The semi-recent remake of 'The Great Gatsby' was a triumph of cinematography, but it would never have been made at all if there hadn't been a fantastic original film to base it on - and so there's a lot of praise owed to Alan Ladd, who gave a career-defining performance in the role during Hollywood's Golden Age. He was just as impressive in some of the other classics of that era, including 'The Blue Dahlia,' and 'The Glass Key.'
Ladd's presence on the screen was so domineering and powerful that it never even crossed most people's minds to wonder about his height. If they had, they've have been taken aback to find out that at 5 foot 6, he was significantly smaller than almost all of his co-stars. Chances are he'd have been regarded as a bigger name as he is had he not passed away too soon - an accidental overdose claimed his life in 1964, when he was 51.