# Last Remaining Cast Members **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 1, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464 "2021-01-01T20:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2021, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/221 "2021-09-13T03:44:26Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > “and if these animals I was leading had ever found out about _Bambi —_ as much affection as I had for it — they’d have ridden me out on a rail.” Well, at least he wasn’t Flower. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/222 "2021-09-15T00:50:34Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m rather certain “Oldest Movie with One Surviving Cast Member” goes to… _The Virginia Judge_ (1935) with Marsha Hunt, who is still alive and kicking at 103. She made 12 movies before 1939, and is the oldest living member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and the last surviving actress from the ‘golden era’ of films pre-WWII. I think she wins. > **[Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1917)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_Hunt_(actress,_born_1917)#Movies)** > > Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022) was an American actress with a career spanning nearly 80 years. She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s during McCarthyism. > She appeared in many films, including Born to the West (1937) with John Wayne, Pride and Prejudice (1940) with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, Kid Glove Killer (1942) with Van Heflin, Cry 'Havoc' (1943) with Margaret Sullavan and Joan Blondell, The Human Comedy (... ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/223 "2021-10-01T02:11:28Z")
Tommy Kirk’s passing earlier this week eliminated or greatly winnowed the surviving casts of many old Disney movies from the 50s and early 60s. Among his many credits, I believe he was the last surviving principle cast member at least of _Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent Minded Professor,_ and _Son of Flubber_. His death also appears to leave only one surviving principle cast member from _Old Yeller_, _The Shaggy Dog_, _Babes in Toyland_, _The Misadventures of Merlin Jones_ and _Bon Voyage!_ I’m sure there are many more that could be added to the list, he had a prolific career as a child and teenager. However, his career with Disney came to an abrupt end in the mid-60s when studio executives discovered that he was gay. RIP. > **[Tommy Kirk, The Fresh-Scrubbed Face Of Disney As A Child Actor, Dies At 79](https://www.npr.org/2021/09/30/1041900256/tommy-kirk-disney-old-yeller-dies)** > > Generations of children, and more than a few adults, cried along with Kirk when his character Travis Coates tearfully pulled a rifle trigger in Old Yeller. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/224 "2021-10-01T07:55:36Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I believe he was the last surviving principle cast member at least of _Swiss Family Robinson, The Absent Minded Professor,_ and _Son of Flubber_. Didn’t those last two feature Nancy Olson? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/225 "2021-10-01T13:41:38Z")
I decided to check _Patton_, from 1970. The Wikipedia page lists 21 actors from the film. All have passed on except for Stephen Young (and I don’t even remember his character) and Tim Considine, who played the soldier Patton slapped that got him in so much trouble. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/226 "2021-10-01T15:30:02Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Didn’t those last two feature Nancy Olson? Completely missed that she was still alive. So move those two into the “last surviving cast member” group! It looks like she’s also the last surviving cast member of _Sunset Blvd_. It’s crazy to think that there’s still an actress alive today who co-stared with Cecil B. DeMille, who himself was born during James Garfield’s presidency! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/227 "2021-10-18T16:59:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Looking at the regular cast of _ **The Andy Griffith Show** _ , I believe the only surviving members are Ron “Opie” Howard (age 67), Elinor “Ellie Walker” Donahue (age 84), and Betty “Thelma Lou” Lynn (who just turned 95!). > > Ron’s younger brother Clint (age 62) also appeared in five episodes. According to Wikipedia, he played “Leon, a toddler in a cowboy outfit who wandered around Mayberry and silently offered people a bite of his sandwich, to which they would respond, ‘No thanks, Leon.’” [Betty Lynn just died at age 95.](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/17/us/betty-lynn-dies-thelma-lou-andy-griffith-show/index.html) ---
**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:** [October 19, 2021, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/228 "2021-10-19T08:06:58Z")
Yes, I put up that post on 8 September, right after CHCH in Toronto started showing episodes of _ **The Andy Griffith Show** _ five afternoons a week. I admit I was kind of uneasy about it when I saw Betty had just celebrated her 95th birthday (you know, synchronicity and all). But this is not as bad as the time my daughter and I were watching a short bio of Leslie Nielsen on AMI’s _ **Famous Canadians** _ series. She asked “Has he died?” (rather than “Is he still alive?” as I erroneously wrote elsewhere), and a quick Internet search showed he was indeed still among the living The next day, he kicked the proverbial bucket. . 😮 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/229 "2021-10-20T15:58:40Z")
Murderer! ---
**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:** [October 20, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/230 "2021-10-20T16:11:38Z")
Didn’t mean to. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/231 "2021-10-20T23:21:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The next day, he kicked the proverbial bucket Ages ago I was in San Francisco and picked a tourist pamphlet. On the back was a white space and _Compliments of Mayor Moscone’s office._ rubber stamped into it. I thought, “Jeez. Can’t they even pop to have it printed instead of stamped? When’d the next election, anyway.” Two days later Moscone, along with Harvey Milk, were shot dead by Dan White. 😬 ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/232 "2021-10-25T07:40:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Didn’t mean to. ☹ Manslaughterer! ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/233 "2021-12-06T05:37:15Z")
With the passing of Eddie Mekka, A.K.A. the Big Ragoo, that leaves Cindy Williams and Michael McKean as the only ones left from the original cast of _Laverne & Shirley_. As long as we don’t count Leslie Easterbrook who was only on the last two seasons. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/234 "2021-12-11T03:11:02Z")
And now Mike Nesmith is gone, so the Monkees are down to Mickie Dolenz. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/235 "2021-12-11T03:27:00Z")
One little Monkee sitting in a tree… ---
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/236 "2021-12-11T23:10:25Z")
Todd Bridges is not only the last surviving cast member of Diff’rent Strokes, at age 56, he may be the _youngest_ “last remaining (original) cast member” in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/237 "2021-12-12T00:59:00Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Todd Bridges is not only the last surviving cast member of Diff’rent Strokes, at age 56, he may be the _youngest_ “last remaining (original) cast member” in the thread Has a show more recent than Diff’rent Strokes lost all but one cast member? That is awfully quick. Even stranger since it feature young people. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/238 "2021-12-12T01:12:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Has a show more recent than Diff’rent Strokes lost all but one cast member? The Golden Girls? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/239 "2021-12-12T02:51:50Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Has a show more recent than Diff’rent Strokes lost all but one cast member? That is awfully quick. Even stranger since it feature young people. As I mentioned upthread on _Different Strokes_, it depends how you define "cast member.” Mary Jo Catlett was a series regular over the back half of the show’s run and is still alive (and still working at the age of 83). Shavar Ross (Dudley) and Danny Cooksey (Sam) are still alive. Both were in 40+ episodes. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464/240 "2021-12-12T03:03:06Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Has a show more recent than Diff’rent Strokes lost all but one cast member? But to address your question – _MacGyver_ only had two regular cast members in Richard Dean Anderson and Dana Elcar, and only Anderson is still alive. Bruce McGill had a prominent recuring role though and he’s still around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-remaining-cast-members/929464.md?page=13)