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From Clint Eastwood to Berry Gordy to William Shatner and beyond, these Hollywood stars have made quite an impact on the entertainment industry in different ways. In addition to being Hollywood royalty, they all have something in common: their age. The above-mentioned celebrities, and twenty-plus others, have all hit their ninth decade of life and most are still letting their creative juices flow. Take a look below to see before and after photos of these accomplished stars and learn about their pop culture contributions.
Dick Van Dyke, 97
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Dick Van Dyke‘s claim to fame is from his starring role as Mr. Daws in 1964’s Mary Poppins. He also made a cameo role in the 2018 remake. Dick has enjoyed an eight-decade-spanning career and has won five Primetime Emmys, a Tony, and a Grammy. Some of his other notable projects include The Dick Van Dyke Show, which aired between 1961 and 1996, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, which was filmed from 1971 to 1974, and Diagnosis Murder, in which he played Dr. Mark Sloan during the show’s 1993 to 2001 run.
In 2021, he recalled some of his favorite works. “I think the five years on The [Dick] Van Dyke Show with Carl [Reiner] and Mary [Tyler Moore] was the most fun I ever had,” he told Today. “Carl didn’t write things in stone. Everybody got to throw in their idea. So from the first reading until we did it on the show, it was a different show altogether.” The legendary actor turned 97 on Dec. 13, 2022.
Bob Barker, 99
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Iconic former The Price is Right host Bob Barker reached the age of 99 on Dec. 12, 2022.
Just a few months before his 98th birthday, he reflected on his 35 years of hosting the CBS game show with great delight. “I’m often asked what I loved most about my years with Price, and the first thing that pops to mind is … the money, of course!” he joked to People. “All kidding aside, there was much to love. I had the pleasure of working with a dedicated and talented cast and crew for 35 great years. Particularly close to my heart was the ability our vast popularity gave me to remind our entire audience daily about the importance of spaying and neutering your pets,” he continued. The beloved host won 19 Emmys during his run on The Price is Right.
Joel Grey, 90
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Being the son of actor and comedian Mickey Katz, Joel Grey grew up in the business. “It’s my passion,” he told People on his 90th birthday in 2002. “Somehow, I knew that the theater was my life and that it was going to be a part of my life, and so I fought like a fighter. There was no doubt in my mind that I would not give up, but it did take a while. I’d say about 20 years.”
The talented Oscar and Tony Award-winner may be best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the Broadway musical Cabaret, but he has also played parts big and small across several genres of entertainment over his long and successful career. Some of his notable projects include 1985’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, 1999’s A Christmas Carol, playing the Wizard in the original cast of Wicked, and most recently, a small part in 2021’s tick, tick…BOOM!
The accomplished actor made headlines in 2015 for coming out as gay, despite having been married to actress Jo Wilder for 24 years and raising two children with her. “I feel very happy for my dad that he has come to a point in his life where he feels safe and comfortable enough to declare himself in a public way as a gay man,” his daughter, Ghost star Jennifer Grey, told People at the time. “Mostly because the more people are free to own their true nature and can hopefully come closer to love and accept themselves as they really are, no matter what age, no matter how long it takes, to finally be free of the lies or half-truths, it is freedom.”
Joel turned 90 on April 11, 2022, a year that also marks the 50th anniversary of the Cabaret film. He rang in the big 9-0 in Times Square with friends. “If you are a young person who dreams of being a part of Broadway, come to New York. We want your talent. If you’re a fan, buy a ticket, see a show. We want your passion and your energy,” Grey told Broadway World during his celebration. “Broadway is back and better than ever!”
Rita Moreno, 91
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EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner Rita Moreno has enjoyed an entertainment career that spans eight decades. Some of her biggest roles are supporting parts in 1952’s Singin’ in the Rain, 1956’s The King and I, and the 1961 and 2021 film adaptations of the Broadway musical West Side Story.
Rita turned 91 on Dec. 11, 2022. A year before, she gushed about her 90th birthday plans when she co-hosted Fox 5’s Good Day New York. She said she had two birthday celebrations before her special day, although she admitted her gatherings are much more scaled-down compared to what they used to be. “They’re all small now. Usually, at home, I have a big party with costumes and themes,” she noted. “Usually Hispanic food and now that’s been narrowed way down but that’s okay.”
Barbara Eden, 91
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Actress and producer Barbara Eden is best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie, which aired new episodes between 1965 and 1970. The show was rebooted into a movie in 1985, titled I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later. She also notably starred opposite Elvis Presley in 1960’s Flaming Star.
The showbiz veteran turned 91 on Aug. 23, 2022. “I feel young!” she exclaimed to Page Six in September of that year. “I have a lot of friends. I’m pretty active socially.” She also looked back on her career with gratitude. “I was very very lucky to like the job I chose,” she gushed. “I feel sorry for people like my poor father who had to work every day at something he didn’t like. I enjoy my work. I still work.”
Ahead of her 91st birthday, Barbara is scheduled to make an appearance at Elvis Week 2022 at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee in memory of the 45th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.
William Shatner, 91
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William Shatner is an accomplished Canadian actor who is best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. His seven-decade career is still fruitful. He has published dozens of books, has a successful annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show Charity Auction that raises money for children and veterans in need, and serves as the executive producer of The UnXplained on the History channel.
In May 2022, the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor said he feels decades younger than he actually is. “They mentioned [my age] the other day, and I said, ‘To whom are you addressing that remark?’” he recalled to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I used to feel like 32,” he continued. “I traveled a lot this weekend, and (today) I’m about 56.” He turned 91 on March 22, 2022.
Gena Rowlands, 92
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Gena Rowlands, who is now retired, turned 92 on June 19, 2022. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for the several films she created with her late husband John Cassavetes. In a 2016 interview, Gena said her favorite films were the ones she shot with her husband. “Because there’s nothing like working for John!” she exclaimed to the film commentary site RogerEbert.com. “Everybody loved it. It was not like working for anybody else, even though everybody else there were a lot of terrific talented people who had their own way of doing it. The freedom that John gave his actors was astounding,” she added.
And after she was asked if she would ever return to acting, she gave a doubtful response. “I’ve devoted most of my life to acting. Of course, if something stunningly wonderful comes up that I can’t resist, I’ll change my mind, but I don’t see too much of that around these days,” she noted.
Clint Eastwood, 92
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Legendary actor, director, and moviemaker Clint Eastwood turned 92 on May 31, 2022. The actor, who found his big break in the 1959 to 1965 television series Rawhide, has a whopping 71 acting credits and 45 directing credits on his IMDb page. Some of the biggest films he’s acted in and/or directed include 1992’s Unforgiven, 2004’s Million Dollar Baby, 2008’s Gran Torino, and 2014’s American Sniper.
In response to a question about why he’s still directing into his 90s, he admitted it’s a mixture of joy and competitiveness that keeps him going. “I just like it. I have nothing against other directors, but I might have a whole different take on things and I don’t want to be thinking, ‘Why did I give it to him?’” he explained to the Los Angeles Times in September 2021. In regard to acting, he said he asks himself, “’What the hell am I still working for in my 90s? Are people going to start throwing tomatoes at you?’” He continued, “I’ve gotten to the point where I wondered if that was enough, but not to the point where I decided it was. If you roll out a few turkeys, they’ll tell you soon enough.”
Robert Wagner, 92
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Robert Wagner turned 92 on Feb. 10, 2022. The iconic actor began his long career in the 1950s but really made a name for himself when he landed starring roles in series such as It Takes a Thief, Switch, and Hart to Hart in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of his most notable roles in the 2000s occurred in Austin Powers, Two and a Half Men, and NCIS.
Gene Hackman, 92
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Actor Gene Hackman began his award-winning film career in the 1960s and is known for playing Lex Luthor in Superman between 1978 and 2006, 1971’s The French Connection, 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure, 1992’s The Unforgiven, and 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums.
However, he has retired from acting and his last project on IMDb is Superman in 2006. “When I’m actually on the set or on a stage, actually doing the work, I loved that process and I loved the creative process of trying to bring a character to life,” he told Empire in 2009. Possibly revealing why he retired, he added, “The business part of show business is kinda wicked.” Gene turned 92 on Jan. 30, 2022.
Tippi Hedren, 92
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Actress, model, and animal rights activist Tippi Hedren rose to fame after landing roles in 1963’s The Birds and 1964’s Marnie. She turned 92 years old on Jan. 19, 2022. She is still active in Hollywood today, and she also pursues her passion for animals. According to her granddaughter, actress Dakota Johnson, 32, Tippi once had dozens of cats at her Acton, California animal sanctuary called Shambala Preserve. “She has 13 or 14 lions and tigers. There used to be like 60 cats and now there’s just a couple,” she said while on The Graham Norton Show in 2020.
Buzz Aldrin, 92
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Buzz Aldrin is no actor or director like his fellow famous folks that have reached their ninth decade of life. Rather, Buzz is a retired astronaut, engineer, and fighter pilot. He helped land the first humans on the moon in 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Buzz was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom following the successful mission. His 92nd birthday fell on Jan. 20, 2022.
James Earl Jones, 91
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James Earl Jones celebrated his 91st birthday on Jan. 17, 2022. He is known for voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in The Lion King. He reprised his roles in 2019’s Lion King live-action remake and as Darth Vader in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the series Star Wars: Rebels between 2014 and 2016.
On his 90th birthday in 2021, he remembered his life and career with great pleasure. “[I’m] feeling fantastic and grateful at 90 years old. Looking back at my life and extensive career, I am so proud of my work and accomplishments. I love growing older and wiser with time,” he told USA TODAY.
Berry Gordy, 93
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Berry Gordy is the founder of one of the most successful Black-owned record labels of all time, Motown records. The label introduced some of music’s biggest icons to the world, such as The Supremes, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and The Jackson Five.
“I’m very lucky to have Berry,” Diana told Rolling Stone in 1973. “He decides what’s best for me to do. I give him total responsibility for those decisions. It makes it hard on him, I know, but he takes the time to really make sure he doesn’t make a wrong decision for me. He’s had this kind of a relationship with every other group, but I’m the only person that’s really let him have total control.”
In recent years, he launched a hit Broadway musical about his label and its impact on the world, titled Motown: The Musical. Berry rang in his 93nd birthday on Nov. 28, 2022.
June Squibb, 93
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June Squibb‘s acting career, which kicked off in 1985, has been shaped by a myriad of supporting roles through film and television. However, she gained recognition for her performance in 2013’s Nebraska, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. “I have always felt that I have broken rules, and I think that’s what I did out here. It was amazing for someone my age, never having gotten an Oscar nomination before,” she shared with Huffpost in 2015. She added, “I just sort of accept my life and what happens. I was thrilled. It was a great experience to have, and just the fact of the nomination and all of these different awards – that meant a lot to me.”
June celebrated her 93rd birthday on Nov. 6, 2022.
Barbara Walters, 93
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Barbara Walters, who turned 93 on Sept. 25, 2022, is considered a trailblazer for women journalists in America. She began her career at NBC in 1962, where she eventually became the first woman co-host of the Today show. She then moved onto ABC, where she hosted ABC Evening News until 1978. She then led ABC’s newsmagazine show 20/20 until 2004. She also created the popular morning talk show The View in 1997, where she was a regular host until she retired in 2014. The iconic journalist has stayed away from the spotlight since 2016.
Bob Newhart, 93
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Bob Newhart turned 93 on Sept. 5, 2022. Bob burst into the entertainment scene in 1960 after signing with Warner Brothers’ one-year-old record label and releasing his debut comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart the following year. It became the first-ever comedy recording to hit the top spot on the Billboard charts, per All Music. The album earned him the Grammys for Album of the Year and Best New Artist. His success as a comedian landed him comedy tours, several comedy albums, a myriad of acting roles, and even his own television show, titled The Bob Newhart Show, which lasted for six seasons, and a comedy series titled Newhart, which filmed between 1982 and 1990.
Upon ringing in his 90th birthday in 2019, Newhart said he feels nowhere near his age. “My mind doesn’t [feel old]. I can’t turn it off,” he told The New York Times.
Johnny Gilbert, 94
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Johhny Gilbert is best known for announcing Jeopardy! before former host Alex Trebek took the stage. He maintained the role during Alex’s tenure on the show from 1983 to 2020. Even now, at 93 years old, he is still voicing the beloved game show. “I started taking voice lessons when I was still in high school, got a job with a little band and traveled around in that area for a while,” he told ABC about his start in voice acting. “That was the beginning of it all.”
While he still announces for Jeopardy!, he said it’s not the same without Alex, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2020. “It’s not easy for me because I worked with Alex for 37 years, and I never thought of anybody replacing him. Nobody can do it like he did it, you know,” he said.
Johnny turned 94 on July 13, 2022.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 94
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Dr. Ruth Westheimer is a German-American psychosexual therapist, radio and talk show host, author, professor, and Holocaust survivor. She gained notoriety in the early 1980s after her bold radio show, Sexually Speaking, debuted on WYNY radio. The show, which aimed to inform people about human sexuality and was unheard of at the time, was renamed The Ruth Show and became the top-rated radio show in the New York area by 1983. She has since gone on to be a well-renowned sex educator and author.
Even well into her 90s, Dr. Ruth is still advocating for sex and sex education. In 2021, she said people should have sexual intercourse as long as they can. “If they have a good partner, they should have sex. If you don’t have a partner, they should satisfy themselves. Period. There is no age limit,” she told the New York Post.
Dr. Ruth turned 94 on June 4, 2022.
William Daniels, 95
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William Daniels is best known for playing George Feeney in Boy Meets World and Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere. He turned 95 on March 31, 2022, and gushed about his laid-back life in Southern California with his wife of 70 years, actress Bonnie Bartlett, and their three children and grandchildren. “I’m very happy having a comfortable way of life now without having to perform or do anything stressful,” he told Forbes as he celebrated his birthday. “I don’t do anything that I don’t want to do.” Later on, in the interview he echoed that sentiment, saying, “I am really a very lucky guy and I’m very content at where we are right now.”
Harry Bellafonte, 95
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Jamaican-American artist Harry Bellafonte is best known for helping bring Caribbean beats to the mainstream. Some of his most widely known tunes include “Jamaica Farewell” and “Banana Boat (Day-O).” The musician has released more than a dozen albums throughout his career, which began in the 1950s, and has taken home three Grammy Awards and one Emmy.
Aside from being a groundbreaking musician, he’s also a social activist and rang in his 95th birthday by being honored for his advocacy for racial justice. “He put his money where his mouth is, and he put his career on the line,” Laurence Fishburne, 60, said at the inaugural Harry Belafonte Social Justice Awards on March 2, 2022, per The New York Times. The awards honored the 10-year anniversary of Sankofa.org, a social justice organization Belafonte founded. According to its website, the organization “educates, motivates, and activates artists and allies in service of grassroots movements and equitable change.” Harry’s actual birthday falls on March 1.
Tony Bennett, 96
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Legendary vocalist Tony Bennett began his singing career after returning to America from WWII. He rose to stardom in 1951 after he released his hit single “Because Of You.” In the following years, he churned out hits like “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Stranger in Paradise,” “Just in Time,” and “Rags to Riches.” He went on to win 18 Grammys over his 70-year career and was an active musician until his retirement in 2021. He retired due to his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, which he received in 2016.
However, he made sure he waved goodbye to his fans one last time. On October 21, 2021, the “Bue Velvet” singer released his second album with Lady Gaga and his final album ever, Love for Sale. The dynamic duo, who previously released Cheek to Cheek in 2014, sang their hearts out in a two-concert series in New York that was then aired as a special on CBS, titled “One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.”
Tony’s 96th birthday fell on Aug. 31, 2022.
Mel Brooks, 96
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Mel Brooks is yet another successful film and television star that has a career spanning seven decades. He started making a name for himself in Hollywood after he was hired in 1950 as a writer for the variety comedy show, Your Show of Shows. The following decade, he created the hit show, Get Smart, which filmed between 1965 and 1970. Some of his other notable projects include 1974’s Blazing Saddles, 1987’s Spaceballs, and 2005’s The Producers.
The History of the World: Part 1 actor shows no signs of slowing down and even released a memoir titled All About Me! in 2021. And in January 2022, he joked that cabbage is his secret to having such a long and fruitful career. “I’d say stuffed cabbage has kept me going. I love it…. I don’t know,” he teased in an interview with AARP. “I think there was something rich and wonderful about growing up in Brooklyn. It was a magical place that filled you with dreams, ideals and a love of life. I remember being a little kid and actually loving being alive. They say comedians usually have a bad childhood, so they make up for it with laughter and love from the audience. That’s nonsense! For me, it’s about continuing the love you got as a child. I had a lot of love as a kid, and I don’t want that love to stop.”
Mel turned 96 on June 28, 2022.
David Attenborough, 96
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Emmy Award-winning television host and historian David Attenborough celebrated his 96th birthday on May 8, 2022. He originally worked for BBC, which is where he presented his first major series, Quest, a show that explored endangered animals and diversified natural habitats around the world. He is still narrating nature-centered projects to this day.
Eva Marie Saint, 98
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Oscar and Emmy Award-winning actress Eva Marie Saint turned 98 on July 4, 2022. The successful actress began her career with a role in 1947’s A Christmas Carol. Some of her biggest projects include 1954’s On The Waterfront, which earned her an Oscar, 1959’s North by Northwest, and 2006’s Superman Returns. She most recently voice acted in The Legend of Korra from 2012 to 2014.
Norman Lear, 100
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Emmy and Golden Globe winning-actor and activist Norman Lear is best known for several sitcoms that aired in the 1970s such as All in the Family, Maude, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, and Good Times. His website confirms he has “no plans to retire.” In 2017, the talented star was involved in the remake of One Day at a Time and is serving as the executive producer of Netflix’s reboot of Good Times.
He’s also an activist who founded People For The American Way, an organization that fights “right-wing extremism while defending constitutional values like free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.” In 2001, Norman and his wife Lyn Lear purchased an original copy of the Declaration of Independence and took it on a tour, called the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, across all of America. He also started Declare Yourself, an organization that encouraged millions of young Americans to register to vote.
In a 2021 interview, Norman said he believes laughter has contributed to his long and successful life. “The laughter I’ve enjoyed most is laughter that has brought numbers of us together,” he recalled to People. “I’m sure laughter has added time to my life as a result of the way it has satisfied every part of me,” he added.
Norman turned 100 on July 27, 2022.
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