# Actors who were discovered in their 40s or later **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796 "2008-03-02T01:27:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/1 "2008-03-02T01:27:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/2 "2008-03-02T01:34:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/3 "2008-03-02T01:51:18Z")
[Paul Ford](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0285818/), 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. ---
**Author:** ![noodleloaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7993a0/32.png) [@noodleloaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noodleloaf)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/4 "2008-03-02T02:54:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/5 "2008-03-02T03:05:11Z")
[QUOTE=noodleloaf] 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. [/QUOTE] [Ebsen had been of some note as a stage dancer in the early 1930s](http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=39188), [and had been active in film since his late twenties](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001171/) ---
**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:** [March 2, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/6 "2008-03-02T03:14:18Z")
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. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/7 "2008-03-02T03:21:31Z")
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 > **[Chief Dan George | Actor, Soundtrack](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0313381/)** > > Known for: Little Big Man, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Harry and Tonto ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/8 "2008-03-02T03:41:17Z")
[Samuel Jackson.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/bio). He had some little roles before 1994, but > [@](#): > > One of the late bloomers of Hollywood, he was already 46 years old when Pulp Fiction (1994) premiered and has acted in an average of 3-4 films a year since. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/9 "2008-03-02T03:52:13Z")
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](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615993/) didn’t do his first film until he was age 67. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/10 "2008-03-02T04:10:14Z")
[John Mahoney](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001498/bio) comes close. He made his feature film debut when he was close to 40, although he apparently did a little stage work before that. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/11 "2008-03-02T04:14:59Z")
[Dr. Haing S. Ngor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haing_S._Ngor)’s first film was released when he was 44. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/12 "2008-03-02T04:19:10Z")
[del]Our next president[/del] Well anyway Fred Thompson. His first role was playing himself in the movie Marie. He was 43 at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/13 "2008-03-02T04:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] [Samuel Jackson.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000168/bio). He had some little roles before 1994, but [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/14 "2008-03-02T04:53:44Z")
[Peg Phillips](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0680697/) , best known as Ruth-Anne Miller on **Northern Exposure** , was born in 1918. Her first TV credit is from 1985. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/15 "2008-03-02T05:56:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Pigs\_in\_Space](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@Pigs\_in\_Space](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pigs_in_Space)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/16 "2008-03-02T06:31:08Z")
Alan Rickman was 42 when Die Hard came out. He had a few other credits before that, but nothing on that scale. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/17 "2008-03-02T06:37:10Z")
[Richard Farnsworth](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002070/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/18 "2008-03-02T06:43:37Z")
Wilford Brimley - [Cockfighter!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilford_Brimley) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/19 "2008-03-02T06:51:26Z")
Sidney Greenstreet didn’t get into movies until he was in his 60s, but I think that was a partly a choice he made. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796/20 "2008-03-02T15:25:19Z")
Charles Durning was a dance instructor till his 40s and didn’t get the break till age 50, when he played a crooked detective in _The Sting_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-were-discovered-in-their-40s-or-later/439796.md?page=2)