1968: Malcom McDowell in if….

Malcom McDowell [5’8”] in his debut role: Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 feature film if....

Rushmore by way of Clockwork Orange. The violence in the final 10 minutes hasn't aged well in the days of actual school violence -- but otherwise, a decent flick. Malcolm's '60s British prep-school get-up is still on point. As well as the lovely Christine Noonan. And that sweet-looking BSA motorbike he steals.

Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke [5'5"] and much taller photog

Been a Radiohead fan since day one. Despite the odds at the time. I was big into punk in high school, and “Creep” was in heavy rotation on that much-hated (but secretly watched) bastion of corporate rock, MTV.

I liked it. Sort of in an ironic, tongue-in-cheek way. But I liked it. It had a certain I-don't-know-what. My good friend Corey went so far as to dub that single over and over again on both sides of a 60-minute cassette. Half ironic, half serious. I think Side B was the ironic side.

Another friend and I spent a lot of time trying to find another halfway decent song off of Pablo Honey to play on our show at the local college's radio station (that broadcast from a puny 10-watt tower). Pretty hard to do. “Anyone Can Play Guitar” was the closest contender, but it paled. One-hit-wonders...

Leo Castelli, Pope of Pop

Leo Castelli [5'6"] had a reputation for being a dapper dresser. He also had a rep for being the man who single-handedly "revolutionized the status of the artist in America and changed all the rules of the art market," according to Leo and His Circle, the forthcoming bio by Annie Cohen-Solal.

Here's a take by some artist buddy of his:

Who says short guys shouldn't wear double-breasted suits?

Google Image Search the guy. In almost every shot, he's either off-center at the bottom of the frame...

Sitting down while famous painters tower over him...

Surrounding himself with the very tall...

Behind, beneath or otherwise dwarfed by one of his gallery's large works of art...

Or trying his best to appear shorter than even himself...

"I don't like it when people say that I'm diminutive. I'm small, but not diminutive."

--Leo Castelli

Tony from Michael Apted's 21 Up

Title shot from the third installment of Michael Apted's documentary series Up! If you squint hard enough, Tony's sitting in the upper right corner of the 'one.'

Peter: You haven’t changed.
Tony: Don’t you think so? I think I got bigger…

Michael: You’re very short. Has that been much trouble?
Tony: Well, a bird said to me the other day, she says: ‘Ain’t you small?’ So I said ‘But you’re ugly; at least I can grow.’ What can they say to that? They can’t say nuffink, can they?

Tony: I’m a pest. I don’t mean to be a nuisance to the other patrons at the track. They don’t want to see a little boy nipping between their feet, running, putting a bet on. But that’s how you gotta do it: Just keep on and on and on, drive ‘em mad and they’ll go: ‘Oh, go on then. Get rid of ‘im.’

Tony: All I understand is dogs, prices, girls, Knowledge, roads, streets, squares... and mum and dad in love. That’s all I understand, and that’s all I wanna understand.