Being a shorter man isn’t easy. It’s usually seen as a negative thing. You’ve probably heard about studies that supposedly prove short men make less money and are less attractive than their taller counterparts.
The crazy thing is, even though the media loves to spread these “facts”, many of them aren’t even true. Even if some of this stuff is true, it’s not worth dwelling on. After all, you can’t change your height.
Here’s the annoying thing – no one ever talks about short men in a positive way.
I think that’s lame. I may be shorter than average, but I’m still successful, healthy and well-dressed. More importantly, I’m happy and surrounded by people who love me (and who I love).
I’m not saying you can just flip a switch to magically make your height (or lack thereof) stop bothering you. It’s a huge source of insecurity for so many people, men and women included, and I still struggle with it.
But it doesn’t have to hold you back in life. To drive this point home, here’s a list of 100 amazing men who just happened to be shorter than average.
Some of the men on this list achieved amazing things before they died. Many are still doing awesome things with their lives.
From entertainers and artists to fighters and leaders, here are 100 remarkable short men everyone can look up to:
| Name | Height | Accomplishments |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. | 5’7″ | Leading the African American Civil Rights Movement using nonviolent civil disobedience |
| Bruce Lee | 5’7″ | Being one of the most influential martial artists of all time and creating Jeet Kune Do |
| Winston Churchill | 5’7″ | Becoming the greatest wartime leader of the 20th century AND winning the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| Napoleon Boneparte | 5’6″ | Winning hundreds of battles to seize control over most of Europe in less than 10 years |
| Urijah Faber | 5’6″ | Becoming one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial arts fighters in the world |
| Mahatma Gandhi | 5’4″ | Igniting freedom across the world by leading India’s Independence Movement using nonviolent civil disobedience |
| Josh Hutcherson | 5’7″ | Co-starring in one of the highest grossing film franchises of all time, The Hunger Games |
| James Madison | 5’4″ | Serving as the fourth President of the United States and helping draft the Constitution and Bill of Rights |
| Rivers Cuomo | 5’6″ | Founding Weezer, an American rock band that sold over 17 million albums worldwide |
| Prince | 5’2″ | Winning 7 Grammy Awards, selling over 100 million albums and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |
| Andrew Carnegie | 5’2″ | Going from poor immigrant to wealthy businessman by leading the growth of the American steel industry, then giving away almost all of his money |
| Robin Williams | 5’7″ | Entertaining the world through his work in such films as Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society, Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire |
| Bob Marley | 5’8″ | Selling over 75 million albums while popularizing reggae music and Rastafarianism worldwide |
| Robert Downey, Jr. | 5’8″ | Playing Tony Stark in the blockbuster film series Iron Man and overcoming addiction |
| Martin Short | 5’7″ | Winning numerous awards for his role in plays and films like Three Amigos, Father of the Bride and SNL |
| Paul Simon | 5’3″ | Winning 12 Grammy Awards as a solo singer-songwriter and one half of Simon & Garfunkel |
| Yuri Gagarin | 5’2″ | Being the first human to enter into outer space |
| Charlie Chaplin | 5’5″ | Becoming one of the most famous people in the world during the silent film era by writing, directing, producing, scoring and starring in his own films |
| Frodo Baggins | 3’6″ | Returning the “One Ring” to Mount Doom |
| Bono | 5’7″ | Being the front man of rock band U2 and one of the most influential philanthropists in the world |
| Ulysses S. Grant | 5’8″ | Leading the Union Army to victory as Commanding General during the Civil War and serving as the 18th President of the United States |
| Tom Cruise | 5’7″ | Becoming one of the most famous actors in Hollywood and one of the most powerful celebrities in the world |
| Pablo Picasso | 5’4″ | Co-founding one of the most influential art movements of the 20th century, Cubism |
| Thom Yorke | 5’6″ | Writing and performing for the award-winning, best-selling alternative rock band Radiohead |
| Peter Dinklage | 4’5″ | Winning an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for his role as Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones |
| Al Pacino | 5’7″ | Playing the two most famous Hollywood mobsters, Michael Corleone in The Godfather and Tony Montana in Scarface |
| Michael J. Fox | 5’4″ | Starring in the Back to the Future trilogy, helping find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease |
| Roger Daltrey | 5’7″ | Singing for The Who, one of the greatest rock bands of all time |
| Voltaire | 5’3″ | Writing thousands of poems, plays, books and letters as one of the most influential thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment |
| Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues | 5’3″ | Being the shortest man to ever play professional basketball in the NBA |
| Ben Stiller | 5’8″ | Writing, starring in, directing and/or producing more than 50 films that have grossed billions of dollars worldwide |
| Woody Allen | 5’5″ | Becoming one of the most influential and successful actors, writers, comedians and directors of all time, and being nominated for 24 Academy Awards |
| Harry Houdini | 5’4″ | Becoming the most famous escape artist of all time |
| Daniel Radcliffe | 5’5″ | Starring in the Harry Potter series, the highest grossing film franchise of all time |
| Humphrey Bogart | 5’8″ | Appearing in over 75 films, including Casablanca and going down in history as one of the greatest American movie stars of all time |
| Dustin Hoffman | 5’6″ | Winning two Academy Awards and 13 Golden Globe Awards for movies like The Graduate, Rain Man and Hook |
| Bruno Mars | 5’6″ | Rising to fame incredibly quickly to become one of the best-selling musical performers of all time and a Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter |
| Jack Black | 5’6″ | Starring in Hollywood hits like King Kong, Tropic Thunder and Kung Fu Panda, and co-founding the comedic rock band Tenacious D |
| Spud Webb | 5’7″ | Winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest as one of the shortest players in the league |
| Kevin Hart | 5’2″ | Being an award-winning actor, comedian, writer and producer |
| Ludwig van Beethoven | 5’3″ | Earning the status of one of the most famous and influential musical composers of all time |
| CeeLo Green | 5’6″ | Composing hit songs like “Forget You” and “Crazy”, and appearing on NBC’s reality show The Voice |
| Aziz Ansari | 5’6″ | Starring in NBC’s Parks and Recreation |
| Danny DeVito | 5’0″ | Co-starring in Taxi, Batman Returns and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and co-producing movies such as Pulp Fiction and Garden State |
| Jason Schwartzman | 5’6″ | Acting in movies like Rushmore and The Grand Budapest Hotel, and playing drums in the rock band Phantom Planet |
| Mark Wahlberg | 5’8″ | Becoming the rapper Marky Mark, a Calvin Klein underwear model, and an award-winning actor and producer |
| John Stewart | 5’6″ | Hosting satirical news program The Daily Show and winning 19 Emmy Awards |
| Elton John | 5’7″ | Selling over 300 million records and co-writing more than 50 Top 40 hits over a 50 year musical career |
| James “Logan” Howlett | 5’3″ | Defeating his arch nemesis Sabertooth and holding his own against the Hulk in some of the most epic battles the Marvel Universe has ever seen |
| Jason Bryant Acuña | 4’1″ | Playing “Wee Man” in the MTV reality franchise Jackass and skateboarding professionally |
| Apolo Ohno | 5’8″ | Winning eight medals in the Winter Olympics |
| Mario Andretti | 5’7″ | Being the only racing driver to win the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Formula One World Championship (plus over 100 other major wins) |
| Yogi Berra | 5’7″ | Becoming one of the best MLB catchers of all time and being named MVP three times |
| Henry Winkler | 5’6″ | Playing “The Fonz” on the classic American sitcom Happy Days |
| Beck | 5’7″ | Winning five Grammy Awards as one of the most influential and diverse multi-instrumentalists and composers of our time |
| Jason Alexander | 5’4″ | Playing George Costanza on one of the greatest TV series of all time, Seinfeld |
| Martin Scorsese | 5’3″ | Directing some of the most iconic films of all time, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Gangs of New York |
| Manny Pacquiao | 5’7″ | Being the first and only boxer to win titles in eight different weight classes and being elected to the Philippine House of Representatives |
| Genghis Khan | 5’1″ | Using political and military tactics to unite disparate nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia to form the Mongol Empire |
| Flea | 5’6″ | Being the bassist and co-founder of the legendary rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers |
| T.E. Lawrence | 5’5″ | Serving as a liason officer for the British Army in Egypt during WWI, writing The Seven Pillars of Wisdom and becoming the subject of the film Lawrence of Arabia |
| Sean McColl | 5’7″ | Earning multiple professional climbing medals and winning American Ninja Warrior |
| Truman Capote | 5’4″ | Writing iconic literary classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood |
| Jonah Hill | 5’7″ | Writing for and acting in critically-acclaimed films like Moneyball, The Wolf of Wall Street, Superbad and Knocked Up |
| Lionel Messi | 5’7″ | Garnering the reputation of one of the best soccer players of all time by the age of 27 |
| Mel Brooks | 5’4″ | Creating ultra popular comic parodies like Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and being an EGOT winner |
| Salvador Dali | 5’7″ | Becoming one of the most prominent surrealist artists in the world through such works as The Persistence of Memory and The Elephants |
| Bob Dylan | 5’6″ | Winning 11 Grammy Awards as one of the most influential, successful and enduring singer-songwriters of all time |
| William Faulkner | 5’6″ | Winning two Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| Alfred Hitchcock | 5’6″ | Earning the nickname of “The Master of Suspense” and being regarded as the greatest British filmmaker of all time |
| Spike Lee | 5’5″ | Producing and directing over 35 award-winning films, and examining racial relations and urban life in an honest, often controversial way |
| John Leguizamo | 5’8″ | Winning multiple awards for producing and acting in a wide variety of movies, plays and TV shows |
| Mike Myers | 5’7″ | Starring in comedies like SNL, Shrek, Austin Powers and Wayne’s World (which was based on the character he created) |
| Aristotle | 5’5″ | Remaining one of the most influential thinkers of all time, thousands of years after his death |
| Steven Spielberg | 5’7″ | Directing and producing some of the most popular and amazing movies ever made, such as E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and Saving Private Ryan |
| F. Scott Fitzgerald | 5’7″ | Writing The Great Gatsby, which became one of the most popular books ever written after his death |
| J. R. R. Tolkien | 5’5″ | Writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings |
| Ralph Lauren | 5’6″ | Founding one of the most successful American clothing brands to date |
| Henri Toulouse-Lautrec | 4’11” | Making a name for himself as the best-known painter of the Post-Impressionist period |
| Kanye West | 5’8″ | Winning 21 Grammy Awards, selling over 100 million albums and helping create the “alternative rap” genre |
| Bob Costas | 5’7″ | Hosting nine (and counting) Olympic games for NBC Sports, among countless other televised sporting events |
| Daymond John | 5’7″ | Founding the clothing company FUBU and appearing as an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank |
| Sean Sherk | 5’6″ | Holding a 36-4 mixed martial arts record, including a win against Nick Diaz, while fighting in both the UFC and PRIDE |
| Danny Padilla | 5’2″ | Earning the nickname “The Giant Killer” after repeatedly beating much taller men in international bodybuilding competitions |
| Alexander the Great | 5’6″ | Creating the largest political empire in the ancient world through military conquest and spreading Greek culture across the East |
| Franco Columbu | 5’5″ | Achieving champion level status in professional bodybuilding, Olympic powerlifting and amateur boxing |
| Jet Li | 5’6″ | Becoming a national Wushu champion, action movie star and fight choreographer in China and America |
| Darren Sproles | 5’6″ | Setting records in college and professional sports as one of the shortest and most talented running backs in the NFL |
| Simon Cowell | 5’8″ | Serving as the first judge on American Idol before creating the show The X Factor and signing numerous major musical acts to his own record label |
| Seth Green | 5’4″ | Starring in movies like Austin Powers, creating the show Robot Chicken and being the voice of Chris Griffin on Family Guy |
| Marc Anthony | 5’7″ | Winning two Grammy Awards and five Latin Grammy Awards, and acting in major Hollywood productions like Man on Fire |
| David Sedaris | 5’5″ | Writing multiple New York Times bestsellers like Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day that have sold over 10 million copies worldwide |
| Carlos Slim | 5’8″ | Becoming the wealthiest person in the world (the “Warren Buffett of Mexico”) by building an investment and telecom empire |
| Jesse Eisenberg | 5’7″ | Playing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (who is 5’9″) in the movie The Social Network |
| Gael Garcia Bernal | 5’6″ | Becoming an award-winning actor and director in both Mexico and the United States |
| Sergey Brin | 5’8″ | Co-inventing one of the world’s most popular and profitable companies – Google |
| Giorgio Armani | 5’8″ | Founding the brand Armani and becoming one of the most successful fashion designers of all time |
| George Lucas | 5’7″ | Creating Star Wars and Indiana Jones |
| Isaac Newton | 5’6″ | Laying the groundwork for classical mechanics |
Pretty impressive list, eh? And that’s just a small sample (pun intended) of short men who have helped shape the world and touch our lives.
Courtesy of themodestman.com
