# Largest age difference between actor's actual age and age of the character? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741 "2008-08-20T23:39:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/61 "2008-08-21T19:52:27Z")
How old was Yentl supposed to be when 41-year-old Barbra Streisand played her? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/62 "2008-08-21T20:30:02Z")
I thought of this while posting in the book to movie rewrite thread: The 1968 movie YOURS, MINE & OURS starred Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball as Frank Beardsley (a naval officer with 10 kids) and Lucille Ball as his second wife, Helen (the mother of 8 when they married). In real life Helen had 2 kids after they married, bringing their combined family to 20 kids. In real life Helen Beardsley was born in 1930, married Frank in 1961, and had her first child with him in 1962. Their book was released the next year (by which time Helen was pregnant again). I’m not sure when Admiral Beardsley was born- I’m sure he was older than his wife since you don’t have many 31 year old admirals or 31 year old fathers of 10. However, Helen was about 30 when the events from the movie version began and 32 when they ended. The movie was filmed in 1968. Henry Fonda (who was 63) played Frank Beardsley (who however old he was wasn’t _that_ old- he was in fact still alive when Helen died in 2001 and remarried a couple of years later- don’t know if he’s still alive). The _real eyepopper_ though was that they cast Lucille Ball as Helen. In real life she was old enough to be the _mother_ of the woman she was portraying in real life (Lucy was born in 1911- 19 years before Helen Beardsley) and almost twice the age of Helen Beardsley during the events of the movie. Seeing a 57 year old smoke-scraped voice Lucy playing a pregnant woman is a bit jarring (she was in her 40s when Desi Jr./Little Ricky were born and that was long before this movie). So, she would have been at least 25-27 years older than the part she was playing. (Of course they adjusted the age of Helen’s children a bit also; in real life her oldest was only about 10 or 11 when she married their stepfather while in the movie she has almost grown teenagers.) ETA: [Frank was born about 1915](http://cda.morris.umn.edu/~webbrl/YoursMineOurs/MontereyHeraldArticle.htm), making him about 15 years younder than Henry Fonda at the time of the movie’s events. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/63 "2008-08-21T20:51:30Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] The characters in _Iceman, Encino Man_, and _Unfrozen Cavemen Lawyer_ are all about 30,000 years old. Okay, I’ll shut up now. [/QUOTE] That would be nice, as every single one of your examples is exactly what I went out of my way to say do NOT qualify for my OP. C’mon guys. Clifford? Little Big Man? Re-read please. ---
**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 21, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/64 "2008-08-21T20:56:28Z")
> [@](#): > > C’mon guys. Clifford? Little Big Man? Re-read please. Re-read **my** post, please. I explicitly said it didn’t meet the criteria of your OP. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/65 "2008-08-21T21:13:44Z")
Not you, dude. I’d pay $7 just to follow you around. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/66 "2008-08-21T22:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=sqweels] How old was Yentl supposed to be when 41-year-old Barbra Streisand played her? [/QUOTE] About 18 from what I gathered. She was old enough that it was alarming she hadn’t given any serious thought to marriage but young enough to pass as a yeshiva student. I have to say, whether through good genes or surgery or good lighting or a combo thereof she pulled it off and was believable for the part. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/67 "2008-08-24T19:32:39Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] That would be nice, as every single one of your examples is exactly what I went out of my way to say do NOT qualify for my OP. [/QUOTE] Hey, sorry, sometimes otherwise well meaning people read the OP and miss the downthread clarification. Just trying to add a little levity anyway, geez. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/68 "2008-08-24T19:58:38Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Hey, sorry, sometimes otherwise well meaning people read the OP and miss the downthread clarification. Just trying to add a little levity anyway, geez. [/QUOTE] Yeah, no shit. Did somebody piss in my Cornflakes that day, or what? Sorry for the bitchiness. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/69 "2008-08-24T20:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] Yeah, no shit. Did somebody piss in my Cornflakes that day, or what? Sorry for the bitchiness. [/QUOTE] S’okay. Group hug. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/70 "2008-08-24T21:30:43Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] And Dustin Hoffman was only 6 years younger than she. [/QUOTE] Wow, talk about robbing the… uh… frathouse. On _Deep Space Nine_, Jake (Cirroc Lofton) and Nog (Aron Eisenberg) were teenage contemporaries. In fact, Eisenberg is nine years older. I mention this only because there were a few episodes where the adolescent Jake and Nog exchanged dialog along the lines of “Girls sure are weird!” I can picture the director yelling “cut!” and Eisenberg sighing to himself “I’m too old for this crap.” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/71 "2008-08-25T05:54:01Z")
Mae West was 85 when Sextette came out. How old was her character in that movie? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/72 "2008-08-25T14:42:52Z")
Leslie Howard was 43 and Norma Shearer was 34 when they played the teenaged Romeo and Juliet respectively. Approximately 30 years for him and approximately 20 years for her. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/73 "2008-08-26T02:47:14Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] In **The Birdcage** , Calista Flockhart was playing a 17 year old, when at the time she was 32. [/QUOTE] Really? Was there some dialogue to that effect? I was under the impression that both she and her fiance were at least recent college graduates. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/74 "2008-08-26T10:00:45Z")
[QUOTE=jackdavinci] Really? Was there some dialogue to that effect? I was under the impression that both she and her fiance were at least recent college graduates. [/QUOTE] In an early scene, her mother (Diane Wiest) said “but you’re only seventeen!” when she told them she was getting married - that’s what inspired this thread. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/75 "2008-08-26T14:25:25Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] Isabel Sanford was twenty years older than Sherman Hemsley, so assuming that most married couples are expected to be around the same age (there are indications in the show that George was slightly older than Weezie), she was around twenty years older than the character she played on _The Jeffersons_. [/QUOTE] Actually, I think it was the other way around; Sherman Hemsley was 35 when he originated the role of George Jefferson, and I think he was supposed to be close to Archie Bunker’s age, which was around 50. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/76 "2008-08-26T16:55:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] About 18 from what I gathered. She was old enough that it was alarming she hadn’t given any serious thought to marriage but young enough to pass as a yeshiva student. I have to say, whether through good genes or surgery or good lighting or a combo thereof she pulled it off and was believable for the part. [/QUOTE] A bit of useless but I think interesting information here,I seem to recall that they recruited abnormally tall people to play adults when she was playing the part of a nipper,whether this is true or worked or not I cant say as I never actually watched the movie. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/77 "2008-08-26T17:04:04Z")
Bruce Willis played a fetus in _Look Who’s Talking_. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/78 "2008-08-26T17:24:16Z")
I always found it a bit jarring that Henry Fonda(who was in his forties) talked about being a med student before entering the service in Mister Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/79 "2008-08-26T18:08:05Z")
Madonna played the 15-year-old Eva Duarte in the movie-musical _EVITA_. While pregnant, even. She turned 50 August 16 of this month. She was… (attempts mental math) 38 at the time. That is a 23 year age difference. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741/80 "2008-08-26T18:12:09Z")
In the series _I, Claudius_, the actor playing Claudius (Derick Jacobi?) I believe played him as a teenager all the way through to being an old man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/largest-age-difference-between-actors-actual-age-and-age-of-the-character/460741.md?page=5)