# If they were alive today... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608 "2008-04-23T22:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 23, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/1 "2008-04-23T22:25:07Z")
they would be this old. Heather O’Rourke 32 River Phoenix 37 Rebecca Schaeffer 40 Kurt Cobain 41 Diana Spencer 46 Dorothy Stratten 48 Anissa Jones 50 Sid Vicious 50 Ian Curtis 51 Freddie Prinze 53 Janis Joplin 64 Jim Morrison 64 Brian Piccolo 64 Jimi Hendrix 65 Bruce Lee 67 John Lennon 67 Buddy Holly 71 James Dean 77 Charles Lindbergh Jr. 77 Elvis Presley 78 Anne Frank 79 Martin Luther King Jr. 79 Marilyn Monroe 81 John F. Kennedy 90 Jean Harlow 97 Clyde Barrow 99 Anastasia Romanova 106 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/2 "2008-04-24T00:44:04Z")
Fascinating list! The one I find most interesting is JFK. In theory, he could be alive at 90 today. In reality, though, his health was always suspect (despite public perceptions to the contrary), so I tend to doubt that he ever _could_ have survived into old age. For many of these, too, I think part of their mystique derives from the fact that we don’t perceive of them as ever aging past their prime. Would James Dean still be an icon of cool if we occasionally saw his wrinkled old face show up on an Entertainment Tonight interview? I suspect not. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/3 "2008-04-24T00:50:14Z")
Guess who would be 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/4 "2008-04-24T01:16:09Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] Guess who would be 2011. [/QUOTE] Brian? ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/5 "2008-04-24T01:47:28Z")
[QUOTE=Booker57] Brian? [/QUOTE] You followed his life, too? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/6 "2008-04-24T02:41:43Z")
John Lennon would be 68 in December ---
**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:** [April 24, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/7 "2008-04-24T02:46:20Z")
What prompted me was the realization that Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, two people that you never think of as contemporaries, were born within the same six month period. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/8 "2008-04-24T04:26:18Z")
Arthur Ashe, Geraldo Rivera, Mick Jagger and I were all born the same month. One of us is still cool and filled with energy. One of us got his nose broken on TV. One of us is deceased. One of us won at Wimbleton. And two of us had our photo in the newspaper together when I retired. (I’ll never tell.) We are the same age as Jim Morrison (whose grave I visited in Paris) and Janis Joplin – 64. Rita Hayworth – 89 Jimmy Stewart – 100 on May 20 John Wayne – 101 in May Clark Gable – 107 Zasu Pitts – 114 Lionel Barrymore – five days short of 130 ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/9 "2008-04-24T04:41:36Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] What prompted me was the realization that Anne Frank and Martin Luther King, two people that you never think of as contemporaries, were born within the same six month period. [/QUOTE] Exactly. Part of it is the different ages at which they died or attained fame, I guess. Lindbergh and Elvis?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/10 "2008-04-24T05:01:07Z")
[QUOTE=longhair75] John Lennon would be 68 in December [/QUOTE] In October, on the 9th. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/11 "2008-04-24T05:30:15Z")
I didn’t realize that Dorothy Stratten was 10 days younger than I. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/12 "2008-04-24T06:56:33Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] Lindbergh and Elvis?!?! [/QUOTE] The Lindbergh Baby, not Lucky Lindy. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/13 "2008-04-24T11:14:35Z")
I was surprised by Heather O’Rourke being 4 years older than my co-worker. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/14 "2008-04-24T11:50:40Z")
The idea of Kurt Cobain over 40 is really odd. Natalie Wood would be coming up on her 70th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/15 "2008-04-24T13:50:13Z")
Brad Nowell, lead singer and guitar player for Sublime would be 40. Shannon Hoon, lead singer of Blind Melon would be 41. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/16 "2008-04-24T14:53:21Z")
Question: What kind of Wood does not float? [QUOTE=Marley23] Natalie Wood would be coming up on her 70th birthday. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/17 "2008-04-24T14:54:53Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] Question: What kind of Wood does not float? [/QUOTE] What did Grace Kelly have that Natalie Wood wishes she had? ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/18 "2008-04-24T18:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=Sleeps With ButterfliesQuote: Originally Posted by longhair75 John Lennon would be 68 in December ] In October, on the 9th. [/QUOTE] Well,he would still be 68 in December. Freddie Mercury would be 61. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/19 "2008-04-24T18:19:23Z")
If they were alive today, they’d be scratching desperately at the inside of their coffins. (okay, so it’s a morbid joke, sue me.) ---
**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:** [April 24, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608/20 "2008-04-24T19:34:20Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] What did Grace Kelly have that Natalie Wood wishes she had? [/QUOTE] Um…I dunno. What? Che Guevara would be 80. Jayne Mansfield - 75 (she was only one year older than my mother!) Archduke Ferdinand of Austria would be 145 if he were alive today! William McKinley would be 165! And Abraham Lincoln would be 199! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-were-alive-today/446608.md?page=2)