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

I was going to say Derrida but I looked it up and he's been dead for more than a decade -- missed that

is there a "people you didn't realise were dead" thread?

I watched Poverty Row noir ‘Strange Illusion’ from 1945 last night and was pleasantly surprised that the actor who played the protagonist is still with us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Lydon

Today I learned that director Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, etc.) has been more or less a recluse since the failure of Gigli. This article was fascinating:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141222232939/http:/www.playboy.com/articles/what-happened-to-director-martin-brest

He's just ... gone.

Jackie Joseph, who played "Audrey" in the original 1960 The Little Shop of Horrors and was a regular on The Doris Day Show in the early '70s. (87 yo).

I knew he was still alive, but it's still worth noting Ahmad Jamal turned 91 yesterday.

June Lockhart (b. 1925), best known as a TV mom on Lassie and a mom-scientist on Lost In Space.

I saw her last night in a small but memorable part in Meet Me In St. Louis (as an east-coast romantic rival who turns out to be good-hearted) and it was driving me crazy who she looked like, until I realized it was Heather Graham on Arrested Development; Graham, of course, appeared in the godawful film version of Lost in Space as the daughter to Mimi Rogers's version of Lockhart's old character. (Lockhart is also in the film, in a cameo as a holographic space principal.)

― Newb Sybok (Doctor Casino), Friday, December 22, 2017 12:27 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Still with us at 96 (inspired by a Svengoolie screening of The She-Wolf of London).

What, no mention of Petticoat Junction?

Alfred Brendel, 90.

Felicia Farr, 88.

Is her husband still alive? Think so.

Prepare yourself for a shock, Jack Lemmon is not still alive.

Can't keep track anymore, sorry, so not much of a shock.

Herb Alpert: trumpeter, Tijuana Brass impresario, cofounder of A&M Records, and last person to perform the Super Bowl rendition of the national anthem as an instrumental. Still around at 86 - just one of those people who I pictured as already being middle-aged in the mid-60s.

^^His partner in both A & M and Almo Sounds Jerry Moss is also still kickin' at 86.

Herb Alpert was the last performer I saw in live performance pre-pandemic, back in December 2019. His wife Lani Hall, from Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, is still alive as well though a decade or so younger than him. They still have it, I enjoyed seeing the two of them together.

Trivia question: Only one Super Bowl out of the 55 we've had has NOT featured the singing of the National Anthem. What tune was performed in its place that year and who sang it (the singer is still alive)?

*singing or instrumental performance of it, that is

You guys really should watch that Herb Alpert documentary. It's fully a mood booster. He's such a wholesome, joyful dude.

Pat Arrowsmith, CND campaigner, 91.

Came in to say Ed Meese, searched thread, saw that every 2-3 years someone here is surprised to find out Ed Meese was still alive, well, today it's me.

to quote the 'RIP David Brooks' thread, tbf his soul is dead.

Julie Andrews

― flappy bird, Wednesday, October 16, 2019 8:11 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Holy shit!

Not even 90, hold your tongue

Dick Hyman is still going. 94.

Betty White is currently 99 1/2 years old

I somehow have it in my head that Edward James Olmos died about 20 years ago, and I'm continually surprised when I find out he's still with us. This happens every few years. Of course I'll probably train myself out of it around the time he does actually die, after which I'll be convinced he's still alive forevermore.

a.b.spellman :0 :)

Nancy Banks-Smith, 92.

John Norman, 90, writer of shitty BDSM-themed SF/fantasy novels (the 'Gor' series, which he's still unbelievably pumping out!). I assumed he'd died in 1947 or something.

a.b.spellman :0 :)

(the 'Gor' series, which he's still unbelievably pumping out!).

Ha, the latest one (May 2021) is "Avengers of Gor," really going for that "wait I thought this was a franchise property" accidental purchase cash

Somehow I thought Barney Frank was dead, but nope, still going and only 81!

Just saw a pic of a skeletal but alive Bob Dole on FB.

john barth, 91

Always surprised at Jerry Lee Lewis's longevity.. makes me think I should drink more wine spo-dee-O-dee

Esther Rantzen, 81

Len Deighton, 92

Now that is a good one!

Valentina Tereshkova, 84

Angie Dickinson, 89

Kenneth Baker, 86

when you google him, under 'Is Kenneth Baker still alive?' it says he died in 2016, but they seems to be confusing him with the guy who was inside r2d2

The film director Sidney J. Furie (88) was mentioned recently in this thread. I just watched his film The Naked Runner, a Frank Sinatra vehicle from 1967. It struck me that several of the main cast are still with us, namely Derren Nesbitt (86), Inger Stratton (84), and Edward Fox (84).

Genre film schlockteur Bert I. Gordon, 98

Wow, had no idea!

Norman Lear

― Come and Rock Me, Hot Potatoes (Old Lunch), Sunday, August 11, 2019 12:15 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Just turned 99 this week.

Clu Gulager, 92.

Bill Tidy, 87

Good one.

She's not that old, and I had no reason to think she *wasn't* alive, but Linda Blair, a mere 62.