Is Leonard Cohen less than 5 feet tall?
Watch what you say about my vacuum cleaner, Byron. It has never considered itself a poetry critic, does not consider itself a poetry critic, and will never consider itself a poetry critic. Even though it appears to have gone on unapproved sabbatical, what it does best is suck up dirt 
! If it's decided to drink a little dirty coffee on the side, during the late-night hours, you may be right, in the other sense of the word.
! If it's decided to drink a little dirty coffee on the side, during the late-night hours, you may be right, in the other sense of the word.
Re: Is Leonard Cohen less than 5 feet tall?
Just reading the discussion on the height of Leonard Cohen with interest, although it's 6 years since anything was posted as far as I can tell.
Leonard Cohen was an idol of mine as a university student and I took up guitar in the early 70's to learn to play his songs from the Songs of Leonard Cohen album which were given in tablature in an accompanying book to the album(which I still treasure). I still play these songs as well as others. I was reading an interview with Marianne Ihlen Stang about her life with Leonard Cohen and in it she describes Leonard Cohen as "strong, handsome, tall and dark". She said, "all the girls were panting for him". (http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/marianne2006.html) She obviously recollects him romantically as anything but short. However in a photo in the same interview he appears no taller and maybe a little shorter than she is and she is wearing no heels. It shows that the aura surrounding him very much projected a tall, larger than life image and still does. Don't forget that Frank Sinatra was only 5' 7". I can quite believe Leonard Cohen's height in his youth was around 5' 7 or 8"as on his passport(I'm sure men would tend to "round up" their height an inch or so anyway!) My father was 5' 8" when he married but by the time he was in his seventies he had shrunk around 6 inches. Everybody shrinks as they age and the shoulders and back become hunched and bent to a certain extent. So the current height of Leonard Cohen bears little relationship to his height 30 years ago. The discs in the spine also narrow with age and the vertebrae shrink.
I should perhaps mention for the record,that I am a man who is well below average height. I used to be 5' 5.5" but have shrunk an inch so far. I am pleased to see some short men get recognition, fame and even adulation(doesn't really apply to women who can be equally attractive short or tall). However I wish filmmakers did not feel it necessary to make men appear taller than they were by camera angles, special shoes and hidden tricks. I believe they stood Richard Burton on a platform in some of his scenes with women( he was 5' 9"). The height of Dustin Hoffman(5' 5.5) was pretty much hidden in his films and of Dudley Moore(5' 2.5") in Arthur. For some reason in a love story the leading man has to be seen to be taller than the woman including her heels. It makes it that much harder for the rest of us to fight the stereotype!
Best wishes to all Leonard Cohen fans.
Leonard Cohen was an idol of mine as a university student and I took up guitar in the early 70's to learn to play his songs from the Songs of Leonard Cohen album which were given in tablature in an accompanying book to the album(which I still treasure). I still play these songs as well as others. I was reading an interview with Marianne Ihlen Stang about her life with Leonard Cohen and in it she describes Leonard Cohen as "strong, handsome, tall and dark". She said, "all the girls were panting for him". (http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/marianne2006.html) She obviously recollects him romantically as anything but short. However in a photo in the same interview he appears no taller and maybe a little shorter than she is and she is wearing no heels. It shows that the aura surrounding him very much projected a tall, larger than life image and still does. Don't forget that Frank Sinatra was only 5' 7". I can quite believe Leonard Cohen's height in his youth was around 5' 7 or 8"as on his passport(I'm sure men would tend to "round up" their height an inch or so anyway!) My father was 5' 8" when he married but by the time he was in his seventies he had shrunk around 6 inches. Everybody shrinks as they age and the shoulders and back become hunched and bent to a certain extent. So the current height of Leonard Cohen bears little relationship to his height 30 years ago. The discs in the spine also narrow with age and the vertebrae shrink.
I should perhaps mention for the record,that I am a man who is well below average height. I used to be 5' 5.5" but have shrunk an inch so far. I am pleased to see some short men get recognition, fame and even adulation(doesn't really apply to women who can be equally attractive short or tall). However I wish filmmakers did not feel it necessary to make men appear taller than they were by camera angles, special shoes and hidden tricks. I believe they stood Richard Burton on a platform in some of his scenes with women( he was 5' 9"). The height of Dustin Hoffman(5' 5.5) was pretty much hidden in his films and of Dudley Moore(5' 2.5") in Arthur. For some reason in a love story the leading man has to be seen to be taller than the woman including her heels. It makes it that much harder for the rest of us to fight the stereotype!
Best wishes to all Leonard Cohen fans.
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Womanfromaroom
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Re: Is Leonard Cohen less than 5 feet tall?
Yes, same with Humphrey Bogart, too ... Apparently they put him onto a box in intimate scenes with female partners because he was so much shorter than most of them....
But all I can say (being no giant myself), I just faced Leonard a few days ago, and, well - he was on the stage and I was not, but he seemed in no way whatsoever "short" to me... On the contrary! But: Does that MATTER, anyway? As Saint-Exupéry puts it: "on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux"(= "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes"). And personally, I know very clearly what my heart tells me, as well as my mind...
But all I can say (being no giant myself), I just faced Leonard a few days ago, and, well - he was on the stage and I was not, but he seemed in no way whatsoever "short" to me... On the contrary! But: Does that MATTER, anyway? As Saint-Exupéry puts it: "on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux"(= "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes"). And personally, I know very clearly what my heart tells me, as well as my mind...
"You thought that it could never happen / to all the people that you became"...
Love Calls You By Your Name
Love Calls You By Your Name
Re: Is Leonard Cohen less than 5 feet tall?
Less than 5 ft i don't think. I stood next to him once and he was taller than me and I'm 1 meter and just about 60 cm. So i guess he's probably 1.68m or so