(Image via Wiki)

I keep a crazy-long list of every (!) star age 80+ HERE; I've lovingly maintained it for nearly a dozen years. It's crazy if you glance at it because all the pink represents famous names who have died in the interim. Fame, and life, are fleeting!

For fun (?), here is a list of the 40 oldest stars currently. It is somewhat heartening that there are so many nonagenarians that I couldn't include anyone under 95.

Some notes:

I'm trying to avoid a list of EVERY famous figure, so I don't include Noam Chomsky and Warren Buffett, for example. I'm avoiding politics and business. These people are actors, musicians, dancers and directors.

I also skipped over some names whose ages would qualify them, but whose work — I subjectively think — is comparatively minor. Though I don't doubt there will be some people on the list even 50-year-old fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood might not know offhand, most of those are people with, nonetheless, some kind of connection to an iconic project, some unique distinction.

Finally, this will be a living — or dying? — list. I'll update it with others as these people depart.

Let's get this going while all 100 are with us ... and please comment how many you could ID from their names alone:

High note: Elisabeth in her youth (Image via head shot)

(1) Elisabeth Waldo, 106 (6/18/18) — Violinist who performed with Yma Sumac, and whose kid sister was Janet Waldo, the voice of Judy Jetson. I met Janet, and at the time I spoke with her had zero idea she was past 90. She lived to be 97. Elisabeth is currently considered the oldest entertainer of any note still living.

Caren recovering from a plane crash (!) in 1949 & celebrating her 105th! (Images via Instagram)

(2) Caren Marsh Doll, 105 (4/6/19) — Dancer who was Judy Garland's Wizard of Oz (1939) double — and whose feet are the ones we see in the movie clicking heels. She was also reportedly an extra in Gone with the Wind (1939), so appeared in arguably the two most famous films of all time ... and is alive 86 years later.

A member of the Ray List (Image via Library of Congress)

(3) Ray Anthony, 103 (1/20/22) — Last surviving Glenn Miller Orchestra member, and a bandleader in his own right. Interestingly, his only (ex-) wife — Mamie Van Doren — is also on my list, though bubbling under in the fuller Top 100.

(4) Annette Warren, 102 (7/11/22) — Vocalist who dubbed Ava Gardner in Show Boat (1951). Most recently performed publicly at 102.

Another nice dress (Image via RKO)

(5) Jacqueline White, 102 (11/27/22) — Blonde ingénue who is the last surviving actress to share the screen with Laurel and Hardy,  in Air Raid Wardens (1943).

Having a ball (Image via head shot & video still)

(6) Vincent Ball, 101 (12/4/23) — Very busy Australian actor who appeared in such films as Breaker Morant (1980) and Phar Lap (1983).

Catherine Deneuve's mother lived to be 109. Her Umbrellas mom, Anne, Vernon, is now 101! (Image via 20th Century Fox)

(7) Anne Vernon, 101 (1/9/24) — French actor who worked for 25 years, appearing in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and Therese and Isabelle (1968).

Carrie on! (Image via video still)

(8) Priscilla Pointer, 100 (5/18/24) — Memorable in Carrie (1976) alongside her daughter, Amy Irving. Steven Spielberg's former mom-in-law.

The Birds: Every One of Hitchcock's Still-Living Leading Ladies HERE

A train-ed actor (Image via video still)

(9) Eva Marie Saint, 100 (7/4/24) — Oldest and earliest living Oscar winner, for 1954's On the Waterfront, she was in the original production of The Trip to Bountiful on Broadway in 1953 and was in such noteworthy films as Raintree County (1957) and Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959). Arguably the oldest inarguably famous actor alive. Her last on-screen acting — so far! — was in 2019.

Hartley became a painter, recently doing a series about the war in Ukraine. (Images by Warhol, family photo & head shot)

(10) Ted Hartley, 100 (11/6/24) — Minor actor and major film and Broadway producer (including 2008's Gypsy with Patti LuPone) who was wed to actress and socialite Dina Merrill.

Thief of hearts (Image via video still)

(11) Brigitte Auber, 99 (4/27/25) — Many Hitchcock female actors have lived to ripe old age. Auber, a French thesp, appeared in his To Catch a Thief (1955). Interesting that two actors in Cary Grant-starring Hitchcock films appear on the list back to back. Far better known in France, she will hopefully turn 100 in 2025.

(12) June Lockhart, 99 (6/25/25) — Best known as the mom on TV's Lost in Space (1965-1968), Lockhart has many other distinctions — a rare survivor who appeared in a 1930s film (1938's A Christmas Carol), she was in the classics Sergeant York (1941) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), was the mom on 200 episodes of Lassie (1958-1964), was a Miss Universe co-host and was in the horror TV movie Curse of the Black Widow (1977). She's the mom of actors Anne and Lizabeth Lockhart.

The way they (you guessed it) were (Image via handout)

(13) Alan Bergman, 99 (9/11/25) — Songwriter who, with his late wife Marilyn Bergman, won four Emmys, three Oscars and two Grammys. Some of their iconic songs: “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), “The Windmills of Your Mind” (1968), “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” (1969), “The Way We Were” (1973), “It Might Be You” (1982) and selections from Yentl (1983). Second oldest living Oscar winner.

The right woman (Images via Time, video still & Warner Bros.)

(14) Peggy Webber, 99 (9/15/25) — Actor in Orson Welles's Macbeth (1948) and Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956). Also a prolific writer and director on TV. Fascinating 2023 interview with her here.

She said yes to everything. (Image by Matthew Rettenmund & via NBC)

(15) Lee Grant, 99 (10/31/1925) — Oscar nominee for Detective Story (1951) — her first movie — Grant is a survivor of the Hollywood Blacklist who won the Oscar (making her the third oldest living Oscar winner) for Shampoo (1975) and was a trailblazing female director, including of the 1980 film Tell Me a Riddle. Her eclectic film career (1977's Airport '77, David Lynch's Mulholland Drive in 2001) was enhanced by work on the stage and on TV, most famously as the killer in the pilot for Columbo in 1971.

On tap (GIF via GIPHY)

(16) Dick Van Dyke, 99 (12/13/25) — One of the biggest TV icons of all time for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) and Diagnosis: Murder (1993-2001), he owns six Emmys, a Grammy and a Tony, plus famously starred in the films Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Mary Poppins (1964 — and its 2018 reboot Mary Poppins Returns) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). Staying in the public eye and still light on his feet at 99, Van Dyke has enjoyed a Betty White-like old age.

Here comes the fuzz! (Image via video still)

(17) Gene Shalit, 98 (3/25/26) — Forever film critic on Today for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2010.

Dancer from the dance (Image via Wide World)

(18) Bambi Linn, 98 (4/26/26) — Dancer and actress who is the final surviving original cast member from Broadway's Oklahoma! (1943).

The host with the most sense (Image via video still)

(19) David Attenborough, 98 (5/8/26) — British presenter and writer who has been a BBC institution forever and ever.

Katharine was also great. (Images via RKO & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(20) Marilyn Knowlden, 98 (5/12/26) — One of the longest-surviving former child actors of all time, Knowlden began acting at 4, meaning her debut arrived in 1931 — an incredible 94 years ago. Her work included pre-Code films like The Cisco Kid (1931), Call Her Savage (1932) with Clara Bow, the first talkie take on Little Women (1933) by George Cukor, the first Imitation of Life (1934) with Claudette Colbert, David Copperfield (1935), Les Misérables (1935), the first Show Boat (1936) directed by James Whale, Anthony Adverse (1936), A Woman Rebels (1936) with Katharine Hepburn, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and All This, and Heaven Too (1940) with Bette Davis. An astounding six of her films were Best Picture nominees, even though she worked only from 1931-1940.

Her career was Brief. (Images via Eagle-Lion & Blackmorevale.co.uk)

(21) Margaret Barton, 98 (5/27/26) — British actor who is the last survivor of the 1945 David Lean classic Brief Encounter.

You'll never get a harrumph out of this guy. (Image via video still)

(22) Mel Brooks, 98 (6/28/26) — One of the 21 EGOTs, Brooks has been working since 1949, and still takes meetings — and his lifelong penchant for mocking Nazis (remember his performance opposite his late wife Anne Bancroft in 1983's To Be or Not to Be?) should really be copied in 2025. Who knew?! He's cut albums, done Broadway, published books, was part of the legendary Your Show of Shows (1950-1954) writing staff and directed some of the funniest flicks ever made: The Producers (1967), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), High Anxiety (1977) and, arguably, more. He's the fourth oldest living Oscar winner.

Hollywood's first Tiny Tim (Images via MGM & video still)

(23) Terry Kilburn, 98 (11/25/26) — Former child actor who appeared in A Christmas Carol (1938), Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939), Swiss Family Robinson (1940), National Velvet (1944) and Black Beauty (1946). Later a theater actor, he ended his film work with another classic — Lolita (1962).

Her career spans 67 years — and counting. (Images via video still)

(24) Lisa Lu, 98 (1/19/27) — Chinese-American acting legend who is a rare example of a living actor who had a prominent role on '50s TV, as Miss Mandarin on Yancy Derringer (1958-1959). More prominently, she was Hey Girl on Have Gun — Will Travel (1961). Along with extensive Chinese and Hong Kong credits, she was on the miniseries Noble House (1988) and made big impressions in the major films The Last Emperor (1987), The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018). She is still working.

Of note (Images via head shot & social media)

(25) Leontyne Price, 98 (2/10/27) — This American soprano was the first African-American opera star, singing regularly from 1952-1997. She gave her last public performance in 2001, an a cappella tribute to 9/11 victims. I believe she may be the earliest living Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

One of the last character actors who began working in the '50s (Images via Steven Perros & video still)

(26) H.M. Wynant, 97 (2/12/27) — Hardly a household name, I bet you recognize Wynant. A couple of his more interesting film credits: the Elvis movie It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). Prolific in TV guest spots, he just collaborated on an authorized bio called H.M. Wynant: You Must Believe.

Hot stuff, comin' through! (Image via ABC)

(27) Betty Harford, 97 (1/28/27) — Stage actor associated with John Houseman who has many classic-TV credits, memorably as the cook Hilda on Dynasty (1981-1989).

Just a KITT, and in 2018 with his wife Bonnie Bartlett — who also appears on this list (Images via NBC & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(28) William Daniels, 97 (3/31/27) — The Emmy winner for St. Elsewhere (1982-1988), the voice of KITT on Knight Rider (1982-1986) and Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World (1993-2000), there is no doubt that Daniels is a familiar face on TV. He appears to have closed out his on-screen career by reprising Feeny on Girl Meets World (2014-2017). 

She vanted to be together ... (Images via MGM & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(29) Cora Sue Collins, 97 (4/19/27) — Prolific former child actor who debuted in films in 1932. She worked with Claudette Colbert in Torch Song (1933), with Greta Garbo in Queen Christina (1933) and with Colleen Moore in The Scarlet Letter (1935). She retired in 1945, and 80 years later still makes appearances at autograph shows.

(Images via video still & family photo)

(30) Bette Ford, 97 (6/24/27) — Actor and model from the 1940s on who became a bullfighter.

Does he make you horny? (Image via NBC)

(31) Doc Severinsen, 97 (7/7/27) — The jazz trumpeter's incredible career began in the 1940s, he signed up with NBC in 1949 and he is known to just about everyone over the age of 50 for his 30-year Tonight Show stint. He gave his final concert on September 1, 2022.

Man of a thou— well, a lotta faces (Images via video still)

(32) William Smithers, 97 (7/10/27) — Actor who debuted on Broadway opposite Olivia de Havilland in the 1951 production of Romeo and Juliet. He reached his widest audience as Jeremy Wendell on Dallas (1981; 1984-1989). 

Her final Broadway show was My Fair Lady, which ended in 2019. (Images via head shot & Joan Marcus)

(33) Rosemary Harris, 97 (9/19/27) — Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe winer who has been nominated for just about everything she hasn't already won, she made her stage debut in 1948. In spite of her many legendary stage performances, TV and movie gigs, she is possibly most widely known as May Parker in the Spider-Man films of 2002-2007. Her daughter is acclaimed actor Jennifer Ehle.

You deserve an award for the role that you play ... (Image via RichardSeff.com)

(34) Richard Seff, 97 (9/23/27) — He became a professional actor in 1946 and made his TV debut in 1953, but was for the most part a Broadway and stage actor. For many years an artist's rep and also a writer (his Paris Is Out! was on the Great White Way in 1970), he gave his last stage performance in 2006. In 2003, Actors' Equity established the Richard Seff Award for character actors who are 50 years or older to honor the best lead and supporting performances on the New York stage.

A four-octave wonder (Image via Parlophone)

(35) Cleo Laine, 97 (10/28/27) — The English singer known to spit some mean scat, which she has done since the 1950s. The widow of musician John Dankworth, she announced his death only after completing a performance she'd committed to.

His docs are about what's up. (Image via Criterion)

(36) Marcel Ophuls, 97 (11/1/27) — This documentary filmmaker is known for The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) and the Oscar-winning Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988). Fifth oldest living Oscar winner.

Beverly, center of the universe (Images via Warner Bros., ABC & by Joan Marcus)

(37) Estelle Parsons, 97 (11/20/27) — This indefatigable Oscar winner for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) is also an accomplished Broadway actor with five Tony nominations who blew me away when she replaced Deanna Dugan in the show in 2008. She ran up and down stairs like a kid, and she was 78. Of course, she is forever and always Roseanne and Jackie's improbably lesbian mom on Roseanne (1989-1997) and The Conners (2018-2024). I can vouch for how nice she is when you bump into her at a Dunkin' Donuts.

Glamour gal (Images via headshot)

(38) Donna Martell, 98 (12/24/27) — Republic western actor from 1947 on who acted on such early-TV shows as The Adventures of Kit Carson (1952-1953) and The Bob Cummings Show (1955-1956).

I believe Sheiner is the last significant actor from The Odd Couple. (Images via video still & headshot)

(39) David Sheiner, 98 (1/13/28) — This actor started his career in 1952, appearing on Broadway, TV and in features. His most memorable films were The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1965 (he was James the Elder), The Odd Couple (1968), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and Blue Thunder (1983).

Movie dad (Images via Universal & Cameo)

(40) Paul Dooley, 96 (2/22/28) — Everyone recognizes this guy! Dooley, one of the most prolific American character actors, stood out in Breaking Away (1979), as Wimpy in Popeye (1980), Sixteen Candles (1984) and Runaway Bride (1999), racking up lots of work with Robert Altman and Christopher Guest. Making a TV debut in 1963, his most recent film was in 2023 — I mean, this guy first got divorced in the 1950s, so he's been around! There is one pre-production film listed on IMDb, but I doubt it will happen, as two cast members (John Amos and Louis Gossett Jr.) have died. But as for stopping, he had his first play produced in 2013 and published his memoir in 2022.

Charity case (Images via headshot)

(41) Peggy Dow, 96 (3/18/28) — This glamorous actor was only in Hollywood for three years (1949-1952), but appeared in the classic Harvey (1950). She retired to married a rich oil magnate and made a name for herself as a philanthropist in Oklahoma.

A Kiss before dying (Image via UA)

(42) Gaby Rodgers, 96 (3/29/28) — This actor, theater director and writer earned her place in silver-screen history playing Lily Carver in the classic noir thriller Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Last I saw of her was in 2011.

The show must, and will, go on! (Images via headshot & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(43) Marilyn Maye, 96 (4/10/28) — Singing since the 1940s, Maye broke through in the mid-'60s in her mid-30s, a favorite of Steve Allen. She's appeared onstage and as an in-demand cabaret act ever since, up to and including 2025. I met her at a Bob Mackie screening last year, and she was very youthful and bubbly, not to mention surprised to be recognized.

(44) Hazel Ascot, 96 (5/10/28) — Rightfully compared to Shirley Temple, this British tap-dancing icon peaked in the 1930s, more than 80 years ago. She debuted in 1937's Talking Feet and danced in Stepping Toes the following year, though was more a live act. Decades later, a fan club devoted to her was exposed as having provided cover for a ring of pedophiles.

Call boy (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

(45) James Ivory, 96 (6/7/28) — When Ivory took home an Oscar for writing Call Me by Your Name in 2018 at age 89, he became the oldest Oscar winner in any category of all time. Making films from 1961 with his late life partner Ismail Merchant, he helped create some of the toniest films of the past 60 years, including The Bostonians (1984), A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992) and The Remains of the Day (1993). He and Merchant constitute the longest partnership in indie-film history. Ivory directed a doc as recently as 2022.

How the Woim turns ... (Images via MGM & by Michael Stern)

(46) Sidney Kibrick, 96 (7/2/28) — One of the few survivors of the iconic Our Gang series of shorts, Kibrick appeared in 20+ of them from 1933 (!) and 1939, as bully Woim the last couple of years. Incredible to have a man who is still making rare public appearances with firsthand knowledge of what moviemaking was like 92 years ago.

Good-script girl (Images via head shot, Paramount & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(47) Nancy Olson, 96 (7/14/28) — Olson, who debuted in the '40s, was so effective as Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard (1950), in which she was fourth-billed, making her a rare survivor of an undisputed screen classic made in the '50s or before. (Try finding someone from the same year's All About Eve, with its far bigger cast.) Oscar-nominated for that, she had a varied career afterward, including appearing in Pollyanna (1960), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), Son of Flubber (1962), Airport 1975 (1974) and Making Love (1982). Her husbands were interesting, too: lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and Capitol Records exec Alan W. Livingston. She is an eager storyteller, and in 2022 published A Front Row Seat: An Intimate Look at Broadway, Hollywood, and the Age of Glamour.

The Cooks at Carole's New York cabaret debut in 2018 — she was 94. (Images by Matthew Rettenmund)

(48) Tom Troupe, 96 (7/15/28) — This Broadway actor (he debuted in 1957 in the original production of The Diary of Anne Frank) was also an occasional film and TV actor, including in such disparate films as Che! (1969), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Summer School (1987) and My Own Private Idaho (1991). He was wed to the legendary Carole Cook from 1964 until her death in 2023.

Livin' la Veda loca (Images via CBS, Warner Bros. & video still)

(49) Ann Blyth, 96 (8/16/28) — What a treat to have two women who gave all-time great, Oscar-nominated supporting performances in two of the finest films ever made back to back on this list! Blyth's feat is even more spectacular, in that her film — Mildred Pierce — is even earlier, from 1945. She started as a child performer, so was active from 1933, 92 years ago, and made a Broadway debut in 1941 and her first movie in 1944. She was also in Kismet (1955) and The Helen Morgan Story (1957), and made a classic appearance on a 1964 Twilight Zone episode in which she played a literally eternal beauty. After that, she did just 10 more TV shows before retiring. She's also remembered as a Hostess TV pitchwoman from the '70s. In 2025, she was set to do an autograph show but canceled last-second.

(50) Garry Watson, 96 (9/27/28) — You probably haven't heard of him, but Garry Watson is the last of the performing Watsons, the last human being on earth to have appeared in a 1920s film and the last human being on earth to have appeared in a Silent Era (c. 1896-1929) silent movie. Long forgotten, most of his work was uncredited.

Mother, mothering (Images via video still, ABC & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(51) Marion Ross, 96 (10/25/28) — Mrs. C on Happy Days (1974-1984) and Sophie Berger on Brooklyn Bridge (1991-1993) actually has one of the longest and fullest careers of just about anyone, with some 200 TV and movie credits that stretch back to 1953, when she was on Life with Father as a maid. She was also on a 1958 episode of the TV institution Perry Mason. Among her films: The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Sabrina (1954), Lust for Life (1956), Some Came Running (1958) and The Evening Star (1996). Her most recent on-camera performance was 2021, and she did a voice on SpongeBob SquarePants in 2024. Her son lovingly posts photos at each birthday.

Scream queen 1.0 (Images via Universal & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(52) Kathleen Hughes, 96 (11/14/28) — Though this blonde bombshell appeared in numerous movies and on early TV shows, her true claim to fame is as the last survivor of the sci-fi classic It Came from Outer Space (1953) ever since the 2024 death of co-star Barbara Rush. She's acted only five times after 1980.

Home run! (Image via Columbia)

(53) Pauline Brailsford, 96 (12/7/28) — This retired British actor is best remembered as uptight chaperone Miss Cuthburt in A League of Their Own (1993), and as such is the only person on this list with an MTV Movie Award nomination ... for Best Kiss, with Tom Hanks!

A Lord lady (Image via movie still & Revell)

(54) Colleen Townsend, 96 (12/21/28) — This ingénue began her film career in 1944, and was a 20th Century Fox player later in the decade. She was in a number of lesser films, and was a lead in Again Pioneers (1950) — on which she was the credited writer. She left Hollywood to become a religious crusader with Billy Graham and World Vision.

(55) Bunny Levine, 96 (12/22/28) — Ms. Levine told Mel Magazine:

I got married young, while I was in college, and I was having children soon after and taking all sorts of graduate classes. I became a teacher and then a librarian, so acting was out of the picture for almost 35 years. Then, when I was 55, I took early retirement — that was in 1985, that’s how old I am! — and I sneaked back into community theater and thought, I could do this. 

Blooming late has worked well for her. She is proud to have always played the dirty old grandma on ... everything!

In movies from 1940-2024 and counting. Seen with Tommy Cook in 2011. (Images via UA, RKO, Dreamer Pictures & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(56) Terry Moore, 96 (1/7/29) — A former kid actor, Moore was Oscar-nominated for Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) and appeared in the important films Since You Went Away (1944), Son of Lassie 1945) and Mighty Joe Young (1949). She was also married at least five times, and a sixth — to Howard Hughes — was the subject of a legal dispute. (She made bank.) The mother of sexy actor Grant Cramer, she most recently acted in 2023's Silent Life: The Story of the Lady in Black, about Rudolph Valentino's mysterious grave visitor.

They had faces then. (Images via headshot & Allen and Unwin)

(57) Michael Craig, 96 (1/27/29) — This prolific stage actor starred in Funny Girl in the U.K. with Streisand and secured a BAFTA nomination for his work in Sea of Sand (1958). Worked until 2011, racking up 100+ credits.

They were a hit! (Image via HBO)

(58) Jerry Adler, 95 (2/4/29) — Jerry is another of those famous faces with not-as-famous names, a director, producer and character actor. I think of Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) and his turn as Hesh Rabkin on The Sopranos (1999-2007), but while his mass-media output is lesser compared to some of the others on this list (he only started on TV and in films in the early '90s), there are plenty of other memorable projects you might think of sooner.

Miller time (Images via social media & video still)

(59) Allan Miller, 95 (2/14/29) — Taught by Uta Hagen and Lee Strasberg and later a teacher of Barbra Streisand, Miller's been active in movies and on the stage, but is more easily IDable by most for various TV guest spots. Some of his films include Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), The Champ (1979) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), while on TV he was on Soap (1980); Murder, She Wrote (1985-1995) and, well, just about everything else — 120 credits from 1967-2017.

(60) Patricia Routledge, 95 (2/17/29) — English institution and Tony winner most famous in her homeland for the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (1990-1995), but who began her musical theater and singing career in 1952. She just made a public appearance to accept an award in January 2025.

Five, 10 minutes turned into 70+ years. (Images via Vision Productions,  20th Century Fox, NBC & A24)

(61) James Hong, 95 (2/22/29) — An institution by means of omnipresence, Hong is a true trailblazer, finding whatever work Hollywood could provide for a Chinese-American actor from 1954 on, and becoming one of the most prolific character actors ever along the way. With 460+ credits, among the most interesting items on his résumé are as a regular on The New Adventures of Charlie Chan on TV (1958-1959) and in the films Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), Flower Drum Song (1961), Chinatown (1974), Airplane! (1980), Blade Runner (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and his triumphant appearance in Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Still, his 1991 appearance as an oblivious maitre'd in a Chinese restaurant on an episode of Seinfeld may be his most iconic work.

The wind beneath Wings (Images via NBC, Plainview Pictures & by Rena Hansen)

(62) Rebecca Schull, 95 (2/22/29) — Stage, film and TV actor who we all remember as Fay on Wings (1990-1997). She has remained remarkably active in her 80s and now 90s, acting on three episodes of Crisis in Six Scenes in 2016 and making her most recent film appearance in Meet Cute in 2022.

It's always best to be direct. (Image via Paramount)

(63) Mark Rydell, 95 (3/23/29) — Oscar-nominated for his direction of On Golden Pond (1981), he also helmed The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979) and The River (1984). He actually got his start as a soap actor, and appeared in the films The Long Goodbye (1973) and Hollywood Ending (2002). Previously married to the late Joanna Linville, who lived to be 93.

Apollo theater (Images via NBC & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(64) Michael Forest, 95 (4/17/29) — Forest played Apollo in the classic 1967 episode of Star Trek entitled “Who Mourns for Adonais?” and reprised the role in 2013. The handsome heartbreaker has over 260 credits from 1955-2020, but I'll always remember him as the dude Madonna sexed to death in Body of Evidence (1993).

A seasonal and seasoned actor (Images via video still & head shot)

(65) Corinne Conley, 95 (5/23/29) — Actor best known for voicing Rudolph's mom in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and as Phyllis Anderson on Days of Our Lives (1973-1982).

Science fiction ... double feature ... (Image by Matthew Rettenmund)

(66) Ann Robinson, 95 (5/25/29) — Robinson, who made her film debut as a stunt rider in Frenchie (1950), going on to appear in the important films The Cimarron Kid (1951) and Imitation of Life (1959). Most memorably, she acted in The War of the Worlds (1953) more than 70 years, of which she has long been the last survivor, a role she takes to heart when representing it at autograph shows. She honored the film by appearing in its 2005 Tom Cruise remake before retiring from acting.

Join the club (Images via headshot, NBC & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(67) Bonnie Bartlett, 95 (6/20/29) — On TV from 1955, on the soap Love of Life (1955-1958), Bartlett is one of those actors whose face is instantly recognizable from 70 years of making episodic TV and feature films. Of course, we all loved her as raging anti-Semite Barbara Thorndyke on that 1988 episode of The Golden Girls. She enjoyed a later-in-life surge when her work on St. Elsewhere (1982-1988) earned her a 1986 Emmy — the same night her hubby Williams Daniels won. So far, her last work was on TV's Better Call Saul in 2017.

Miles away! (Images via movie & TV stills, Facebook)

(68) Vera Miles, 95 (8/23/29) — Hitchcock's second-oldest living leading lady (she was in the pedestrian 1956 film The Wrong Man) is actually most famous for her incandescent supporting performance in Psycho (1960), in which she had as much work to do as leading lady Janet Leigh. She also turned in an unforgettable performance on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) as a rape victim who points out her killer, two more on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963 & 1965) and even one on a 1985 episode of the rebooted Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She even gamely returned to Psycho II in 1983. Aside from her Hitchcock laurels, the woman ended her career in 1987 with more than 160 credits, stretching back to 1950, including Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955), The Searchers (1956), A Touch of Larceny (1959) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Arguably her two most iconic TV gigs were the 1960 Twilight Zone episode about doppelgängers called “Mirror Image&rdquio; and a wigtastic performance on a 1973 episode of Columbo.

Living historia (Images via Historias de las Estrellas & video still)

(69) Ana Luisa Peluffo, 95 (10/9/29) — Prolific Mexican actor (200+ credits) who worked from 1949-2014.

She asked for health, $1M and a new husband for her 95th! (Images via movie still, video still & Festival)

(70) Liselotte Pulver, 95 (10/11/29) — Swiss-born actor who became one of the top stars of German cinema in the '50s and '60s, working from 1949-2007. Some of her most famous films include A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958); One, Two, Three (1961); and The Nun (1966). She was Golden Globe-nominated for A Global Affair (1963).

Central figure in the history of cinema (Images via headshot, Riofilme & Sony Pictures Releasing)

(71) Fernanda Montenegro, 95 (10/16/29) — The greatest female Brazilian acting icon of all time, Montenegro has worked since 1950, up to and including a 2024 appearance in the Oscar-nominated film I'm Still Here, which stars her Oscar-nominated daughter, Fernanda Torres. Torres's Oscar nomination for her performance matches her mom's in 1999 for the film Central Station. Montenegro also won an international Emmy for Sweet Mother (2013), 60+ years after her first on-screen appearance.

(Images via video still & Facebook)

(72) Colin Jeavons, 95 (10/20/29) — On the stage from 1946 and TV from 10 years later, this British character actor known for performance in such classical adaptations as Pride and Prejudice (1958), Great Expectations (1959), Bleak House (1959) and David Copperfield (1966). He worked in film and on TV until 1993.

She Ames to please. (Image via movie still)

(73) Rachel Ames, 95 (11/2/29) — After getting her start in films and early TV in 1951, Ames became General Hospital's longest-running performer, (with some gaps) from 1964-2015.

She's got the range. (Images via NYPL, Universal & Facebook)

(74) June Squibb, 95 (11/6/29) — Squibb has to be just about the latest-blooming star in Hollywood history. From the early '50s, she was a stage actor (supplementing her income by posing for romance novel covers and for pulpy mags). In 1959, she was a replacement as Electra in Gypsy on Broadway. She didn't even make a film appearance until Woody Allen's Alice (1990). Since then, she's had good parts in The Age of Innocence (1993), In & Out (1997), Far from Heaven (2002), Nebraska (2013; Oscar nomination) and landed her first-ever lead role in 2024's Thelma when she was well into her 90s. She shot her next lead at age 94 — in Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson's upcoming directorial debut.

Going Deep (Images via video still & FOX)

(75) Jerry Hardin, 95 (11/20/29) — Long-, long-, longtime character actor who's been in just about everything, Hardin began working in 1958. Some of his films include Cujo (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and The Firm (1993), but he may be best known as Deep Throat on The X-Files (1993-1999). Married to an acting coach, Diane Hardin, for 65+ years, he's the dad of well-known actor Melora Hardin — Jan on The Office (2005-2013)!

Getting his block knocked off by John Ashley in 1957's Dragstrip Girl (Image via video still & movie stills)

(76) Steve Terrell, 95 (12/6/29) — Longtime AIP actor in such flicks as Runaway Daughters (1956) and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957). Began working in 1952 and was done with the biz by 1965.

Go ahead, make her day. (Image via Eye & video still)

(77) Mara Corday, 95 (1/3/30) — A Bettie Page-type '50s glamour goddess and Playboy Playmate, she began appearing in films in 1951. Though her acting career didn't amount to much, working with Clint Eastwood (also on this list) on the film Tarantula (1955) served her well — he cast her in The Gauntlet (1977), Sudden Impact (1983), Pink Cadillac (1989) and her swan song, The Rookie (1990). She is the widow of gone-too-soon actor Richard Long.

She's still so fly. (Image via movie still & Instagram)

(78) Tippi Hedren, 95 (1/19/30) — A model who made an uncredited film debut in 1950, Hedren is forever most famous — when it comes to film — for having appeared in the Hitchcock classics The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964), and for the mistreatment she endured from the director. In spite of that, she remained a stalwart keeper of the legacy of those two films for as long as she remained in the public eye. She retired after 2017's The Ghost and the Whale. Her daughter, Melanie Griffith, occasionally releases photos of the great beauty, who is said to be suffering from dementia issues. It could be argued that Hedren's true life work was the protection of animals. She has always lived with exotic beasts, and has devoted the better part of her life advocating on their behalf.

(Images via head shot & Fresh Sound)

(79) Peggy King, 94 (2/10/30) — Big band singer (including with the even older Ray Anthony, who's Top 3 on this list!) who was one of the very first people awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, back in 1960. Her most recent album release was in 2016, 36 years after the previous one.

Definitely worth more than $1M (Images via headshot, Julien's, Warner Bros. & Instagram)

(80) Robert Wagner, 94 (2/10/30) — Just barely missing a debut in the '40s (he is seen in the 1950 film The Happy Years), Wagner has been a phenomenally prolific actor, if never a superstar, certainly a heartthrob and household name. He was at his peak on TV's Hart to Hart (1979-1984), but was also the star of the series It Takes a Thief (1968-1970) and Switch (1975-1978), had surprise later-in-life movie hits with two Austin Powers flicks (1997 & 2002) and ended his on-screen career (so far) with a baker's dozen episodes of NCIS (2010-2019). That's 69 years on the big and small screen. Along the way, he became a socialite noted for his two marriages to Natalie Wood, and unfortunately — in spite of his family's support — has been besmirched for being with her when she mysteriously died.

3 faces of Joanne (Images via UA, 20th Century Fox & social media)

(81) Joanne Woodward, 94 (2/27/30) — An actor from 1950 on, she is the widow of Paul Newman and a rare surviving true A-lister of the 1950s, one who took home the Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve (1957). Among her many iconic films: A Kiss Before Dying (1956), No Down Payment (1957); The Long, Hot Summer (1958); Rachel, Rachel (1968); The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972); Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973), The End (1978), The Glass Menagerie (1987) and Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990). Said to be suffering from dementia, her final professional gig was a voice for the film Lucky Them in 2013. On-screen, she last acted in Empire Falls (2005) on TV, in the TV movie Breathing Lessons (1994) and in her final feature Philadelphia in 1993. Because she receded as she did, I wonder if a lot of people who remember her realize she is still living.

Treading the boards member (Images via head shot & video still)

(82) John Cullum, 94 (3/2/30) — Cullum, active since 1956, won the Tony for Shenandoah (1975) and On the Twentieth Century (1978), and appeared in such diverse fare as Saint Joan (1956), Camelot (1960), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965), Urinetown (2002) and Waitress (2017). He's likely much more famous as Holling Vincoeur on Northern Exposure (1990-1995), with his most recent film being released in 2022. His son is the prolific actor JD Cullum.

Home on the strange (Images by Matthew Rettenmund & via ABC)

(83) John Astin, 94 (3/30/30) — Forever known as Gomez on Addams Family (1964-1966), of which he improbably became the final surviving original cast member (it's never the dad!), he made his stage debut in 1954. A stealth Oscar nominee for directing a short in 1968, his film work includes West Side Story (1961), Freaky Friday (1976), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), Gremlins 2 (1990) and The Frighteners (1996). On the personal side, he was famously wed to Patty Duke for 13 years, and is the father of actor Mackenzie Astin and the adoptive father of actor Sean Astin. (Sean Astin's paternity was fluid for years — he wasn't sure if Desi Arnaz Jr., Michael Tell or Astin were his bio dad, his mom decided it must be Astin, and then Sean discovered at age 24 that Tell was his father all along.)

My queen! Or, my princess, at least. (Image via head shot)

(84) Mary Costa, 94 (4/5/30) — As the singing Princess Aurora in 1959's Sleeping Beauty, Mary is the final surviving voice talent among the three Princesses who existed during Walt Disney's lifetime. As such, she is of course an esteemed Disney Legend honoree. Even further back, as a kid she sang on the radio, upping the range of her overall career from 1942 (!) to approximately 2014. Primarily an opera singer, she was asked by Jackie Kennedy to sing at the memorial for JFK, which she did in 1963, yet another stunningly iconic résumé point. Today, she's a philanthropist, goodwill ambassador and makes occasional appearances for Disney.

Weaver's been playing old men for 40 years. (Image via NBC)

(85) Lee Weaver, 94 (4/10/30) — The oldest Black man on the list comes in way down at #87. Weaver has been a character actor since appearing on TV's Sheena: Queen of the Jungle in 1955. Among his most interesting parts — he voiced Alpine on the animated G.I. Joe (1985-1986); starred on the short-lived sitcom Easy Street (1986) with Loni Anderson, Jack Elam and James Cromwell; and was a seer in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He has racked up 146 credits, most recently in 2022. Has been wed to Room 222 actor Ta-Tanisha for 54 years.

The past emperor (Images via Lucasfilm, UA & NBC)

(86) Clive Revill, 94 (4/18/30) — This New Zealand-born stage actor has Tony nominations for Irma La Douce (1956) and Oliver! (1962), won the Golden Globe for Avanti! (1972), voiced the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and is a rare surviving killer from the original run of Columbo (1978). He worked from 1950-2016.

Voice of a generation (Images via video stills)

(87) Alan Oppenheimer, 94 (4/23/30) — Active from 1956 until the present day, Oppenheimer is a familiar face from '60s and '70s TV and movies, including playing Ralph Malph's dad on Happy Days (1976), the mayor on Mama's Family (1983-1989) and an IT expert in Westworld (1973). Possibly the oldest living Match Game (1980) contestant, Alan's hardly changed in 50 years — he's been gray longer than many of my readers have been alive! Most spectacularly, he rebranded himself as a voice actor, and as such has voiced Skeletor (1983-2022, so far), Vanity Smurf (1981-1989) and narrated The NeverEnding Story (1984). To top it all off, he also has a credit in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway (1994).

(Images via NBC, YouTube & movie still)

(88) Lynn Hamilton, 94 (4/25/30) — You, of course, know her as Fred's sweetheart Donna on Sanford and Son (1972-1977), but did you realize she was in her early to mid-forties at the time? Everyone was aged up on that show, quite convincingly. She worked from 1958-2009, including a Broadway debut in 1959 and a movie debut in the John Cassavetes classic Shadows that same year. Along with Sanford, she recurred on The Waltons (1973-1981) and 227 (1986-1989).

Big shot (Images via ABC & Facebook)

(89) Will Hutchins, 94 (5/5/30) — One of the last surviving series stars of the '50s — he was Tom Brewster on Sugarfoot (1957-1961) —Hutchins was an extra in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) but otherwise worked from 1956-2010, often in western-themed fare. Appeared twice with Elvis, in Spinout (1966) and Clambake (1967). Also worth noting, Will was Carol Burnett's brother-in-law for a few years in the '60s. 

(Images via NBC & Facebook)

(90) James McEachin, 94 (5/20/30) — Hollywood's go-to when they wanted a square flag-waver during the '60s, this veteran turned actor racked up credits on a string of TV classics and in a string of Clint Eastwood films including Play Misty for Me (1971), Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and Sudden Impact (1983). He scored a regular gig as Police Lieutenant Brock in a series of Perry Mason TV flicks (1986-1995). Retired in 2007.

A Hollywood survivor (Images via head shot, RKO & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(91) Tommy Cook, 94 (87/5/30) — Tommy has been working since 1937, including his work on radio — an incredible 88 years. He worked as a child actor, appearing in a Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film (1946's Tarzan and the Leopard Woman) and the Joan Crawford classic Humoresque (1946). Other noteworthy movies: Stalag 17 (1953), Battle Cry (1955), Send Me No Flowers (1964). His voice enlivened a lot of Saturday morning cartoons, too, including on The Banana Splits (1968) and Jabberjaw (1976). He's never officially retired, though his most recent credit is from 2020.

Went ahead, made your day (Images via ABC, Warner Bros. & video still)

(92) Clint Eastwood, 94 (5/31/30) — Eastwood, like (to an exponentially lesser extent) Sylvester Stallone after him, stands as an example of another pretty face who made good, becoming an Oscar-winning filmmaker. He has remained remarkably relevant for more than 70 years, putting him in league with the likes of Carol Burnett and Betty White. Spotted by a film crew working on location, he made his film debut in Revenge of the Creature (1955), one of the most famous horror sequels of all time. He didn't enjoy it, but Eastwood was a big success (and, like Will Hutchins, is a rare '50s TV survivor) on Rawhide (1959-1965). Creating his character the Man with No Name, he became a household name, ironically, in the spaghetti westerns A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and the all-time classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Along with other successes — notably The Beguiled (1971) — he directed Play Misty for Me (1971), and continued directing films through 2024's Juror No. 2, standouts among them The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Unforgiven (1992), Mystic River (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Gran Torino (2008). For his Democratic fans, his performance opposite a chair on behalf of Mitt Romney in 2012 was one time to wish the indefatigable Eastwood would take a seat.

A model actor (Images via CBS, Instagram, ABC & Paramount)

(93) Nita Talbot, 94 (8/8/30) — Glamorous Talbot debuted as a model in the 1949 film It's a Great Feeling opposite Doris Day, and was a lead on '50s TV as one of the titular stars of Joe and Mabel (1955-1956). She worked extensively on '50s television, including on such classics as Perry Mason (1958) and Gunsmoke (1958). She was Emmy-nominated as Marya on Hogan's Heroes (1966-1971), was featured on a classic Columbo episode (1973) and worked until the late '90s, ending her career after nearly 50 years and 150+ credits.

Bad to the bone (Image via movie still & Wikimedia Commons)

(94) Mario Adorf, 94 (9/8/30) — Prolific Swiss actor of German cinema who has worked since 1954.

Due east of James Dean (Images via Warner Bros. & by Matthew Rettenmund)

(95) Lois Smith, 94 (11/3/30) — Working from 1952 until today, this stage and screen actor has been in her fair share of classic films — East of Eden (1955) opposite James Dean, Five Easy Pieces (1970) and Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) among them — but has never stopped working in live theater. Latter-day career highs include her recurring role on True Blood (2008-2014), her work in the film Marjorie Prime (2017) and her 2020 Tony win for The Inheritance. One of her profession's most admired, and she's in her eighth decade of work.

How Two Faces West was won (Image via Screen Gems)

(96) Charles Bateman, 94 (11/19/30) — Working largely on TV from 1958-1991, Bateman was seen on classics like Perry Mason (1960) and later ventured into soaps. He was also First Officer Larsen in The Poseidon Adventure (1972). Hardly a household name, his fortunes on this list are high: his mom lived to be 110.

Apartment hero (Image via UA)

(97) Hope Holiday, 94 (11/30/30) — On Broadway from 1951 (in Top Banana), Holiday had lots of experience in musical comedies — including in the original production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1950 — and an unforgettable spotlight part in The Apartment (1960). In 2022, she and Karen Sharpe went on the record accusing Jerry Lewis of sexual harassment, a charge that shocked exactly no one.

Portrait of the artist as an old man (Images via head shot, movie still & handout)

(98) Armin Mueller-Stahl, 94 (12/17/30) — Though retired from acting after an incredible career that lasted from 1956-2015, Mueller-Stahl has segued into fine art, and to great acclaim. After decades in German films, he was Oscar-nominated for the 1996 movie Shine, his best-known U.S. film. He remains vital into his 90s.

My Boo (Image via Universal)

(99) Robert Duvall, 94 (1/5/31) — Duvall is one of the most active people on this list, continuing to work much longer than many of his peers. The Oscar winner appeared in such films as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), Bullitt (1968), True Grit (1969), M*A*S*H (1970), THX 1138 (1971), The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), Network (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Great Santini (1979), Tender Mercies (1983), Sling Blade (1996) and Widows (2018).

Let's Stalk. (Image via video still)

(100) Jack Grinnage, 94 (1/20/31) — This clever actor debuted on TV in 1954 and earned a credited film debut with a little film called Rebel Without a Cause (1955). After working with James Dean, he also worked with Elvis Presley — in King Creole (1958) — and was in Spartacus (1960). He was also memorably on two seasons (1974-1975) of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.