# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![greatshakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greatshakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatshakes)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/101 "2008-09-15T14:14:40Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Those of you who think Harry Morgan must have been born old should watch _On a Wing and a Prayer_. He was the baby-faced new recruit. He looked maybe 19. Yes, but he was four years old at the time. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/102 "2008-09-15T14:30:00Z")
Looking at Harry Morgan’s IMDB entry, I see that the **Murder, She Wrote** episode I referred to above was broadcast April 19, 1987, and entitrled “The Days Dwindle Down”. It used footage from the 1949 thriller **Strange Bargain** , and Harry Morgan,\*\* Jeffrey Lynn, and Martha Scott\*\* reprising their roles. Katherine Emergy had died, so a pre- **Titanic** **Gloria Stuart** taking her place. Interesting concept. I’ll have to see it again sometimne. And the movie they used. > **["Murder, She Wrote" The Days Dwindle Down (TV Episode 1987) ⭐ 8.3 | Crime,...](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0653638/#comment)** > > 47m | TV-PG > **["Murder, She Wrote" The Days Dwindle Down (TV Episode 1987) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0653638/trivia/)** > > "Murder, She Wrote" The Days Dwindle Down (TV Episode 1987) - Trivia on IMDb: Cameos, Mistakes, Spoilers and more... > **[Strange Bargain (1949) ⭐ 6.7 | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041926/)** > > 1h 8m ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/103 "2008-09-15T15:14:11Z")
Best places for these ‘Wow, that’s …’ moments is the old Twilight Zone series, also The Outer Limits (the first one). You’ll be amazed at the number of people you come across. A young Robert Redford playing Death, for instance, in a TZ episode. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/104 "2008-09-15T15:17:09Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Best places for these ‘Wow, that’s …’ moments is the old Twilight Zone series, also The Outer Limits (the first one). > > You’ll be amazed at the number of people you come across. > > A young Robert Redford playing Death, for instance, in a TZ episode. Oh, he was devastatingly handsome in that! Also, pretty cool to catch the episode featuring a “giant” Agnes Moorehead. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/105 "2008-09-15T17:34:10Z")
My one-television family watched Cheers religiously during its original run, but a couple of years ago I caught the re-run of Frasier’s first appearance on the show and was utterly **stunned** by Kelsey Grammer’s close resemblence to David Hyde Pierce. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/106 "2008-09-15T18:13:20Z")
This is kind of the reverse of what the OP meant, but I recently watched a couple of episodes of the old sitcom “Soap” and got to wondering where a lot of the cast members went. I was floored when I found out that [Donnelly Rhodes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnelly_Rhodes), who played dim-witted ex-con Dutch, now plays Doc Cottle on “Battlestar Galactica.” I’ve also been on a Bette Davis kick lately, netflix-ing a whole lot of her prime years (mid 1930s) movies. What’s startling about her is how _little_ she changed over the years. Aside from some cosmetic changes, she looks almost exactly the same in _Of Human Bondage_ as she does in _All About Eve_ almost 18 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/107 "2008-09-15T18:22:36Z")
I mentioned this in a thread a couple of months ago . . . Sessue Hayakawa. Everybody knows him as the guy who runs the prison camp in _Bridge on the River Kwai_, who forces the prisoners to build the bridge while Alec Guinness goes crazy. Well. This summer TCM had a festival of Asian-themed movies, and they started out with silent flicks and moved right through to current stuff. I caught a couple of early films with Sessue Hayakawa. YOWZA. \*The Dragon Painter \*from 1919, and he had been a star for five years before that! Talk about animal magnetism! Then there was Jimmy Stewart. Growing up, I just knew him as the old guy who’d come on the \*Tonight Show \*and recite lame poetry to Johnny Carson. Then our local movie palace ran _Destry Rides Again_. Crappy print, splices and streaks, bad sound, but ooooh mama. Yes, now I see! Re Irene Ryan, above: I have seen her several times on _Password_, usually dressed as Granny Clampett, but at least once as herself, and she was a pleasant-looking, stylish older lady. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/108 "2008-09-15T18:27:35Z")
For those who have only seen Estelle Parsons as Roseanne’s mother Beverly Harris, watch the DVD of Bonnie & Clyde to see her Oscar winning performance as Clyde’s sister-in-law Blanche Burrows. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/109 "2008-09-15T19:05:02Z")
A few weeks ago on TBS I watched a musical called _Cover Girl_. In addition to the delectable Rita Hayworth and a very young, handsome Gene Kelly (not to mention a cute and sassy Eve Arden), I was astounded to see [Phil Silvers](http://www.mortalwombat.com/Special/covergirl.jpg) with a full head of hair (Phil is second from right in this scene). ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097/110 "2008-09-15T19:14:43Z")
I posted a thread long ago about watching John Gielgud as Brutus in _Julius Caesar_, and being blown away by the intense hatred that radiated from him every second he was on the screen. Like so many others, I was so used to seeing him play the stiff-upper-lip-but-twinkle-in-the-eye-patrician Englishman. Watching him play a role so far out of that type was a revelation. I’ve recently discovered that my local public library has a great collection of old movies on DVD, and have been watching them with my daughter. She’s currently hooked on the Marx Brothers, and will watch anything with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, or Carey Grant. And I’ve been damned near overwhelmed by the hotness of Lucille Ball _(Ziegfield Follies)_, Eva Marie Saint _(North By Northwest)_, Lee Remick _(Anatomy of a Murder)_, Barbara Eden _(The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao)_, and Ingrid Bergman _(Casablanca)_. Rahr. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-surprised-by-a-young-version-of-an-old-movie-star/318097.md?page=5)