Anybody got any examples of actors got their break in movies or TV late in life?
I don’t mean established actors who became more famous when they were older, or people from other walks of life who had one high-profile gig and then went back to whatever they were doing. I’m referring to people who basically came out of nowhere and subsequently went on to enjoy years of work as a professional actor.
It’s not as easy as you might think. When Richard Farnsworth starred in The Grey Fox in 1982, he was portrayed as a 62-year-old ingenue, despite the fact that he had been appearing on film fairly consistently since the '30s and had in fact already been nominated for an Academy Award.
John Houseman was in a film in 1938 and had an uncredited cameo in 1968, but was not discovered as a film actor by the public until The Paper Chase in 1973 when he was 71. He won the Academy Award of best supporting actor
However, he might not count since he had done extensive radio and stage work.
Paul Ford, best remembered as the mayor of River City in “The Music Man” didn’t get into acting until he was in his early 40s. He got his first movie role when he was 44.
Buddy Ebsen (Barnaby Jones, Beverley Hillybillies) got his break at 46. Just a second or third sidekick on B westerns, Disney made him First Sidekick to Davey Crockett in 5 TV movies.
Heck, Buddy Ebsen was the original Tin Man in the 1939 The Wizard of Oz. He was replaced only because he got sick from the aluminum dust they coated his makeup with (They didn’t use the same stuff on Jack Haley, who replaced him). Some of his scenes survive in the existing movie, I understand (They’re long shots, so you can’t tell it’s not Haley). I think some of his singing survives (in group numbers) on the soundtrack as well.
There are lots of shots of him in the makeup and costume.
As was mentioned in another thread recently (I think), Chief Dan George didn’t try out for the movies until he was 60, and got several parts, most notably Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man. I don’t think he did anything before that
Abe Vigoda might qualify; he had only small roles in theater and a few appearances on TV before he was cast as Sal Tessio in The Godfather at the age of 51.
However, I think Burt Mustin didn’t do his first film until he was age 67.
According to IMDB his credits go back to 1972, including some decent face-time in movies like Jurassic Park, Jungle Fever and Goodfellas. A lot of those roles were certainly bit parts but I wouldn’t say that he came out of nowhere.
Juliet Anderson, better known as “Aunt Peg”, was 39 when she did her first adult film. She wound up creating her own niche in a world where older actresses are even less valued than in Hollywood.
Richard Farnsworth was a stuntman for 30 years. From time to time he would get a line or two in movies that he was working in but he was hired mostly for his horse riding. He went into acting in his fifties and received an Oscar nomination.