# Great Comedies w/ Older Man as The Lead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945 "2019-04-02T20:15:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/1 "2019-04-02T20:15:14Z")
Harry and Tonto (I consider old 65+) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/2 "2019-04-02T20:17:57Z")
_Grumpy Old Men Grumpier Old Men_ Animated: _Up_ ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/3 "2019-04-02T20:22:27Z")
_Monsieur Verdoux._ _Never Give a Sucker an Even Break_ ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/4 "2019-04-02T20:56:39Z")
_Oh, God!_ How about Ruth Gordon in\* Harold and Maude\*? ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/5 "2019-04-02T21:34:07Z")
[Tough Guys](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092105/reference) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/6 "2019-04-02T21:41:28Z")
_Oh God!_ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/7 "2019-04-02T21:45:49Z")
[The Kominsky Method](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kominsky_Method), with Alan Arkin and Michael Douglas as the leads. Oh, and any Woody Allen movie… Allen Stewart Konigsberg has been playing _That Old Jewish Guy_ for decades, kvetching like he’s Jackie Mason’s grandfather. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/8 "2019-04-02T21:57:46Z")
Woody Allen turned 65 on December 1, 2000. So any film before then doesn’t qualify. Here are Allen’s films released since then: _Company Man_ (2000) _Small Time Crooks_ (2000) _Picking Up the Pieces_ (2000) (actor only) _The Curse of the Jade Scorpion_ (2001) _Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures_ (2001) (documentary) (himself) _Hollywood Ending_ (2002) _Anything Else_ (2003) _Melinda and Melinda_ (2004) _Match Point_ (2005) _Scoop_ (2006) _Cassandra’s Dream_ (2007) _Vicky Cristina Barcelona_ (2008) _Whatever Work_s (2009) _You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger_ (2010) _Midnight in Paris_ (2011) _Paris Manhattan_ (2012) (actor only) _To Rome with Love_ (2012) _Fading Gigolo_ (2013) (actor only) _Blue Jasmine_ (2013) _Magic in the Moonlight_ (2014) _Irrational Man_ (2015) _Café Society_ (2016) _Wonder Wheel_ (2017) _A Rainy Day in New York_ (TBC) _Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures_ is a documentary and certainly doesn’t count. A lot of the other films listed don’t count either because he didn’t act in them himself. Even among the remaining ones, many don’t count because he didn’t play the lead role. Many of these films aren’t comedies. So only a few of Allen’s films fit the description in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/9 "2019-04-02T22:00:32Z")
In [Murphy’s Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089643/), James Garner’s character was 60. [My Fellow Americans](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117119/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/10 "2019-04-02T23:23:17Z")
Well, in _ **A Christmas Story** _, Darren McGavin is always referred to as “the old man.” ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/11 "2019-04-02T23:25:41Z")
Leslie Nielsen was 64 when\* The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear\* was released and 67 when **Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult** was released. He made more spoof comedies right up until died he died at the age of 84. IMHO, they mostly are **not** that great though. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/12 "2019-04-02T23:26:11Z")
_Nobody’s Fool_ (1994), which starred Paul Newman (who was in his early 70s at the time) as well as Jessica Tandy (who was in her 80s). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/13 "2019-04-02T23:28:58Z")
Cary Grant in _ **Father Goose** _. Peter O’Toole in _ **My Favorite Year** _. Gregory Peck in _ **Roman Holiday** _. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/14 "2019-04-02T23:38:29Z")
Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline in [Last Vegas](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204975/). The female lead (Mary Steenburgen) was 60 when it was filmed. All 5 are Oscar winners. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/15 "2019-04-03T00:08:46Z")
Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in _ **High Society** _. William Holden and Humphrey Bogart in _ **Sabrina** _. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/16 "2019-04-03T00:15:56Z")
Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in _ **Buddy** _\*\*\*, Buddy\*\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/17 "2019-04-03T00:50:57Z")
How old was Michael Caine in _Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/18 "2019-04-03T01:05:03Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > How old was Michael Caine in _Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?_ 1. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/19 "2019-04-03T03:04:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Gregory Peck in _ **Roman Holiday** _. Gregory Peck was 37 when he made _Roman Holiday_.😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/20 "2019-04-03T03:41:46Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Gregory Peck was 37 when he made _Roman Holiday_.😕 Yeah, but how old was Audrey Hepburn? :dubious: All of the actors I listed were “older men” compared to their leading ladies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945.md?page=2)