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

* Michael Stoller (of Leiber and Stoller)
* Clarence "Frogman" Henry
* Wanda Jackson
* Brenda Lee

(Not counting people who had careers going back into the 50s, but no hits in their own name until the 60s - Tina Turner, Herbie Hancock, etc.)

* at least three of the original Shadows

Was just checking whether Lehrer had hits as singles in the 50s, or just albums.

Cleo Laine released albums in the 50s but didn't have a chart hit until '61.

Johnny Mathis
Pat Boone
Paul Anka
Dion
Frankie Avalon

Sorry, you already had Anka and Avalon

Jack Jones is in the same boat as Cleo Laine

Sonny Rollins
Faye Adams
Leroy Van Dyke

How soon you forget Rolf Harris

If getting a single to #49 in 1957 counts, Simon and Garfunkel (as Tom and Jerry).

I watched the 1956 musical comedy The Girl Can't Help It last night; Fats Domino and Little Richard are gone, but which musical performers from the film are still around?
Johnny Olenn, 85
Nino Tempo, 87
Ray Anthony, 100

― Halfway there but for you, Friday, October 21, 2022 6:43 PM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Connie Francis

And Connie Stevens!

Melania Trump

Sad to discover that the Scottish Elvis, Jackie Dennis, died a couple of years ago.

Eden Kane a fixture of UK rock and roll revival tours is still around but his first release was 1960.

Wee Willie Harris probably as good a shout as Tommy Steele

Marty Wilde and Vince Eager from the Larry Parnes stable still with us

OK, so "The Quatermass Xperiment" has just started on Talking Pictures and Wikipedia tells me the female lead, Margia Dean, is still alive... she's 101. Her career started in 1929.

(... Wiki also tells me the actor who plays her husband was the great-great-grandson of William Wordsworth!)

to be clear "her husband" is the lad who turns into a giant plant-based spacecrab!

spoilers i guess

I forgot this ends up at Westminster Abbey (another spoiler?)

Margia Dean: not a fan of Jock Mahoney or Scott Brady; disappointed by Cesar Romero’s homosexuality (according to IMDb). Retired from film before the rating system started

Bassist-composer Richard Davis, who turns 93 today! Possibly/probably the only musician who has played with both Albert Ayler and Bruce Springsteen.

and Van Morrison

Not a person but: Tupperware.

trying to think which 50s musicians (that actually had hits in the 50s) are still alive.

First recordings in the 50s, first hits not until the 60s: Willie Nelson

Mohamed Al-Fayed

My God, yes!

He’ll probably die the day before the coronation.

Or on the day itself, burned in a giant wicker corgi on the roof of the palace

I still have to check Stanley Baxter is alive every now and then, because he's quite clear in his autobiography that he didn't want it published before he died (and in the last chapter he seems to be at death's door).

Then I have to check Glen Michael too.

Bill O'Reilly (sadly)

(xp) Also John Cairney and Una McLean.

trying to think which 50s musicians (that actually had hits in the 50s) are still alive

Carol Connors, 81 ('To Know Him Is to Love Him' = 1958)

Caterina Valente

"The Breeze and I" was a hit in 1955, she's 91

Doris Andreae, Karlheinz Stockhausen's first wife (mother of Markus), 99.

In a similar vein, Nuria Schoenberg, daughter of Arnold and wife of Luigi Nono, 90.

composer betsy jolas 96 (daughter of the also somewhat famous eugene & maria)

In a different vein, Jeanette Charles - "The" Queen "impersonator" is 95 (Retired in 2014)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Charles

Charles appeared as an actress in repertory theatre in her twenties, but had difficulty obtaining Equity membership. Her resemblance to Queen Elizabeth II made it difficult to obtain roles, and she eventually left acting to become a secretary.

In 1972, a painting she commissioned of herself in her forties (as a present for her husband) was displayed by the artist at the Royal Academy in London, where it was taken to be a portrait of the Queen. On the assumption the painting was of the Queen, it was disqualified as portraits had to be painted from life. When it was revealed that it was not the Queen, Charles (as the actual subject of the painting) received a great deal of press attention, and started receiving offers to portray the Queen in print advertisements.[2] Charles accepted the offers she felt were appropriate (turning down, for instance, offers to portray the queen in lingerie or, in one case, as a centrefold), and insisted that it be made clear in any advertisement that the Queen was being played by an impersonator.

After studying the Queen's voice, as well as her appearance, Charles also made in-character personal appearances at trade shows and corporate events, and soon broadened into film. Charles has played the role of Queen Elizabeth II in many films including Secrets of a Superstud (1976), Queen Kong (1976), The Rutles' movie All You Need Is Cash (1978), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).

closely studying the queen's voice for a more authentic impersonation in SECRETS OF A SUPERSTUD (1976)

Always instantly recognisable as Jeannette Charles.

Clive Everton, snooker commentator, 85.

Edmund W. Gordon, social psychologist, 101.

Dickie Bird, cricket umpire, 90

Lea Massari, the actress who played the missing woman in L'avventura, 89

Haven't seen her in a while

Harry Belafonte, 96.

― Alba, Thursday, April 13, 2023 6:46 PM (one week ago)

Well I fucked that

So it's your fault

Zamfir

Richard Chamberlain, 89

Joe Don Baker, 87.