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

Jaye P. Morgan, 90.

Roger Whittaker, 86

I’m surprised he’s only 86! That’s first gen rocker/outlaw country age. Seems of an earlier generation.

It's not really on-topic, but I was surprised to find out that David Whittaker - the unrelated 8-bit chiptune composer - is 65! In fact he's a year younger than Rob Hubbard. It's odd to think of the man who made the buzzy multi-channel music for all those old Codemasters "simulator" games being of pensionable age, but there you are. In comparison Tim Follin was born in 1970.

That led me to this Reddit thread, which makes me feel old:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chiptunes/comments/xg2n5/what_are_some_great_chiptune_artists/

Why does it make me feel old? I have no idea who those people are. Who is Godinpants? Who is Saskrotch? Who is Shitbird? When I was young I could get by in middle-class society by knowing a little bit about Stereolab and having some friends who were clued in to Warp / Rephlex. Now it's futile. I'll never catch up.

sure you will, yr on ilx

Norman Podhoretz, 92.

Vocalist Helen Merrill (92), whose first album in 1954 was arranged and conducted by 21-year-old Quincy Jones (89)

Wow, good one!

Kenny Burrell (91)

Virginia McKenna of Born Free and A Town Like Alice fame, 91

I was sure Amanda Barrie had died a couple of years ago but proved wrong on her birthday this year.

Why the fuck is Reagan Interior Secretary and noted Beach Boys hater James G. Watt still alive?

heh, dude was only 45 when he resigned.

I assumed he was 100 years old back then!

Radio 2 DJ Pete Murray, 97.

Bob Barker, 98

murray started on radio luxembourg in 1949

in the 70s he already seemed like part of the ageless landscape (not old exactly but definitely like he'd always been there)

Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy, 97.

Benny from Crossroads! aka Paul Henry. Could have sworn he'd moved onward, but no.

Ned Rorem, 99 in two days time.

Frederick Forsyth, 84

Frederic Raphael, 91.

After the Pharaoh Saunders news I wholly expected to have missed Marshall Allen's passing but was delighted to be wrong.

Sonny Rollins is a mere slip of a lad in comparison.

lou adler, 88, is still around

xxp saw Sun Ra Arkestra earlier this summer at Solid Sound Fest and Allen was presented with a cake onstage for his 98th birthday! Band was smokin’ too.

I notice there's a Bert I. Gordon film on tonight. He'll be 100 in September.

― Doodles Diamond (Tom D.), Friday, June 3, 2022 11:52 AM (three months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Unless the family is holding back bad news, he made it to 100 on 24 September.

Raoul Vaneigem, 88.

he'll be happy w/how things are turning out

Roberta Flack, 85

Composer (Mission Impossible theme, among others) Lalo Schifrin, 90

Heard an interview on NPR this morning.

Richard Stilgoe, the UK's answer to Tom Lehrer, 79

Jerry Lee Lewis, 87.

WHole lotta livin goin on

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

On a tangent Mamie Van Doren - I was thinking of MST3K - is still around. She's 91.

Eddie Cochran was in The Girl Can't Help It and Untamed Youth, so he must have met both Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield. Thus packing a lot into a short life.

This photo from Wikipedia, although small, radiates late-80s energy:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/MamieVanDoren87AlanLight.jpg

Though Cochran only appears in The Girl Can't Help It alone on a TV program watched by the other characters; I suspect it's likely he never met Mansfield.

had work-reason to google mangosuthu gatsha buthelezi earlier today and he's still with us

Had no idea Roberta Flack was still alive. 85.

I mentioned journalist/non-fiction writer Gay Talese on another thread, he's 90.

John Kander, of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb, 95.

Ted Turner, 83.

Bob Ezrin, 73. Which isn't old but I had no idea he was barely into his twenties when he began producing Alice Cooper records.

Jimmy Swaggart!

Cleo Laine

Saw today that Morton Subotnick will be at the 2023 Big Ears festival. 89

Until I saw this tweet, Pete Murray.

RIP whoever used to have the hair currently residing on David Hamilton's head.

Over Christmas, listen out for Pete Murray and David Hamilton - together. With a combined age of 181 - we think it's radio's oldest double act! Pete's radio career began in the early '50s; David's in the late '50s. Pete was David's hero - now his friend. pic.twitter.com/Em9kXE114C

— BoomRadioUK (@BoomRadioUK) December 10, 2022

Frank Drebin, by the looks of it

Pete Murray is 97! And still has his own hair! Whereas David Hamilton hasn't had his own hair since he was 27.

Until I saw this tweet, Pete Murray

You can't have been paying attention when I shouted him in this thread a couple of months ago, then.

You're right, I wasn't. My fault, not yours.