Shoe Lifts

"I went out and had these special shoes made. It's nothing new, I don't know if you know, John Wayne is 6'4 and wears 3-4 inch lifts in his shoes. I don't know who he wants to be bigger than, but he does and it's an old, old custom, I certainly did not invent it. In my case, it was more neccesary than it was for Duke Wayne. I had these shoes made and 2 to 3 inch lifts inside and the heel was another 2 and half inches or so and I walked around that way, wherever I could without falling over"

Robert Mitchum suggests (or jokes) Wayne wore lifts to make his already large 6ft 4 size appear giantlike. In the book Hollywood Wit, Mitchum is quoted as saying: "Wayne had four-inch lifts in his shoes. He had the overheads on his boat accommodated to fit him. He had a special roof put in his station wagon...The son of a bitch, they probably buried him in his goddamn lifts.". One of those myths.

Even a short article quoted on WENN entertainment network commented upon Russell Crowe and his alleged elevator shoes, "He wears special shoes to make him look taller. Russell had women falling all over him at a party in producer Jerry Bruckheimer's back yard - until he took his shoes off (and) suddenly lost several inches in height - because (he) had lifts in them. Partygoers say Bruckenheimer nudged Crowe, telling him, "Put your shoes back on, you're blowing your image."

An article from Copley News also reveals that an Italian shoemaker has a few secrets about stars and their heights. Regarding Sylvester Stallone he says: "I made him 4.5 inches taller for 16 years!" and he drops names like Dolly Parton, Douglas, DeNiro and that "I give you one more -- I made William Shatner 3 inches taller in the show."

Nowadays, elevator shoes are used by many celebrities. But you won't find many admitting it, if any. There was even one company who makes lifts (ShoeLift.com) that was quoted on their site as saying: "At our current location in the States we've had numerous security breaches. We have had several American media representatives trying to hack into our clients database and even intercepting orders." With standard 1 inch shoe lifts, they can fit in normal shoes, but stars have lots of money so can even get them designed in such a way that it is hard to tell an elevator shoe from a normal shoe unless you can see the whole shoe, which is usually covered by trouser. So judging heights is still going to be tricky for those few stars that choose to wear them most of the time, others simply won't care.

Screenwriter William Goldman, in his Adventures in Screen Trade book: Which Lie Did I Tell, comments that "Movie stars are short...You see, stars have lifts in their boots....They have lifts in their shoes, their loafers, their slippers. I know one who has lifts in their socks. But noone has figured out a way to put lifts in their feet (yet)"

Similarly, when a star mentions their height, do we really know if they are telling the truth? Thankfully some hollywood stars couldn't give a toss about their height and will happily divulge the information in interviews. Others tip-toe around the answer, whilst some may even lie about their stature. Also consider that many stars will have been measured when they're 20 or so, a percentage of them likely in their shoes and you can bet any that are, for instance 5ft 6.5 would round that to 5ft 7. Like a publicist who will round down a ladies weight, I think many would be tempted to round up an inch or so for shorter stars...

The photo below shows the effects of a good pair of shoe lifts (purpose built into elevator shoes for men):

The elevator shoes I'm wearing in the above photo are top quality hand made elevator shoes, and are available from Don's Elevator Shoes. For an exclusive 10% discount use the coupon code TheAllies1944 at checkout, courtesy of celebheights.

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