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

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Who knew?

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

(Richard Widmark)

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Saddam Hussein, obv

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 11:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Stanley Baxter

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 12:21 (twenty-two years ago)

(Inverting the question completely) Thora Hird.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 12:22 (twenty-two years ago)

she was famous.

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Anita O'Day: though I had never heard of her until the time I also learned that she was still alive.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 13:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Clive Dunn is the obvious one.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Dennis Hopper, every time.

― TOMBOT, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Mickey Rooney

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

She was famous, yeah, but I thought she was alive and she's not.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

So I guess it's only half-inverted.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

J.D. Salinger, every time I hear it, I'm surprised.

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm always vaguelly confused that he even exists.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

George Jones.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Elvis Presley

― jewelly (jewelly), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Joe Namath - I could have sworn he had a heart attack years ago!

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Red Auerbach, who I had to make sure was still alive by going to Dead or Alive?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, didn't Studs Terkel die? That site lists him as alive. Or am I thinking of Irv Kupcinet?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

That guy from the Von Bondies

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel particularly bad for this, having been such a huge fan of his music, but only earlier in 2003 did I learn that Mr. Sly Stone in fact did not die sometime in the early 80s.

― nickalicious at granny's crib, Thursday, 25 December 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Ursula Moray Williams

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Thursday, 25 December 2003 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Reg Varney

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Friday, 26 December 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Dave Allen

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 26 December 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I couldn't believe Christopher Lee was alive when I found out he was doing Saruman (and then the Star Wars dingus). He's like, 80!!!

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Oops: Kupcinet just kicked the bucket about a month ago. Studs is alive and well.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

GENE WILDER. I swear he died.

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Reg Varney's still alive?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:01 (twenty-two years ago)

richard pryor.

― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i read something saying Nina Simone only died this year. Can that be right?

― isadora (isadora), Sunday, 28 December 2003 08:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Windsor Davies

― Ricardo (RickyT), Sunday, 28 December 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

gene wilder recently had a bout with cancer, which thank god he survived.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Sunday, 28 December 2003 21:52 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

Bosko Balaban Stats For Season

Name Bosko Balaban
Team Aston Villa
Total Appearances 0
Starts 0
Substituted 0
Total Minutes Played 0
Avg Minutes Played Per Start 0
Goals 0
Avg Goal Mins When Starting 0.0
Avg Mins Played/Goal Scored 0
Goals Scored As Sub 0
Number of Bookings 0
Total Booking Minutes 0
Avg Bookings Per Start 0
Number of Red Cards 0
Total Red Card Minutes 0
Avg Red Cards Per Start 0
Avg Booking Minutes When Starting 0.0

― bosko, Monday, 14 June 2004 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I was surprised that Bosko even lived.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 June 2004 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

three years pass...

Telma Hopkins!

but that was last week.

today it was ARNOLD STANG!!!!

don't know why i though telma hopkins died.

― tremendoid, Friday, 8 February 2008 06:25 (eighteen years ago)

Zsa Zsa Gabor just turned 91 a few days ago.

― Roz, Friday, 8 February 2008 07:03 (eighteen years ago)

abe vigoda

― remy bean, Friday, 8 February 2008 07:11 (eighteen years ago)

I think Ernest Borgnine is still at it too.

― nickn, Friday, 8 February 2008 07:52 (eighteen years ago)

doris day

― Frogman Henry, Friday, 8 February 2008 08:00 (eighteen years ago)

she's getting a grammy tomorrow

― tremendoid, Friday, 8 February 2008 08:03 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

Shirley Temple

― lol @ dog w/ sunglasses (Pillbox), Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:06 (fifteen years ago)

!!!

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:07 (fifteen years ago)

Leonard skinner, but he's now dead.

― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

I was surprised that Bosko even lived.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, June 15, 2004 4:15 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark

dying here

had no idea Sam Beckett lived until 1989 until the other day

― CharlieS, Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:12 (fifteen years ago)

j.d. salinger, but then he died not long after i found out

― just1n3, Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:24 (fifteen years ago)

four months pass...

Louie Anderson

― Godzilla vs. Rodan Rodannadanna (The Yellow Kid), Friday, 18 February 2011 06:17 (fifteen years ago)

He was on Tim & Eric a year or two ago.

― Wacky Way Lounge (Evan), Friday, 18 February 2011 06:41 (fifteen years ago)

Kenneth Mars, but once again after he was dead.

― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 18 February 2011 07:56 (fifteen years ago)

Jane Russell

― Alba, Friday, 18 February 2011 09:00 (fifteen years ago)

Clive Dunn

― Alba, Friday, 18 February 2011 09:01 (fifteen years ago)

Skipping 3577 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

So apparently there's no consensus on who played drums or guitar on "Hurdy Gurdy Man," the Wikipedia page is a complete jumble of accounts.

― Josefa, Friday, 24 April 2026 01:10 (one month ago)

Thelma Barlow, 96.

― Clarinet Cop (Tom D.), Friday, 24 April 2026 11:52 (one month ago)

Joe McGrath, director of "The Magic Christian" et al, 98.

― Clarinet Cop (Tom D.), Friday, 24 April 2026 17:10 (one month ago)

Two-thirds of the 60s Catwomen:

Julie Newmar, 92
Lee Merriwether, 90

― cryptosicko, Saturday, 2 May 2026 02:25 (one month ago)

I've just found out my 'Uncle' Michael - actually my first cousin once removed, apparently - is still alive at 90. Well, he's famous to me.

― Clarinet Cop (Tom D.), Saturday, 2 May 2026 10:20 (one month ago)

Rachel Robinson, widow of baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson, 103

― henry s, Sunday, 3 May 2026 14:29 (one month ago)

Frank Sedgman is still with us at 98. A player from an impossibly remote era who Dan Maskell would often mention in passing. The generation before Emerson/Laver/Rosewall/Roche/Stolle/Newcombe.
Of the first sixteen singles champs to be presented on Centre Court in the 2000 parade, he's the only one left.

― Michael Jones, Sunday, 3 May 2026 17:14 (one month ago)

Carl Yastrzemski, 86, made an appearance at today's Red Sox game.

― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Saturday, 9 May 2026 02:54 (one month ago)

Child killer and suspected serial killer Sidney Cooke, 99.

― nate woolls, Saturday, 9 May 2026 03:25 (one month ago)

But will there be a national celebration a la David Attenborough when he hits 100?

― Clarinet Cop (Tom D.), Saturday, 9 May 2026 06:20 (one month ago)

Roy Thinnes, 88.

― Michael Jones, Sunday, 10 May 2026 21:06 (one month ago)

Shirley Jones (Partridge Family, Oklahoma, etc) is 92

― Mark G, Monday, 11 May 2026 09:56 (one month ago)

(Elmer Gantry!)

― The Man Who Sold the Unisphere (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 12 May 2026 22:13 (one month ago)

Michael Heseltine, 93.

― bored by endless ecstasy (anagram), Wednesday, 13 May 2026 03:17 (one month ago)

Saw something in the news about Gerhard Schoeder the other day. I'd have sworn he'd died a few years ago.

― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 13 May 2026 03:44 (one month ago)

Linda Blair, 67.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 14 May 2026 20:19 (one month ago)

Match Game edition:

Bart Braverman, 80
Elaine Joyce, 80
Gary Burghoff, 82

― cryptosicko, Friday, 15 May 2026 02:38 (one month ago)

james sloyan, who got conned at the beginning of The Sting and played a bunch of different star trek parts, is 86

good cleft chin

https:/✧✧✧.al✧✧✧.com/comp/2PHCEX3/usa-robert-earl-jones-and-james-sloyan-in-a-scene-from-the-cuniversal-pictures-movie-the-sting-1973-plot-two-grifters-team-up-to-pull-off-the-ultimate-con-ref-lmk110-j8883-240323-supplied-by-lmkmedia-editorial-only-landmark-media-is-not-the-copyright-owner-of-these-film-or-tv-stills-but-provides-a-service-only-for-recognised-media-outlets-pictu✧✧✧@lmkmediacom-2PHC✧✧✧.j✧✧

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/4/4f/Alidar_Jarok.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20181208231658&path-prefix=en

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/1/1b/Ma%27Bor_Jetrel.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20071010222441&path-prefix=en

― mookieproof, Friday, 15 May 2026 03:15 (one month ago)

xp Since you went there...

Joyce Bulifant, 88
Lee Meriwether, 90
Fannie Flagg, 81
Jo Anne Worley, 88

― Josefa, Friday, 15 May 2026 03:16 (one month ago)

Burghoff and Alda surely the last remaining MASH castmembers?

― an uncharacteristically irritated Mr. Rogers (stevie), Friday, 15 May 2026 08:10 (one month ago)

I was crazy about MASH as a kid, even had the big retrospective book, and what I remember from that book, which was hugely deferential to the show, is that it was fairly clear Burghoff did not get on with the rest of the cast.

― an uncharacteristically irritated Mr. Rogers (stevie), Friday, 15 May 2026 08:11 (one month ago)

Hush my mouth! BJ's still alive

― an uncharacteristically irritated Mr. Rogers (stevie), Friday, 15 May 2026 08:12 (one month ago)

And Jamie Farr! I'm really living up to the spirit of the thread title, aren't I?

― an uncharacteristically irritated Mr. Rogers (stevie), Friday, 15 May 2026 08:13 (one month ago)

Ernest Saunders, born 1935.

― Alba, Saturday, 16 May 2026 20:25 (one month ago)

susan cooper turned 91 today

― mookieproof, Sunday, 24 May 2026 01:49 (three weeks ago)

the better informed can put me right style-wise but does marshall allen (102) count as the oldest bebop man still busy touring?

or did he skip bebop & plunge straight into wild space style?

― mark s, Thursday, 28 May 2026 08:36 (three weeks ago)

Lee Friedlander, 91

― Andy the Grasshopper, Thursday, 28 May 2026 16:38 (three weeks ago)

rosemary harris, 98 going on 99

also learned that she's the mother of actress jennifer ehle, had no idea.

― the manda-whore-ian and hoe-gu (voodoo chili), Thursday, 28 May 2026 16:45 (three weeks ago)

And born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch!

― Tom D, focussed with getting on with the job (Tom D.), Thursday, 28 May 2026 17:07 (three weeks ago)

extremely few people, let alone notable [jazz] musicians, have reached 102

bebop is just a label

be content with his sheer existence imo

― mookieproof, Friday, 29 May 2026 03:59 (two weeks ago)

Margaret Court, 83

― jaymc, Friday, 29 May 2026 04:05 (two weeks ago)

Mike Elliott, Jamaican-British saxophonist, co-founder of the Foundations, 96.

― Tom D, focussed with getting on with the job (Tom D.), Saturday, 30 May 2026 10:33 (two weeks ago)

Mike Stoller, 93.

And while I'm here...

Gaby Rodgers, actress and for many years Jerry Leiber's wife (and great-niece of Husserl!), 98.

― Tom D, focussed with getting on with the job (Tom D.), Saturday, 30 May 2026 11:08 (two weeks ago)

Saw pictures of Mike out and about promoting/attending his recent Broadway Show, Beaches, I think.

― Dr. Winston O RLY? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 31 May 2026 04:58 (two weeks ago)

Still living:

https://i.postimg.cc/90B693C5/alive.jpg

Who are the two people just behind Ringo?

― clemenza, Monday, 8 June 2026 15:13 (one week ago)

Dion and artist/sculptor Larry Bell

― Josefa, Monday, 8 June 2026 15:18 (one week ago)

I know one of those two.

― clemenza, Monday, 8 June 2026 15:20 (one week ago)

Sophia Loren is now the oldest by about five years

― Josefa, Monday, 8 June 2026 15:24 (one week ago)

I would assume some of the flowers are no longer with us

― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 8 June 2026 16:53 (one week ago)

Liv Ullman, 87

Had no idea she was born in Tokyo

― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 00:30 (one week ago)

They're not all that old--76, 80, and 82--but after seeing the Peter Asher documentary yesterday, nice to see that Twiggy, Jane Asher, and Pattie Boyd are all still alive. (Also Chris O'Dell, less well known--79.)

― clemenza, Sunday, 14 June 2026 21:20 (four days ago)

Jean Shrimpton also with us at 83

― Alba, Monday, 15 June 2026 09:23 (three days ago)

I saw Jane Asher at a Nigel Kneale event a couple of years ago - she's in the first Quatermass film and The Stone Tapes - and she was in very good form then (perhaps as a condition of her appearance, the Beatles were never mentioned).

― Ward Fowler, Monday, 15 June 2026 09:36 (three days ago)

Also not that old, Nicholas van Hoogstraten, remember that horrible cunt? Well unfortunately he's still alive.

― Tom D, focussed with getting on with the job (Tom D.), Monday, 15 June 2026 11:36 (three days ago)

I saw Jean Shrimpton once, down in Cornwall about 20 years ago. Didn't know it was her at the time, but saw a photo in the paper about five years after.

― Mark G, Monday, 15 June 2026 15:25 (three days ago)

Jan Smithers of WKRP, who (just learned) was married to James Brolin.

― coffee-themed romance ads (Eazy), Monday, 15 June 2026 15:51 (three days ago)

https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/458732-05-11-teenscover-01.jpg

― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 15 June 2026 17:09 (three days ago)

Toshiko Akiyoshi, 96

― The Immortal Bird of Avon (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 18 June 2026 00:34 (thirteen hours ago)

Tinto Brass, 93.

― Tom D, focussed with getting on with the job (Tom D.), Thursday, 18 June 2026 10:12 (three hours ago)

I'm sure Tinto Brass follows Ernest Borgnine's longevity advice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuC3t-d0Zao

― a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 18 June 2026 10:24 (three hours ago)

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