How Tall Is Danny DeVito?
Danny DeVito is by far one of the most successful actors in the entertainment world. His career has spanned several decades — including memorable performances as Mr. Wormwood in "Matilda," Penguin in "Batman Returns," Louie De Palma on "Taxi," and, of course, Frank on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" — making him one of the most recognizable stars on both the big and small screen. And that's not just because of his larger-than-life personality, but also because he commands attention just about everywhere he goes.
And while DeVito isn't often a leading man in his movies (perhaps due to his short stature), he did tell The Guardian, "It all worked out for me. But acting is like any other business if you've got it in your heart that you want to write stories, or paint paintings, or build bridges, if you want to do anything. Once you've been bitten by that bug, it's your passion and you have to follow it. That's true whether you're tall, short, black, white, green, yellow."
With that said, a lot of his fans can't help but wonder just how tall Danny DeVito is off-screen. We've got the answer for you below.
The truth about Danny DeVito's height
Danny DeVito is just under 5 feet, according to him. (His exact height is reportedly 4 feet, 10 inches, per CelebHeights.) Sometimes the actor-director likes to add a few inches to his frame when it suits him — and, of course, joke about it, too.
"On a really good day, I'm 5 feet short. It's pretty difficult for me to play anything but the little guy. I don't play a good victim so I'm always the nasty little guy," he once said, according to CelebHeights. But there's a reason why DeVito is not as tall as your average on-screen star — he has multiple epiphyseal dysplasia. According to Hopkins Medicine, the condition is a genetic disorder that is very rare that affects bone growth.
Needless to say, that hasn't stopped DeVito from living his life to the fullest — in fact, his stature has even advanced his career. (Remember his role opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Twins"?) He told LA Mag, "I tell the story about my pants. ... Once I got to this size, I stopped growing, but I wasn't skinny. So, I couldn't go to a store and get clothes right off the rack. So, I used to have to go to the large boys' department. I told ['Taxi' producers] Ed [Weinberger] and Jim [Brooks] this story. We put that in the show. It's always good to draw from your life if you can."
And what he might lack in height, DeVito certainly doesn't lack in character and grace. Keep reading below to find out why.
Danny DeVito's has made a strong and positive impact on other people's lives
In a moving Reddit post, one fan shared a story about how the actor managed to make a strong impact on his life.
The Redditor was a troubled 13-year-old boy who perhaps got the best advice of his life when he met DeVito during a ski trip. The then-teen opened up to DeVito about his anguish at home and at "boarding school, where horrible abuse was taking place," the Redditor claimed claimed. He wrote that DeVito "was the first person who had really noticed the pain I was feeling. My family all thought it was an act to 'manipulate' them into letting me come home, but this stranger saw that what I was experiencing was real. He had true genuine compassion for me, and as he explained further, I began to understand why."
After DeVito told him about his similar struggles at a Catholic boarding school, "he told me that it would pass; that one day I would be an adult and all of these things would seem very far away," the OP recalled. "I cried, he told me everything would be all right. ... I lived my entire existence after that point trying to get to that safe adult vantage point that the stranger described to me. I wanted to be like him; alive, whole, and on the other side. Free."
With those words of wisdom, there's no doubt that DeVito changed at least one person's entire outlook on life — a moment that perhaps wouldn't have happened if the actor hadn't made a name for himself in Hollywood due to his height.