Arnold Schwarzenegger is a lot of things: A bodybuilder, an actor, a producer, a politician, a businessman, an Internet legend and an all round cultural icon. One thing he may not be though, is a tall man.

Despite his reputation as one of the most physically honed human beings to ever step foot on Hollywood soil, no one actually knows how tall the man once called the Austrian Oak is – though he has tried to tell us himself:

“I’m 6ft 2in. I’ve heard rumours that I’m really much shorter in real life - like 5ft 6in or something like that - which is ridiculous. I can assure you this is not the case,” Arnie once boasted.

“People look up to me, and not just because I do a lot of work in the community. I mean, most people really LOOK UP to me.”

Only the internet isn’t easily convinced…

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The issue of Arnie’s height appears to come from a clash between his reputation as an “immense” Adonis-turned-actor, and his apparently average height – giving the action icon a distinctly “squat” appearance. (If he weren’t so ripped, would anyone notice?)

The result is countless anecdotes of Arnie being “shorter than you think” for such a screen giant, and a confusing stream of contradictory heights filling up the web.

“Why does this matter?” we hear you cry! We just love a good mystery.

Let’s have a look at the facts…

The evidence that he is tall

This photo that shows Arnie towering over 5ft 7in - 5ft 10in tall action star Sylvester Stallone…

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Arnold’s “official” height is 6ft 2in (188cm), though his Celebheights.com page (one of the most visited on the entire site) lists the star as having now “shrunk” to 6ft 1in (186cm).

Former competitive bodybuilder Vince Basille testifies to having personally measured Arnie in 1969, recording his then height as 6ft 1.5in (187cm).

Arnie is known to have the “legs of a tall man” (thought to be as long as a 36in inside leg measurement). His legs were even criticized during his early bodybuilding career for looking underdeveloped – most likely due to their extra length.

In Schwarzenegger’s book “The New Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding”, he admits to having what he called “hanging shoulders” (i.e. low on his torso). The shoulders are known to act as subconscious markers when estimating height, which could result in lower estimates for Arnold.

The evidence that he is short

Another photo of Arnie with Stallone, this time showing them the same height. We’re confused…

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Stats from the Austrian Oak’s body building days, which list his height as anywhere between 5ft 10in (178cm) and 6ft 2in (188cm), with no consensus.

Bob Mulholland, a political activist and former advisor to the California Democratic Party also claimed Schwarzenegger was 5ft 10in, and wore “risers” in his boots.