# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/21 "2019-04-03T04:22:31Z")
Marlon Brando was 66 in “The Freshman”. ---
**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 3, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/22 "2019-04-03T05:39:10Z")
The OP specifically says about men who are 65 or older. ---
**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 3, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/23 "2019-04-03T06:15:41Z")
If I eliminate movies in which Woody Allen doesn’t appear at all or only appears in a small role, I get the following by cutting down my previous list. I won’t try eliminating those that aren’t comedies. Most of his later films are both comedies and dramas: _Small Time Crooks_ (2000) _Picking Up the Pieces_ (2000) _The Curse of the Jade Scorpion_ (2001) _Hollywood Ending_ (2002) _Anything Else_ (2003) _Fading Gigolo_ (2013) So Allen wasn’t playing “That Old Jewish Guy for decades, kvetching like he’s Jackie Mason’s grandfather”. He wasn’t that old in the films you’re thinking of. If you’re going to tell me that he was figuratively an Old Jewish Guy in those films, I would have to say that you don’t understand a certain stereotype that he plays. He played a Jewish man of whatever age he was at the time who liked to talk, mostly about his complaints. I’m not even sure that this stereotype is particularly Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/24 "2019-04-03T11:51:41Z")
Leo McKern played the title character of the TV legal [comedic rather than comic] series [Rumpole of the Bailey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpole_of_the_Bailey) into his 70s. Would \*Nebraska \*fit as a comedy, especially as Bruce Dern won an Oscar for it at 76? ---
**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:** [April 3, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/25 "2019-04-03T12:35:34Z")
Three years after _ **Harry and Tonto** _ Art Carney did _ **The Late Show** _ with Lily Tomlin, which is hilarious ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/26 "2019-04-03T15:01:39Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > _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). One of my favorite movies, although I’d argue that at heart it’s not a comedy. Newman deserved an Oscar. My nomination is **On Golden Pond** , with knockout performances by Henry Fonda (76) and Katherine Hepburn (74). The rest of the cast wasn’t too shabby, either. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/27 "2019-04-03T20:19:25Z")
Although the OP said 65+, I was going to say Spenser Tracy in Deck Set (1957), but he was born in 1900. Although he was 57 in the movie, he seemed much older to me. OK - how about “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, in 1967. He was 67 and died shortly after completing the film. IMDB lists it as a comedy-drama, so I guess that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/28 "2019-04-03T20:39:10Z")
Now largely forgotten, George Arliss was born in 1868, meaning he was 65 or older in the last 12 movies he made, four of which were comedies: _The King’s Vacation, The Working Man, The Last Gentleman, Mister Hobo_. Having not seen any of them all the way through, I can’t say if they were “great” comedies or not, but I have seen Mr. Arliss in other movies and he had a formidable talent, particularly with sardonic humor. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/29 "2019-04-03T22:45:28Z")
I’m sure that **Plan 9 From Outer Space** wasn’t intended to be a comedy, but it comes across that way. Bela Lugosi was not intended to be the star, and footage of him was actually shot just before his death, several years before the film was ever made. Nonetheless, he was given film credit and is closely associated with the movie. Some of the scenes that he was supposedly in were filmed with a double who always had the cape across his face to hide the fact, which is funny in itself. Lugosi was 73 when his silent footage was done. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/30 "2019-04-03T23:49:28Z")
I don’t see it mentioned, and Walter Matthau was only 63, but… [Survivors 1983 Walter Matthau and Robin Williams.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086397/) ---
**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 4, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/31 "2019-04-04T01:01:14Z")
Dustin Hoffman was born in 1937, which means he was past 65 for all the _Fockers_ movies. Robert DeNiro is six years younger, but turned 65 in time for\* Little Fockers\*. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/32 "2019-04-04T02:10:45Z")
Another under-aged cheat, but 62-year old Richard Farnsworth in [The Grey Fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grey_Fox). ---
**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 4, 2019, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/33 "2019-04-04T07:30:52Z")
In what sense is _The Grey Fox_ a comedy? ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/34 "2019-04-04T13:35:08Z")
We’ve mentioned several Walter Matthau and George Burns movies, but somehow missed one they were in together: [The Sunshine Boys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sunshine_Boys_%281975_film%29) George Burns was in his 80s and the film started his “second act”, introducing him to a new generation. He kept working until shortly before his death at 100. Matthau was considerably younger at the time it was made (1975), but certainly looked the part. The scene in which Burns and Matthau meet to rehearse their old sketch is slow-motion comedy of the best kind. Later, we see them turn it on while rehearsing at the TV studio and it’s like watching a Vaudeville act in color. One of my favorite films. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/35 "2019-04-04T16:25:08Z")
Another too-young Walter Matthau in _Hopscotch_. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/36 "2019-04-04T16:33:10Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Would \*Nebraska \*fit as a comedy, especially as Bruce Dern won an Oscar for it at 76? Nominee, not winner. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/37 "2019-04-04T16:45:48Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Nominee, not winner. 2013 was one of those rare years where they all deserved it. ---
**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:** [April 4, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/38 "2019-04-04T17:13:36Z")
Cary Grant in _Charade_, opposite Audrey Hepburn. He was a lot older than 37. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/39 "2019-04-04T21:04:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yeah, but how old was Audrey Hepburn? :dubious: > > All of the actors I listed were “older men” compared to their leading ladies. If we’re going by age difference and not by the actual age of the male lead, that’s most comedies where the characters are supposed to be adults and 90%+ of those in which they’re supposed to be teenagers… ---
**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 4, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945/40 "2019-04-04T21:28:53Z")
It’s typical in movies of many sorts for the male lead to be older, often much older, than the female lead, as in the examples cited here: > **[Leading Men Age, But Their Love Interests Don’t](https://www.vulture.com/2013/04/leading-men-age-but-their-love-interests-dont.html)** > > Vulture has analyzed the data of ten middle-aged leading men and the ages of the women they've wooed onscreen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-comedies-w-older-man-as-the-lead/831945.md?page=3)