# biggest gap in IMDB history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040 "2016-07-04T03:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/1 "2016-07-04T03:12:35Z")
What actor or actress has the largest gap in credits on IMDB? I have a vague recollection of a gap of a decade or more, but I can’t recall who and I don’t know how to do a search for something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/2 "2016-07-04T03:23:28Z")
I trust we’re not counting posthumous credits, i.e. someone’s appearance in “archival footage” in a modern film. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/3 "2016-07-04T03:32:50Z")
Jack Larson, recently deceased Jimmy Olsen actor, has a 26 year gap from 1965 to 1991. > **[Jack Larson - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489001/?ref_=rvi_nm)** > > Jack Larson. Actor: Superman Returns. Jack Edward Larson was born in Los Angeles, California, to Anita (Calicoff) and George E. Larson. He was raised in Pasadena, and attended Pasadena Junior College (by coincidence, exactly as did his Adventures of... ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/4 "2016-07-04T03:34:03Z")
I submit Leonard Whiting, who played Romeo in Franco Zefferelli’s film _Romeo and Juliet_ from 1968. He acted in the film _Rachel’s Man_ in 1975 and then, aside from a voice-only credit, next appeared in a film in 2015’s _Social Suicide_. A forty year gap. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/5 "2016-07-04T03:37:07Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I trust we’re not counting posthumous credits, i.e. someone’s appearance in “archival footage” in a modern film. I would agree. Only credits for appearing in a new role and not just a flashback or archival footage. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/6 "2016-07-04T03:41:58Z")
Also Mark Lester, the kid who played Oliver in the Oscar-winning film _Oliver!_ (1968) has no credits between 1977 and 2011, and the 2011 credit is a short film. That’s a 34 year gap, in case you can’t count. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/7 "2016-07-04T03:43:16Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > I submit Leonard Whiting, who played Romeo in Franco Zefferelli’s film _Romeo and Juliet_ from 1968. > > He acted in the film _Rachel’s Man_ in 1975 and then, aside from a voice-only credit, next appeared in a film in 2015’s _Social Suicide_. A forty year gap. It is arbitrary, but I’m curious to see who has the biggest gap in credits, including voice work. Otherwise someone like Don Pardo would be really difficult to measure. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/8 "2016-07-04T03:59:17Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > It is arbitrary, but I’m curious to see who has the biggest gap in credits, including voice work. Otherwise someone like Don Pardo would be really difficult to measure. In that case Leonard Whiting has just a 25 year gap (1990-2015) and Mark Lester leapfrogs ahead of him with his 34 year gap. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/9 "2016-07-04T04:02:14Z")
[Jack Totheroh](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0869374/) has a seventy-year gap. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/10 "2016-07-04T04:02:20Z")
By the way, in case you’re wondering what Mark Lester was up to during his long break… he became an osteopath and possibly, as he has suggested, fathered Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/11 "2016-07-04T04:06:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Jack Totheroh](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0869374/) has a seventy-year gap. This is impressive. I was thinking it would be in the 40 year range. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/12 "2016-07-04T04:08:48Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > By the way, in case you’re wondering what Mark Lester was up to during his long break… he became an osteopath and possibly, as he has suggested, fathered Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris. I was going to say that he became a veterinarian, but that’s actually Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie in _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. He’s not a fit for this thread, because that movie was his sole acting credit (which might be a topic for a whole different thread). ---
**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:** [July 4, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/13 "2016-07-04T04:29:18Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > Also Mark Lester, the kid who played Oliver in the Oscar-winning film _Oliver!_ (1968) has no credits between 1977 and 2011, and the 2011 credit is a short film. That’s a 34 year gap, in case you can’t count. FWIW, I was about his age when the movie came out, and my mom was told by people all the time that I looked just like him. So if you want to know what I looked like as a kid…: [http://hollywoodshow.com/star\_images/marklester43c64ccf.png](http://hollywoodshow.com/star_images/marklester43c64ccf.png) ---
**Author:** ![lew\_cody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e274bd/32.png) [@lew\_cody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lew_cody)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/14 "2016-07-04T05:24:33Z")
Also worth noting is Anita Page, who made virtually no acting appearances between 1936 and 1996. She did apparently play a nun in an obscure 1961 production called _The Runaway_, but it was never released to theatres and was unseen until TCM aired it in 2008. Tsuru Aoki, who was married to Sessue Hayakawa, was active in films from 1913 until 1924, then had a 36-year gap in her filmography. She finally made her first (and only) talkie in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/15 "2016-07-04T05:43:41Z")
One example is Harold Russell, who had a 34-year gap between 1946 and 1980: > **[Harold Russell - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751174/)** > > Harold Russell. Actor: The Best Years of Our Lives. Harold John Russell was born in Nova Scotia in 1914. His family moved to Cambridge Massachusetts when his father died in 1919. He was training paratroopers at Camp MacKall NC on June 6, 1944 when... ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/16 "2016-07-04T22:10:29Z")
If we’re not just talking acting credits, I was going to guess [Harper Lee](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0497369/) (jump from 1963 to 2015). It’s going to be hard to beat Dewey Finn’s entry. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/17 "2016-07-05T16:41:25Z")
[Jo Helton Wintker](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0375884/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t9) had a recurring role on _Dr. Kildare_ from 1961-1965, and another credit in an obscure movie _Bill Wallace of China_ in 1967. After that, her next credits include several movie appearances in 2014 including [_Dumb and Dumber To_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096672). That’s 47 years! Not Jack Totheroh territory but I think a solid second place so far. And she’s still going - her entry shows another movie currently in production. (She’s also a friend of mine from church and a wonderful old lady). ETA: I guess third, after Harper Lee’s 52 years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-gap-in-imdb-history/759040/18 "2016-07-05T16:51:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Jack Totheroh](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0869374/) has a seventy-year gap. But he only had to wait fifteen years for his next role. So his career was picking up momentum.