# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [March 27, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/121 "2020-03-27T01:51:51Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I’m pretty sure she wore age make-up, and she definitely wore a wig in _The Beverly Hillbillies_. The “old voice” was an affect, too. A younger actress was actually cast on purpose, partly because they didn’t know how long the series would run, but also partly because if she could move like someone much younger (and she really could move for 62), it was funny. I read that somewhere-- it was a book on TV effects, not a book on _The Beverly Hillbillies_. As mentioned above, she was in a 1949 movie opposite Kirk Douglas and Keenan Wynn. There were no close-ups of her face, but she was tiny and very thin, and had her hair drawn back in a Granny bun. She basically looked the same as she would in 1962, though maybe a little bit younger. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/122 "2020-03-27T02:19:24Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I was surprised Ian McDiarmid was only 36 in Empire Strikes Back. They used makeup and other stuff to make him look much older. He’s 75 now. Ian McDiarmid wasn’t (originally) in Empire Strikes Back. His debut was Return of the Jedi. The emperor in ESB was played by Marjorie Eaton with a mask, and dubbed with the voice of Clive Revill. Lucas replaced them with McDiarmid twenty years later. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/123 "2020-03-27T04:56:37Z")
Years ago, people in general looked older when they were younger. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/124 "2020-03-27T14:48:43Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Irene Ryan looked old as the hills long before she became Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies starting at age 62. All I can say is she must have been one heavy smoker. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I’m pretty sure she wore age make-up, and she definitely wore a wig in _The Beverly Hillbillies_. The “old voice” was an affect, too. A younger actress was actually cast on purpose, partly because they didn’t know how long the series would run, but also partly because if she could move like someone much younger (and she really could move for 62), it was funny. I read that somewhere-- it was a book on TV effects, not a book on _The Beverly Hillbillies_. > [@terentii](#): > > As mentioned above, she was in a 1949 movie opposite Kirk Douglas and Keenan Wynn. There were no close-ups of her face, but she was tiny and very thin, and had her hair drawn back in a Granny bun. She basically looked the same as she would in 1962, though maybe a little bit younger. [Here’s](http://www.mediaheritage.com/irene-and-tim-ryan-quiz/)Irene Ryan in the late 1930s. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/125 "2020-03-27T15:02:58Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > [Here’s](http://www.mediaheritage.com/irene-and-tim-ryan-quiz/)Irene Ryan in the late 1930s. Mmmmm! She was quite a dish back then! 😉 The story I heard straight from the mouth of Bea Benaderet was that she and Irene both auditioned for the role of Granny. When she saw Irene’s performance, she told the producers not to bother looking any farther; they’d found their Granny. It was then she was offered the role of Cousin Pearl. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/126 "2020-03-27T15:04:54Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Years ago, people in general looked older when they were younger. Smoking had a lot to do with this, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2020, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/127 "2020-03-27T16:29:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Smoking had a lot to do with this, I think. Most assuredly. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/128 "2020-03-28T11:43:29Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I was surprised Ian McDiarmid was only 36 in Empire Strikes Back. They used makeup and other stuff to make him look much older. He’s 75 now. I don’t think he was in Empire Strikes Back originally, they edited him into a later release, the change from anonymous actor in shadow to “having a ball” prequel trilogy Emperor was a bit jarring. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069/129 "2020-03-28T11:46:25Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Along with Borgnine, I would add Gene Hackman and Walter Matthau to the ranks of the perpetually middle-aged looking. Would Robert Duvall fit in that group too? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-looked-old-for-a-loooong-time/847069.md?page=6)