the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually still alive

Al Jaffee, whose last 'pull-out' ran in Mad last year, and who turns 100 today.

Fold-in - I knew it was called a fold-in, why did I call it a pull-out?

William Gaunt.

(The Champions is getting a run on a UK terrestrial channel and I was certain he'd predeceased Alexandra Bastedo. But thankfully not.)

Not as old as I thought he was. Coincidentally Stuart Damon belongs on the thread too.

'Diddy' David Hamilton.

Bob Rafelson, 88

Hilary Knight, who illustrated the Eloise books way back in the 1950s, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle before that, is still with us at 94. So is Quentin Blake, the definitive Roald Dahl illustrator among much else, at 88.

Ben Stein, 76. Forgot all about that asshole.

Sophia Loren, 86, and just starred in a film directed by her son.

Joe Don Baker, one of those guys who always looked old, 85

John Astin, Gomez Addams and (what made me think of him) fill in actor on S2 of Batman when Frank Gorshin was playing silly buggers over his contract.

often think of stephen sondheim as being dead but obviously he isnt and his death will be a big deal that i won't forget when it comes

Robert Blake, 87

Beverly Cleary, who just died at 104. For some reason I thought she died about 10 years ago.

He's been mentioned here repeatedly but I showed my kid the Muppets skit with 'day-o' yesterday and holy shit Harry Belafonte is STILL alive.

and still a meaningful figure!

Beverly Cleary, who just died at 104. For some reason I thought she died about 10 years ago.

Same. I was certain that she had already passed some time ago.

Periodically I find myself having to check if Desmond Tutu is still alive, and he is, 89.

Was reading a "Hogan's Heroes could be made today" thing and found out again that Robert Clary is still alive (95).

could NOT, of course.

Nita Talbot, who played "Marya" on Hogan's Heroes is still alive at 90.

Pete Murray, one of the 'safe hands' old guard in the initial Radio 1 lineup.

Good one.

Shirley (Lady) Porter, 90.

Lee Elder, 86 (somewhat famous).

Decades did a weekend marathon of Police Woman, leading me to the trivia that it's currently the earliest US TV show where all the main cast is still alive.

That's why I've been calling for a Police Woman revival for ages. But one could make a case that the same applies to The Time Tunnel (1966-1967) because from that we still have James Darren (84), Robert Colbert (89), - those are the two main guys - and Lee Meriwether (85).

Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot, 86

Jürgen Habermas, 91

The film, "Buck and the Preacher", is on just now and I'm watching it thinking, "Yeah, Harry Belafonte, he's always turing up in this thread, but I wonder when Sidney Poitier died?", then I find out Sidney Poitier is still alive too! Is, in fact, 94 too! Born 9 days before Belafonte to be precise.

Kenneth Cope, 90 today

It has occurred to me that four of the principal female cast of Fellini's 8 1/2 are still alive:

Claudia Cardinale (83 today)
Anouk Aimée (89 this month)
Sandra Milo (87)
Barbara Steele (83)

(Rossella Falk who died in 2013 would've been the only other to belong to that group).

Winnie Ewing, 91.

Freddie 'Parrot Face' Davies, after he tweeted about being old and irrelevant after he was a question on The Chase answered incorrectly.

Swiss film director Alain Tanner, 91.

Bruce "father of Crispin" Glover, 89, who I could swear died years ago but seems not.

Unless I saw wrong, pretty much (all?) the entire original Tropicalia crew is still alive and kicking. Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, Tom Zé ...

René Schérer, philosopher and brother of Éric Rohmer, 98.

I didn't know that the philosopher Jürgen Habermas was still alive until yesterday, when a news article came up about him rejecting an award being given by the UAE. I thought he'd been dead for years! He's 91, soon to be 92.

What's the borderline age for assuming someone is no longer alive? Somewhere above 80? 90?

It's a sliding scale. 90 for philosophers, 80 for ingenues of yesteryear...

50 for junkie rock stars

funnily enough I also nominated Habermas just upthread

I think for me someone can be in their 70s as long as I haven’t heard about them for ages.

RIP Lloyd Price, who I am surprised to learn was still alive until very recently.

Wow, me too.

I always assumed it was his "Stagger Lee" that inspired the Clash's nod on "London Calling."

Johnny Rivers

There's an old "Tales of the Unexpected" on just now, starring French actress, Micheline Presle, who Wiki tells me is still alive at 98.

Julio Iglesias, 77

actor norman lloyd (not ~famous~ but you’d probably recognize him) is 106