not dead

[Darren Dirt]

What the hay*, how about a thread dedicated to folks that you would be totally shocked are still alive (may we celebrate the Golden Age of the "Entertainment Industry", where the focus was more on the first word and not just on the second word)...



Conrad Bain (that's Mr. Drummond to you, Willis and Arnold ... and his brother "Hank" is the whole reason I got onto this little research-kick today)

Ernest Borgnine (I guess he somehow survived the helicopter explosion in that Airwolf episode, you remember, the one with the loltastic SFX )

Don Rickles (suck on that, The Situation!)

Sidney Poitier (he still tours and gives speeches to crowds!)

Kirk Douglas (HE STILL BLOGS REGULARLY!)

Harry Morgan
*aka "Colonel Potter", hence the "what the hay"


---------------------

and here's a bunch more, almost all of these folks were in popular TV series or films during the 1980s, I remember them as a kid and now they're all 80 or older (!)

It seems that nowadays it's virtually unheard of to have a person in their 50s be the lead of a network TV series (ensemble crime dramas excluded, obv.)

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. 92
Harry Belafonte 84
Olivia de Havilland 94
Joan Fontaine 93
Shirley Temple 83
Sid Caesar 88
Mel Brooks 84
Carl Reiner 89
Charlotte Rae 85
Cloris Leachman 85
Angela Lansbury 85
Roger Moore 83
Sean Connery 80
Clint Eastwood 81
Christopher Plummer 81
Cliff Robertson 87
James Garner 83
Andy Griffith 85
Jerry Lewis 85
Mickey Rooney 90
John Neville 86
Abe Vigoda 90
Jerry Stiller 83
Estelle Harris 83
Mike Wallace 93
Andy Rooney 92


...now somehow I feel old...

[Darren Dirt]

wow, Steven Hill (D.A. Adam Schiff from the original Law & Order) is 89(!)

[Mr. Analog]

One of my personal heroes: Chuck Berry

Still rockin' at 84!

[Darren Dirt]

Roger Corman is 85 and "still active"
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/06/05/on-dvd-raising-ron-howard-on-the-tutelage-of-roger-corman/

[Mr. Analog]

Honestly! Wow!!

It's sort of crazy to think the man has been directing/producing movies for over 50 years.

[Darren Dirt]

Herman Wouk, well-known and enduring author, currently 96 years old.

When he was 89, he wrote a sci fi novel revolving around quantum physics.

Nice brain you got there, old man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Wouk

(his journals are a wee bit more voluminous than Cobain's)

[Darren Dirt]

Ernest Borgnine (I guess he somehow survived the helicopter explosion in that Airwolf episode, you remember, the one with the loltastic SFX )

http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-ernest-borgnine,82203/

early July of this year.

Flya con Dios, Dominic.



some others in the OP (from just 13 months ago) that aren't going to be trimming the Christmas tree this year:

Andy Griffith
Harry Morgan
Cliff Robertson
Andy Rooney
Mike Wallace

... I hope this thread didn't accidentally remind a certain someone that they were still alive or something...

[Mr. Analog]

it was strange, I had watched "Escape from New York" like a day before the news about Borgnine came out, freaky

[Darren Dirt]

95.

somehow I didn't include her in the list in the OP, weird.


http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/all/many+funny+faces+Phyllis+Diller/7117704/story.html

[onceawhile]

"Comedian Phyllis Diller dies at 95"...

[Tom]

"Comedian Phyllis Diller dies at 95"...

He did say he should have added it to his first post. At the time she was alive.

[onceawhile]

Oh, my bad...

[Darren Dirt]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/tributes-pour-in-for-a-gravely-ill-peter-lougheed/article4536134/comments/

84, the well-respected statesman and booster d'Alberta is still alive (and staying classy, apparently, based on the comments) but likely doesn't have long.

[Mr. Analog]

I read about this earlier too, good post

[Darren Dirt]

well-respected statesman

from the comments @ the GlobeAndMail article...



Chaudi
11:28 AM on September 11, 2012

why?



Stanfieldsunderware
12:26 PM on September 11, 2012

Chaudi...exactly my thoughts...what did he do for CANADA?
He might be held in high esteem in Alberta but that doesn't mean he has meant anything to the rest of the country.



M Poland
5:13 PM on September 11, 2012

chaudi and Stans--- sometimes what is truly great about someone is what in NOT commonly known. Peter Lougheed, while Premier of Alberta, arranged to have Alberta's surplus wealth lent to cash-strapped provinces at rates which would have reflected a AAA credit-rating [had they been able to achieve them] e.g. He [and all Albertans] saved other Canadians scores of millions of dollars in interest payments to the detested bankers. He also did all Canadians a huge favour by forcing PET to respect the Constitution [e.g. the BNA Act, which has much to say about provincial powers].










Rob in Calgary
10:43 AM on September 11, 2012

A few years ago, Lougheed got an elevator with me and my retired parents. He nodded and smiled at my dad, looked my mom in the eye and said good afternoon. Held the door open for her. Of course, my mom melted. The guy exuded class.

His remarks in the media and opinions about the future of Alberta and Canada are always thoughtful and far-sighted.

One of the few Canadian politicians who deserves the title statesman.


Big Martini
12:55 PM on September 11, 2012

Yup - can't see Lougheed stumbling completely hammered into a homeless shelter and berating the residents in a liquored up stupor (people from Alberta know who I am talking about.)

The PC's under Lougheed were the real deal, long term vision and they had a roadmap to get there (which included Canada by the way). The PC brand since has just been lipstick on a pig.



Arthur Dailey
10:28 AM on September 11, 2012

Rob is correct. There was a time when the 'Progressive' Conservative movement developed some remarkable leaders. Men like Lougheed, Davis, Bob Stanfield who were able to reconcile the immediate and future needs of the people that they represented and the requirements of their province and their country.

Unfortunately the Conservative movement has been hijacked by those who look to the US instead of to traditional Canadian conservative values.


child of the north
1:40 PM on September 11, 2012

Arthur: It has been hijacked by Neoconservatives who represent a small, well-financed group of backers who are in politics to serve their own interests.



"Peter was one politician that was an exceptionally decent person who you could not hate even when you disagreed with his policies. He was a picture of dignity, grace and eloquence. A gentlemen's gentleman."

:sigh: can you imagine any CURRENT well-known politicians (national or provincial/state level) being deserving of such verbiage? Instead, most are known for -- and accepted as -- being "in politics to serve their own interests" :doublesigh: