On Sanford and Son, the character Grady was played by Whitman Mayo was only 43 playing a dottering senior citizen. Redd Foxx was only 50.
At least Demond Wilson (Lamont) was young enough to play Foxx’s son. On Good Times, John Amos who played the father James is 19 years younger than the late Esther Rolle who played the mother Florida. The oldest son was played by Jimmie Walker (JJ). John Amos is only 7 1/2 years older than JJ. So, in real time, when JJ was born, mom was 27 and dad was in the second grade.
On the Golden Girls, Estelle Getty is two monthes younger than Bea Arthur and 1 1/2 years younger than Betty White. Rue MCClanahan is about 7-8 years younger than the rest of the group.
On I Love Lucy, William Frawley (Fred) is 22 years older than Ethel (Vivian Vance), so Frawley could of been Vance’s father not husband. Lucy was 6 years older than Desi. Lucy was the last cast member to die (1989).
Michael Chiklis was in his late 20’s when he took the role of Tony Scalia in The Commish. He played the 40-ish police commissioner so well that he was almost passed over for the role of Vic Mackey in FX’s The Shield because the producers thought of him as “an old guy”.
In the mid 80’s I saw Mark Lenard (Sarek) at a sci-fi convention.
One clueless guy in the audience asked him the following:
Q: Could you be Spock’s father?
A: I don’t understand your question sir.
Q: Could you really be Spock’s father?
A: What do you mean?
Q: I mean, are you old enough to be Nimoy’s father?
long pause
A: What are you, naive? Sure, if I had him when I was 7. Next question.
Beverley Mitchell, plays the younger sister Lucy on 7th HEaven, & Jessica Beil who played the older Mary was actually a bit over a year younger.
In POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE Shriley MacLaine playing the Mom & is almost exactly 20 years older than Meryl Streep, possible & in the ballpark but pushing it …
I’ve heard that the girl who plays the younger sister in “8 Simple Rules” is actually older than the girl who plays the older sister. I don’t know their official ages though, so I’m not sure how much older.
Six Feet Under: Peter Krause was born in 1965, and Frances Conroy and Richard Jenkins, who play his mother and father, were both born in 1953. They must have had him when they were only 12 years old.
Since the days of 25-year-old Dwayne Hickman and 24-year-old Bob Denver played high schoolers on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, all teenagers on tv have been older than they look.
Some of the “students” on Boston Public are older than some of the “teachers.”
But it’s been getting worse for years.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner was 36 on The Cosby Show. Mayim Bialek was 42 when she played Blossom. Shannon Doherty was legally dead by her third year on Beverly Hills 90210. Most shockingly, the Olsen twins are unaging simulacra created by Nostradamus.
Stacey Dash was 33 by the time her character, Dionne, graduated high school in the TV series “Clueless.” The lovely Ms. Dash played the same character in the 1995 movie of the same name. The series ran from 1996-99.
On Charmed there are three sisters and a younger half sister, and birth order of the witches is fairly important to the family
dynamics on the show.
1st born - Prue - Shannen Doherty: DOB 12 April 1971
2nd born - Piper - Holly Marie Combs: DOB 3 December 1973
3rd born - Phoebe- Alyssa Milano : DOB 19 December 1972
4th born - Paige - Rose McGowan : DOB 5 September 1973
They killed off Prue at the end of season three, so the oldest sister on the show is actually the youngest actress.