Pacino (Angels in America), 5'7"

Average 2004 height: Just over 5'8 1/2"

2003

Comedy: Tony Shalhoub (Monk), 5'10"
Drama: Michael Chiklis (The Shield), 5'8 1/2"

TV movie/miniseries: Albert Finney (The Gathering Storm), 5'9"

Average 2003 height: Just over 5'9"

2002:

Comedy: Charlie Sheen (Spin City), 5'10"
Drama: Kiefer Sutherland (24), 5'9 1/2"
TV movie/miniseries: James Franco (James Dean), 5'10"

Average 2002 height: Just under 5'10"

2001:

Comedy: Kelsey Grammer (Frasier), 6'1"
Drama: Martin Sheen (The West Wing), 5'7"
TV movie/miniseries: Brian Dennehy (Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman), 6'2"

Average 2001 height: Just over 5'10 1/2"

Total average height: Just under 5'11"

I'm not too surprised at the total average height of 5'11", about two inches above the US national average. The average female Golden Globe winner (for television) is about 5'6", also two inches. I've also noticed that, at least with male Golden Globe winners, comedic actors aren't necessarily shorter than those who win in the drama category, unlike women. Are you surprised, readers?

Next up: Golden Globe winners, Part II B - Film on Friday, February 22.

Award Winning Actors and Height, Part 1

In Part One, we will look at men who have won lead acting awards in the Prime Time Emmys goin backwards from the most recent awards this past September back to 2001. For the purposes of this series of posts, the average male height is 5'9" and the height information is all from IMDB.

In 2007, the winners were:

Comedy: Ricky Gervais (Extras), 5'8"
Drama: James Spader (Boston Legal), 5'10"
Miniseries/Movie: Robert Duvall (Broken Trail), 5'10"

Average 2007 height: just under 5'9 1/2"

2006 Winners:

Comedy: Tony Shalhoub (Monk), 5'10"
Drama: Kiefer Sutherland (24), 5'9 1/2"
Miniseries/Movie: Andre Braugher (Thief), 6'

Average 2006 height: 5'10 1/2"

2005 Winners:

Comedy: Tony Shalhoub (Monk), 5'10"
Drama: James Spader (Boston Legal), 5'10"
Miniseries/Movie: Geoffrey Rush (Life and Death of Peter Sellers), 6'

Average 2005 height: A little over 5'10 1/2"

2004 Winners:

Comedy: Kelsey Grammer (Frasier), 6'1"
Drama: James Spader (The Practice), 5'10"
Miniseries/Movie: Al Pacino (Angels in America), 5'7"

Average 2004 height: 5'10"

2003 Winners:

Comedy: Tony Shalhoub (Monk), 5'10"
Drama: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), 6' 1/2"
Miniseries/Movie: William H. Macy (Door to Door), 5'9"

Average 2003 height: 5'10 1/2"

2002 Winners:

Comedy: Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), 6'2 1/2"
Drama: Michael Chiklis (The Shield), 5'8 1/2"
Miniseries/Movie: Albert Finney (The Gathering Storm), 5'9"

Average 2002 height: Just over 5'10 1/2"

2001 Winners:

Comedy: Eric McCormack (Will and Grace), 5'11"
Drama: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), 6' 1/2"
Miniseries/Movie: Kenneth Branagh (Conspiracy), 5'9 1/2"

Average 2001 height: Just over 5'10"

Total average height: Just over 5'10"

I would say that the average male height of emmy winners, like the average height of female winners is similar, about one inch above the US national average. However, it seems that there are fewer male winners who are more than one inch below the national average as females. There were about five different actresses below 5'4" who won Emmys while only 3 men below 5'9" have won since 2001. Interesting or not? I'd assume that other awards reflect this, but we just have to wait and see! Stay tuned Wednesday for the first part of the Golden Globe winners!

Short Men and Acting Awards

Back in September, we did a series on women, height and acting awards, and we proved that the average winner is generally average to tall, with actresses who win for dramatic roles being more less likely to be petite. But what about the men? Starting Monday and leading up to the Oscars on Sunday, February 24, we will be looking at the height of men who have won lead actor awards for the Emmys, Golden Globes and Oscars from 2001 until last year's awards. My guess is that the average male winner isn't that much off from the female. Slightly above average heighted to tall men are more likely to win, even though there are plenty of shorter-than-average people in show business. Taller people have more of a presence, even though one can play tricks with good camera technique, the right shoes or the right boxes/ditches (I recall reading about Minnie Driver having to walk in a ditch when she was in Circle of Friends because she's either the same height as Chris O'Donnell or slightly taller)

I will do the series in the same order as I did with women, starting with Emmy winners and ending with the Oscars on Oscar Night. The schedule will be as follows:

Monday, February 18: Part One - Emmy Winners (comedy, drama and miniseries/movie)

Wednesday, February 20: Part Two A - Golden Globe winners (film)

Friday, February 22: Part Two B - Golden GLobe winners (television)

Sunday, February 24: Part Three - OSCAR WINNERS

Please come back Monday for the first of several parts! :)

In Britain, the "ideal man" must be at least average height....

and wealthy. This is, of course, not really such a surprise, IMHO. According to a Daily Mail article, qualities the ideal man should have include: being at least 5'10", weighs exactly 12 stones, 7 lb (175 lb - I would assume that this would be in proportion to his height...a 6'2" male can weigh more), holds a university degree and is a doctor or a lawyer (other qualities include not having more than six sexual partners and no previous marriages or kids.) British women, like their North American counterparts, don't like smokers nor do they want to be "sports widows" (the article specifically said that "football [soccer] fans were given the thumbs-down.") The article also sites Jake Gyllenhal as an example of the "ideal." So ladies, do you agree with this "find"? Does Jake fit your ideal? (Jake isn't really my type...Guys I do like: Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Harry Connick, Jr.)Or do you prefer shorter guys? Would you choose, say, Daniel Radcliffe or Elijah Wood (both 5'6" according to IMDB) over someone who is at least average height? And what about the ideal woman? Do guys have one "ideal" for a shorter term relationship and another for marriage/long term (I'd prefer a straight male answer this, but I'm open to other answers too)? Do you think this "ideal" comes from cultural conditioning? What's the "ideal" in other cultures? I would assume that in say, Japan or Hong Kong, the "ideal man" is a variant of the above, though appearance will differ slightly.

By the way, according to this same study, only 2% of British women say they'll date a guy shorter than 5'.