# Actors Who Looked "Old" for a LOOOONG Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069 "2020-01-27T18:44:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/61 "2020-01-28T18:34:08Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Buddy Ebsen looked old as Jed Clampett, yet lived for 40 more years. To tell the truth, Ebsen looked pretty shopworn playing George Russell in the Walt Disney Davy Crockett TV-movies in 1954-5. He was born in 1908. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/62 "2020-01-28T18:50:43Z")
George Arliss He began his film career at the age of 53, which probably added to the impression he always looked old. He also played a lot of old men. He pretty much always played himself, but as he had effective creative control over many of his films, he was able to ensure he had a virtual monopoly on the good lines. A great, now-largely forgotten talent - at his best in the sound version of _The Green Goddess_ (1929) - he was the first Brit to win the Best Actor Oscar. > **[George Arliss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Arliss)** > > George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he won for his performance as Victorian-era British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli in Disraeli (1929) – as well as the earliest-born actor to win the honour. He specialized in successful biopics, such as Disraeli, Voltaire (1933), and Cardinal Richelieu (193... ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/63 "2020-01-28T18:57:25Z")
William Hickey always looked like he had one foot in the grave; he was just 58 when he appeared as the elderly Mafia don in _Prizzi’s Honor_, maybe his best-known role: [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f3480b38-b9ec-4af4-a959-c48d9e740352/d54vo15-ebc3ff28-e9c4-4a95-8c9b-258a74a9dab4.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9mMzQ4MGIzOC1iOWVjLTRhZjQtYTk1OS1jNDhkOWU3NDAzNTIvZDU0dm8xNS1lYmMzZmYyOC1lOWM0LTRhOTUtOGM5Yi0yNThhNzRhOWRhYjQuanBnIn1dXX0.WTOnMWJNFFzSv37BcUdwCexgcmB8fQaPj4DHIkPbQQk](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f3480b38-b9ec-4af4-a959-c48d9e740352/d54vo15-ebc3ff28-e9c4-4a95-8c9b-258a74a9dab4.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9mMzQ4MGIzOC1iOWVjLTRhZjQtYTk1OS1jNDhkOWU3NDAzNTIvZDU0dm8xNS1lYmMzZmYyOC1lOWM0LTRhOTUtOGM5Yi0yNThhNzRhOWRhYjQuanBnIn1dXX0.WTOnMWJNFFzSv37BcUdwCexgcmB8fQaPj4DHIkPbQQk) ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/64 "2020-01-28T20:37:38Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Wilfrid Brambel. Best known to American audiences as Paul’s Grandfather in _A Hard Day’s Night_. He was 52 at that time. He’s very clean. ---
**Author:** ![Oglomott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oglomott/32/3543_2.png) [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/65 "2020-01-28T20:53:19Z")
Liam Dunn was only 57 in “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles”, but he looked to be in his 70’s at least; he was only 59 when he died. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/66 "2020-01-28T21:38:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > William Hickey always looked like he had one foot in the grave; he was just 58 when he appeared as the elderly Mafia don in _Prizzi’s Honor_, maybe his best-known role: [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f3480b38-b9ec-4af4-a959-c48d9e740352/d54vo15-ebc3ff28-e9c4-4a95-8c9b-258a74a9dab4.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9mMzQ4MGIzOC1iOWVjLTRhZjQtYTk1OS1jNDhkOWU3NDAzNTIvZDU0dm8xNS1lYmMzZmYyOC1lOWM0LTRhOTUtOGM5Yi0yNThhNzRhOWRhYjQuanBnIn1dXX0.WTOnMWJNFFzSv37BcUdwCexgcmB8fQaPj4DHIkPbQQk](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f3480b38-b9ec-4af4-a959-c48d9e740352/d54vo15-ebc3ff28-e9c4-4a95-8c9b-258a74a9dab4.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi9mMzQ4MGIzOC1iOWVjLTRhZjQtYTk1OS1jNDhkOWU3NDAzNTIvZDU0dm8xNS1lYmMzZmYyOC1lOWM0LTRhOTUtOGM5Yi0yNThhNzRhOWRhYjQuanBnIn1dXX0.WTOnMWJNFFzSv37BcUdwCexgcmB8fQaPj4DHIkPbQQk) I recall first seeing Hickey as the interviewer at the beginning and end of **Little Big Man**. He had brown hair and, aside from his weird voice, didn’t seem particularly old. But he sure looked a lot older in everything else I saw him in ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/67 "2020-01-28T21:39:56Z")
> [@Oglomott](#): > > Liam Dunn was only 57 in “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles”, but he looked to be in his 70’s at least; he was only 59 when he died. Really? I’m really amazed. He also played Judge Maxwell in **What’s up, Doc?** , where he also looked old (and took an array of pills) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/68 "2020-01-28T22:15:55Z")
Christopher Lloyd has always looked kind of old. He was born in 1938, which means that when he did “Back to the Future,” he would have been roughly the same age as George and Lorraine in the movie (assuming they were about 17 in 1955). Yet, even in the 1955 scenes he’s supposed to be an old dude, or at least middle-aged. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/69 "2020-01-28T23:53:35Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > He’s very clean. Which was apparently a nudge-wink reference to one of his well-known TV characters who was “a dirty old man.” Well known to Brits, anway. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/70 "2020-01-29T00:41:17Z")
Hank Worden and maybe its just because of the time I spend around the Seneca but a shout-out to Chief John Big Tree as well. He had that aged Native American look nailed down early and kept it going for ages. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/71 "2020-01-29T00:45:46Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Similarly Redd Foxx was only 49 when _Sanford and Son_ debuted. And Whitman Mayo, who played Grady, was only 42. On the other side of the coin, a fair number of superhero actors–Robert Downey, Jr., Paul Rudd, Samuel Jackson, Ben Affleck, Hugh Jackman, and let’s throw in Daniel Craig and Tom Cruise–hit their career peaks after the age of 50. It makes me think of the old actor in _Baron Munchhausen_ who laments that he’s “too old to play Hamlet and too young to play Lear.” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/72 "2020-01-29T04:54:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Agreed – he was balding with white hair when he was in _Pete and Gladys_(1960-82, a spinoff of a role he’s had on _December Bride_ (1954-1959)), _Kentucky Jones_ (1964-5), and in _Dragnet '67_ (and its increments). He looked pretty much the same when he appeared in the Dan Aykroyd/Tom Hanks movie _Dragnet_ (1987). > > I HAVE seen clips of him younger, with dark hair, but he always looked older in the TV shows and movies I grew up with. > [Harry Morgan - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Morgan) I think you’re mis-remembering. [Here’s](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053529/mediaviewer/rm3238532096) a photo of him from Pete and Gladys, when he was 45, no grey at all. When Dragnet started in 1967 [he was just going grey around the edges](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061248/mediaviewer/rm2476177664), not white. And he was 52 at the time. I think the reason people don’t realize how much he changed over the years was a) they kept seeing him all the time on TV in various other shows when he wasn’t starring in one of his own, and b) he didn’t get fat or have other big changes, just the gradual normal aging of an actor who didn’t try to stop time. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/73 "2020-01-29T05:07:35Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > On the other side of the coin, a fair number of superhero actors–Robert Downey, Jr., Paul Rudd, Samuel Jackson, Ben Affleck, Hugh Jackman, and let’s throw in Daniel Craig and Tom Cruise–hit their career peaks after the age of 50. Rudd is 50 now. Affleck is 47. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/74 "2020-01-29T05:18:20Z")
And Tom Cruise’s career peak was a really long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/75 "2020-01-29T05:22:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I recall first seeing Hickey as the interviewer at the beginning and end of **Little Big Man**. He had brown hair and, aside from his weird voice, didn’t seem particularly old. But he sure looked a lot older in everything else I saw him in Ah, I’d forgotten he was in that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/76 "2020-01-29T06:06:51Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Rudd is 50 now. Affleck is 47. And Craig is 51 now and started being Bond when he was 38. Hugh Jackman is also 51 and was only 31 when he first appeared as Wolverine. Even Robert Downey Jr is only 54, so was 42 when he started being Ironman. Plus Samuel L Jackson is in superhero movies, but doesn’t play a superhero. He has looked more or less the same age since Jurassic Park though. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/77 "2020-01-29T10:11:53Z")
Character actor Fred Clark, chewng his cigar indignantly, looked exactly the same for his 20-year career. He died at 54, but never looked that young. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/78 "2020-01-29T13:03:10Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Wilfrid Brambel. Best known to American audiences as Paul’s Grandfather in _A Hard Day’s Night_. He was 52 at that time. I was just thinking about this guy the other day and wondering if I’m older now than he was in _AHDN_. Um, no question about it and then some. :o But I’m very clean. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/79 "2020-01-29T13:42:30Z")
Agnes “Endora” Moorehead always looked old to me. Born in 1900, her first movie was apparently _ **Citizen Kane** _ in 1941. She was in her mid-60s when \*\*\*Bewitched \*\*\*got under way. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/80 "2020-01-29T15:23:25Z")
William Frawley, who was likely best known as Fred Mertz in the “Lucy” series. He was in a ton of movies, starting in 1916, that included ‘Miracle on 34th Street’. He was also apparently an asshole to work with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069.md?page=5)