Wishing You Long Life, Health and Happiness - a Celebration of Longevity

A few days ago, ex-US president Jimmy Carter passed away, having only recently celebrated his 100th birthday on 1st October, and it got me thinking...It reminded me that after again watching the marvelous 1971 film The French Connection I looked for for more info and discovered that Gene Hackman is still alive and kicking – he'll be 95 next month! As I looked at Hackman’s body of work, I noticed that Warren Beatty and Faye Dunnaway his co-stars in the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde are also still with us, currently 87 and 83 respectively. Impressed and delighted, I started compiling a list of elderly famous faces, not just actors, adding to to the list as and when someone popped into my head. 

The list got longer and longer and I didn't really know what to do with it until now because Jimmy’s passing has reminded me that at the end of the year we often look back at the people we’ve lost in the last 12 months and I thought it would be nice, a good idea, to celebrate the people who are still with us. Some tenuous London links to Jimmy Carter:
A ghostsign in Walworth Rd, scraffito in Carter Lane EC4, a cafe in Homerton (also RIP), Carters' Steam Fair (shown during its last traveling show in July 2022) and mosaic threshold in Maida Hill (more here)To keep the of list short, I am here showing only those people are at least 90 years old at the time of writing (31 Dec 2024). This means that Warren and Faye haven't made the cut. I'm sure there are many other any other Jazz Age babies who haven't as yet popped into my head – please let me know if you can add to the list.  

Eva Marie Saint, 4 July 1924 June Lockhart, 25 June 1925Dick Van Dyke, 13 Dec 1925David Attenborough, 8 May 1926Mel Brooks, 28 June 1926Estelle Parsons, 20 Nov 1927Noam Chomsky, 7 Dec 1928Joan Plowright, 29 Oct 1929Tippi Hedren, 19 Jan 1930Buzz Aldrin, 20 Jan 1930Gene Hackman, 30 Jan 1930 Robert Wagner, 10 Feb 1930Joanne Woodward, 27 Feb 1930 

Jasper Johns, 15 May 1930  

Clint Eastwood, 31 May 1930 

Robert Duvall, 5 Jan 1931 Norman Tebbit, 21 March 1931Barbara Eden, 23 Aug, 1931Rita Moreno, 11 Dec 1931Gerhard Richter, 9 Feb 1932 

Prunella Scales, 22 June 1932Phylidda Law, 6 July 1932Ellen Burstyn, 7 Sep 1932Petula Clark, 15 Nov 1932Frankie Valli, 3 May 1934Kim Novak, 13 Feb 1933Michael Caine, 14 March 1933Joan Bakewell, 16 April 1933Willie Nelson, 29 April 1933 Joan Collins, 23 May 1933Roman Polanski, 18 Aug 1933Tom Skerritt, 25 Aug 1933Tom Baker, 20 Jan 1934 Richard Chamberlain, 31 March 1934Shirley Jones, 31 March 1934Shirley MacLaine, 24 April 1934Alan Bennet, 9 May 1934Nanette Newman, 29 May 1934Eileen Atkins, 16 June 1934Jamie Farr, 1 July 1934Jean Marsh, 1 July 1934Sofia Loren, 20 Sep 1934Brigitte Bardot, 28 Sep 1934Judi Dench, 9 Dec 1934 

You'll also find a short version of this on Substack