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

Wow!

Prolific TV actor since the 1950s Peter Mark Richman (formerly Mark Richman), 93. He's such a journeyman it's hard to say what his most famous role is, perhaps as Blake Carrington's lawyer on Dynasty.

― Josefa, Wednesday, January 6, 2021 8:01 AM (one week ago)

Welp, he died today. RIP.

...or rather, may his memory be a blessing

Michael Aspel, 87

I went looking for one of his performances on Crackerjack, a take off of Pagliaci doing "Funny Funny" by The Sweet, as part of the final musical play that week. Looks like it was wiped, which is a shame, full makeup and deadpan, absolutely killed me at the time.

i remember reading a puff piece interview with michael aspel about 15 years ago where he mentioned in passing that although he does get joy out of his life and likes when his children/grandchildren visit, "the darkness" often comes in.

which became our familial term for depression henceforth

Bob Newhart, 91

rules

Still here, L.Q. Jones, 93.

I was convinced Mandy Patinkin was dead. Like certain. And then there he is, on WTF alive and well.

sure I remember Bob Newhart dying a few years ago

He did an "Elf" cast reunion read through, Christmas just gone.

I feel like Noam Chomsky has been 90 years old for the last 20 years.

looked like he was going for the late period LBJ longhaired look for a while but now he has a beard

love it when old dudes grow their hair out, duke ellington did it too

piers anthony, 86

remember when Piers Anthony put some of his porn short stories into Anthonology

yeah he is a very creepy dude, even by the standards of sci-fi writers of his generation

Anthonology is the only one of my dad's SF books that he ever got alarmed to find me reading

I read that book a good 35 years ago and I am still haunted by the horrifying imagery of the dairy farm story and the space Barbie story.

I googled idly to see what else our mans Piers has been up to and HOLY SHIT

https://hradzka.dreamwidth.org/386011.html

LOCK HIM UP, LOCK HIM UP IMMEDIATELY

.....

the latter book there is available on ebay for more dollars than Anthony's age, presumably because most copies were seized by international authorities, or self-combusted from shame

wish i hadn't clicked that one, djp

I wish he hadn't written that in the first place

me too. i was barely reading this thread, and had forgotten which thread it was, and when i clicked your link i was expecting some risible opinion piece by piers morgan

Thank fucking god I never tried anything outside of the Xanth novels.

yuck, no thanks for that

Lina Wertmüller, 92.

Having just watched "The Battle of Algiers" it's interesting how many of the people portrayed in the film are still alive:

Saadi Yacef (who co-produced the film and appears in it playing a character based on himself), 92.
Zohra Drif (the Milk Cafe bomber), 86.
Djamila Bouhired (another female bomber), 85.

Not too famous, but still alive: Anne Vernon, who played the mother in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. 97 years old.

Gavin MacLeod, 89

Françoise Gilot, 99.

xp his cousin connor macleod is even older

George Chakiris, 86

Not to be confused with George Maharis, also still alive at 92

Elsa Klensch, 87. I'm forcing myself--stupefied--to make it through Altman's Ready to Wear for the first time since it came out, and she has a cameo. I'd forgotten all about her; she was on CNN for years.

I heard that Al Jaffee is still alive at 99, but I'm actually not surprised--I'll be surprised if he ever dies!

Al was still doing the Fold-In every issue in MAD until it stopped regular publication at the end of 2019

(but one of the few specials they published last year was an Al Jaffee one with new material)

diamond pvmic

Mamie Van Doren, 89

― it's after the end of the world (Matt #2), Friday, February 7, 2020 7:25 PM (eleven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

90 today. Apparently she is active on Facebook under that name.

I was absolutely sure Peter Perrett from the Only Ones had died decades ago, but nope. Still releasing records at the age of 68, although he does suffer from COPD but hopefully there's some years in him yet.

Roy Medvedev, Soviet dissident. 95 years old. supporter of Putin

(xp) Pretty sure Peter Perrett's surprised to discover he's still alive in 2021.

I've just had the exact same thing with Amanda Barrie, could have sworn she died about 5 years ago.

Lol, Tom D.

Françoise Gilot, 99.

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, January 29, 2021 5:15 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

i met someone who was her acquaintance. she still paints, still hosts people over at her apartment (or was doing so, pre-covid)

last famous people who are still alive / figured out how to live....

Roy Walker, comedian and former Catchphrase host

Archie Shepp! I had no idea.