If you’ve ever watched The Adventures of Robin Hood and thought, "That guy looks like a giant among men," you aren't exactly wrong. Errol Flynn didn't just command the screen with that famous smirk and a rapier; he had a physical presence that made most of his co-stars look like they were standing in a hole. But in the world of Old Hollywood, where studio publicists lied about everything from an actress's age to an actor's "natural" hair color, height was often the biggest fiction of all.
So, errol flynn how tall was he actually?
The short answer is 6 feet 2 inches. Or maybe 6 feet 1 inch. Honestly, it depends on which set of paperwork you’re looking at and how much you trust a man who once famously said his only problems were "whether to have a drink now or wait a minute."
The Official Record vs. The Eye Test
In December 1938, Flynn filed his American Citizenship Application. This is generally considered the "Gold Standard" for celebrity stats because lying on a federal document is a bit riskier than lying to a fan magazine. On that paper, he listed himself as 6 feet 2 inches and 186 pounds.
That’s a big man for the 1930s.
For context, the average American male at the time was roughly 5'8". Walking into a room at 6'2" gave Flynn an immediate psychological edge. It made the swashbuckling believable. You could actually imagine him taking on ten of the Sheriff of Nottingham’s guards because he physically loomed over them.
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Comparing the Giants
However, film buffs love to scrutinize old photos. When you see Errol standing next to Jimmy Stewart, who was a legitimate 6'3", Flynn often looks a solid two inches shorter. Some researchers, like those over at The Errol Flynn Blog, have spent years dissecting still frames to argue he might have been closer to 6'1".
Why the discrepancy?
- Posture: Flynn was an athlete—a boxer and a tennis player—but as the years (and the vodka) caught up with him, his "heroic" stance started to slump.
- Footwear: Hollywood is the land of the "lift." While Flynn likely didn't need them, his co-stars often did, which can mess with your perception of his height.
- The "Hollywood Stretch": Studios loved to round up. If a guy was 6'0.5", he was 6'2" in the program.
Why His Height Mattered for His Career
Flynn’s stature was a tool. In Captain Blood (1935), he had to look imposing enough to lead a pirate crew. Warner Bros. specifically wanted someone who didn't just act like a hero but looked like one carved out of granite.
Basically, his height helped sell the fantasy.
If he had been 5'7", the fight choreography with Basil Rathbone would have looked entirely different. Rathbone himself was about 6'1", making their legendary duel in Robin Hood one of the few times Flynn faced an opponent who could look him in the eye. That physical parity created a tension you just don't get when a hero is swinging his sword downward at everyone.
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He was a specimen. Before the drinking and the hard living took their toll, Flynn was widely considered one of the most beautiful men on the planet. His height was the frame for that legendary physique.
The Myth of the "Short" Leading Man
There’s a persistent rumor that all the old stars were tiny. People point to Humphrey Bogart (5'8") or Alan Ladd (5'6") and assume everyone was standing on crates.
Flynn breaks that mold.
He was part of a "Tall Club" in Hollywood that included guys like Gary Cooper (6'3") and John Wayne (6'4"). These men were the skyscrapers of the Golden Age. Standing next to Olivia de Havilland, who was about 5'3", Flynn looked absolutely massive. It created that classic "damsel in distress" visual dynamic that audiences in the 30s and 40s craved.
The Decline: Does Height Shrink with Reputation?
By the time Flynn reached his final years, the 6'2" frame was weary. In his posthumous autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, he describes a life lived at a breakneck pace. By his late 40s, his health was so shot that an autopsy famously stated he had the body of a 75-year-old man.
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Heavy drinking and drug use can actually lead to spinal compression and poor posture. While he didn't literally "shrink" by inches, the towering, broad-shouldered Robin Hood of 1938 was a ghost by the time he filmed The Sun Also Rises in 1957. He looked smaller because the vitality was gone.
Final Verdict on the Flynn Stature
If you’re betting on it, go with 6'2".
It’s the most consistent number across studio records, passport applications, and military-adjacent paperwork. Even if he was a "weak" 6'2" (meaning closer to 6'1.5"), he remained one of the tallest leading men of his era.
What to Look for Next Time You Watch a Flynn Film
- Check the Eye Level: Watch his scenes with Basil Rathbone. They are almost perfectly level, confirming both were in the 6'1"-6'2" range.
- The De Havilland Gap: Notice how Olivia de Havilland often has to tilt her head back significantly to look at him. That's a 10-inch height difference in action.
- The "In Like Flynn" Silhouette: Look at his broad shoulders in The Sea Hawk. His height wasn't just vertical; he had the "V-taper" that modern bodybuilders strive for, which made him appear even taller than he was.
If you're interested in the logistics of Old Hollywood, your next step should be looking into the camera angles used by directors like Michael Curtiz. They often shot Flynn from a low angle (the "hero shot") to emphasize that 6'2" frame, a trick still used for action stars today. You can also compare his height to modern actors; Flynn was roughly the same height as Ryan Reynolds or Chris Hemsworth, proving that the "action hero" mold hasn't changed much in nearly a century.