# Ever been surprised by a young version of an old movie star? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097 "2005-08-22T13:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [August 23, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/61 "2005-08-23T15:11:23Z")
Torin Thatcher _with hair_ in the 1936 film **the Man Who Could Work Miracles**. In all his other films ( **seventh Voyage of Sinbad** , **Jack the Giant Killer** , **Hawaii** , **witness for the Prosecution** , the Star Trek episode “Return of the Archons”) he’s completely bald. And a lot older. Odd to see him as a surprisingly handsome young guy. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/62 "2005-08-23T15:34:23Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > I just saw him in a 1968 movie yesterday! Five Card Stud. He was young alright. But was he a stud? ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/63 "2005-08-23T15:46:21Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > Another example: Angela Lansbury and Judy Garland were born only three years apart(assuming that the dates I got from Google are correct). This surprised me because I think of Angela Lansbury as old but living and Judy Garland as young but dead. Why did I look up birth dates? Because I saw a trailer for a movie that featured both of them Lemme guess – _The Harvey Girls_, right? In which Angela Lansbury plays [Em](http://community-2.webtv.net/carlsperr/CarlSperrsMurderShe/page4.html), the hard-boiled madam of the Alhambra saloon who’s trying to drive Judy Garland and the rest of the Harvey Girls out of town? I was a bit surprised by Lansbury in that one myself. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/64 "2005-08-23T16:00:15Z")
Speaking of Bonanza, seeing older pictures of \*\*David Canary \*\* always surprises me. Canary as [Candy Canaday](http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/8413/candy7ei.jpg) from “Bonanza”. Canary as [Adam Chandler](http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/7324/chandler6du.jpg) from the soap “All My Children”. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/65 "2005-08-23T16:08:47Z")
You should see the Young Miss Lansbury in 1948’s [State of the Union](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040834/) with Spencer Tracy. It’s a cute little romp about Ross Perot some 30 to 40 years in the future. [wink, wink, if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean] She was downright babe-a-licious in that one. It even has Van Johnson in it! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/66 "2005-08-23T16:27:29Z")
John Fiedler and Walter Brennan. Even when they were young, they were _still_ old! ---
**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:** [August 23, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/67 "2005-08-23T16:29:45Z")
> [@](#): > > John Fiedler and Walter Brennan. Even when they were young, they were still old! Agreed Fiedler looked old in **the Odd Couple**. I was surprised to learn that Walter Brennan is the guy who got his bike stolen in **The Invisible Man** , but you can’t see much of him, or tell how old he looks. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/68 "2005-08-23T16:50:55Z")
> [@rackensack](#): > > Lemme guess – _The Harvey Girls_, right? In which Angela Lansbury plays [Em](http://community-2.webtv.net/carlsperr/CarlSperrsMurderShe/page4.html), the hard-boiled madam of the Alhambra saloon who’s trying to drive Judy Garland and the rest of the Harvey Girls out of town? > > I was a bit surprised by Lansbury in that one myself. Yes. I’d borrowed the video _Summer Stock_ from my local library and it had the trailer to _The Harvery Girls_ included as a bonus. Looked like it would be a fun movie. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/69 "2005-08-23T18:20:07Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > [Sad,](http://www.thinkandask.com/images/jackson1.gif) > [iddnit?](http://www.thinkandask.com/images/jackson92.gif) More like scary, considering that he did it to himself. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/70 "2005-08-23T18:24:56Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > [Sad,](http://www.thinkandask.com/images/jackson1.gif) > [iddnit?](http://www.thinkandask.com/images/jackson92.gif) You know, if I didn’t know better, I would **never** guess that those two pictures are the same person. And that second one should come with a warning label. Yikes. :eek: ---
**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:** [August 23, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/71 "2005-08-23T19:11:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Alec Ginness was Yevgraf Zhivago prior to Obi-Wan. Alec Guiness was in something prior to _Star Wars_ ? :eek: Who would have known! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/72 "2005-08-23T19:21:20Z")
Jon Voight in Catch-22. Through the whole movie, his character seemed to be a charming, if somewhat overly greasy (in the personality sense, not the physical sense) fellow, but he didn’t strike me as being familiar at all (aside from when I had previously seen pieces of the movie, which I’ve never managed to watch all at once). Then, one time I was watching, in a scene towards the end where he says something particularly chilling, the light catches his face JUST the right way and he seems to age 30 years and I’m like "OMGWTFBBQ! :eek: " For some reason, THAT was the most impacting moment of the entire film for me :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/73 "2005-08-23T19:24:04Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Alec Guiness was in something prior to _Star Wars_ ? :eek: > > Who would have known! How about seeing Alec Guiness looking so young in Star Wars Episode III? (joking) I wonder if any of the Hollywood suits have gotten the (dubioius) idea of casting Ewan McGreggor in a series of remakes of old Alec Guinness flicks? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/74 "2005-08-23T22:26:35Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > The young John Wayne was rather thin, and I can’t can’t find a [good pic!](http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/jwayne2.htm) Heck, he kind of looked like [Marlon Brando](http://www.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1315/Mptv/1315/0898_3368.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Wayne,%20John%20(I)) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/75 "2005-08-24T00:31:58Z")
I got the first year of Kung Fu on DVD the other day. Jodie Foster at age 11 steals the show in the episode titled Alethea. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/76 "2005-08-24T02:53:15Z")
Time has been absurdly cruel to [Albert](http://2000magyar.origo.hu/i/0402/20040225albertfin.jpg)\_[Finney](http://images.greencine.com/images/article/finney-tom-jones.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/77 "2005-08-24T02:57:44Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Several months ago I started a thread about spotting young actors before they became famous, and that thread stretched a good 4 or 5 pages. Which one was that? _curious now_ ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/78 "2005-08-24T13:38:08Z")
Diana Rigg. I’m used to seeing her as the narrator on _Mystery!_, and playing the elderly housekeeper in A&E movies. It was surprising to see her as Emma Peel in _The Avengers_, made in the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/79 "2005-08-24T17:38:29Z")
I rented _Secret Agent_ (1936) not long ago and just Could. Not. Recognize the very young [John Gielgud](http://www.arnadal.no/film/actors/images/gielgud2.jpg), see also [here](http://search.eb.com/shakespeare/art/ogielgu002p1.jpg), when all I’d ever known was the [distinguished](http://jnautographs.com/captures/JohnGielgud1903.jpg) older gentleman from _Arthur_ and such films. ---
**Author:** ![saintjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@saintjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saintjoe)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/80 "2005-08-24T17:55:13Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Another early \*Bonanza \* (“Gift of Water”–11 Feb. 1962) features James Doohan \*and \*Majel Barrett. See Bones (DeForest Kelly on [The Lone Ranger](http://tesla.liketelevision.com/liketelevision/tuner.php?channel=211&format=tv&theme=guide) - as a tenderfoot from out East. Get is streaming video or an MPG download. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097.md?page=5)