# Actors whose greatest fame/fortune came late **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556 "2008-07-23T23:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/41 "2008-07-24T17:45:36Z")
If anybody is going to argue that _biggest fame **and** fortune_ simply means salary + ticket sales, then hell, most actors would qualify. Worldwide population increase plus increasing global distribution, plus inflation, means actors today are paid more and seen more. Consider Harrison Ford. He was 35 when he did _Star Wars_, and that was undoubtedly his breakthrough role. It was not, however, his _highest paid_ at $650,000. He didn’t start getting $20,000,000 paychecks until _The Devil’s Own_, which is “late” for our purposes. But you’d be silly to think he qualified for the thread. Now consider Alec Guinness. He was 63 when _Star Wars_ came out, and it was one of his highest-paying roles **and** his most famous — however, he received less than a quarter of what Ford was paid ($150,000 + 2%). He shouldn’t qualify for this thread either; he was cast in _Star Wars_ precisely because he was already famous. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/42 "2008-07-24T17:48:09Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] If you define “coming late” as how close to the end it came, I don’t think anyone can top John Cazale. [/QUOTE] That wasn’t fame coming late, it was death coming early. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/43 "2008-07-24T21:33:45Z")
**Abe Vigoda** has appeared to be late in life during his entire career. Still [alive](http://www.abevigoda.com/) as of today. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/44 "2008-07-24T22:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Blossom Rock…became a household name… [/QUOTE] …um, really? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/45 "2008-07-24T22:41:08Z")
At the time, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/46 "2008-07-25T14:13:26Z")
John Mahoney (Frasier’s father) didn’t even start acting until he was about 40; _Frasier_ was more than a decade later. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556/47 "2008-07-25T14:32:52Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I remember wondering once if he had _ever_ been young, because I didn’t remember ever seeing an old movie or TV show in which he didn’t look 80. Turned out there’s a good reason: he didn’t begin acting until he was 67! ========== [Chief Dan George](http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/2695887.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=65DF17A14A6B244A72B64388FCFEEBDBA55A1E4F32AD3138)- he was a construction worker, loading dock worker, bus driver, and a variety of other jobs before getting occasional work in western TV shows in his 60s. His his great fame came with _Little Big Man_. It was his first major role (though not his last), he was 71 when it premiered, and he was (deservedly so) nominated for an Oscar. [/QUOTE] A picture of Burt as a cadet is here > **[NameBright - Coming Soon](http://www.ronleon.com/burtmustin/index.html)** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-greatest-fame-fortune-came-late/457556.md?page=2)