# Most recent movie (or TV show) with no living cast members **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242 "2010-11-19T18:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/1 "2010-11-19T18:26:37Z")
The revived thread [The oldest movie with a still-living actor](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=516871) got me curious if we have had a flip-side version of the same issue. If there’s already such a thread perhaps it may need updating (as did the one above). If not, help me locate the most recently produced and released movie or show whose cast (major players should suffice) is now dead. The first one to come to mind for me would be _Rebel Without A Cause_ even though there are some surviving minor role players still with us. That was 1955. There have to be more recent ones. Are there some freak examples where the whole cast died in an accident or catastrophe? ---
**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:** [November 19, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/2 "2010-11-19T19:31:03Z")
Well, there’s **The Conqueror** , also 1955. [Link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/374/did-john-wayne-die-of-cancer-caused-by-a-radioactive-movie-set) to Cecil’s article. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/3 "2010-11-19T19:43:35Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Well, there’s **The Conqueror** , also 1955. [Link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/374/did-john-wayne-die-of-cancer-caused-by-a-radioactive-movie-set) to Cecil’s article. Good bet! As long as [Robert Vaughn](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001816/) stays alive, [The Magnificent Seven (1960)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/) won’t qualify, but he’s the last of “the seven” still with us. But [Eli Wallach](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908919/) is also still breathing, or was when I checked just now. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/4 "2010-11-19T19:59:18Z")
I think in another thread, someone pointed out the cast of 1961 “The Misfits” died within a few years of the release (Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable) There is also 1987’s “The Whales of August” but those actors were old to begin with: Lillian Gish was 94, Bette Davis 79, Vincent Price 76 and Ann Sothern, the last to die in 2001, was 78 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/5 "2010-11-19T20:03:01Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I think in another thread, someone pointed out the cast of 1961 “The Misfits” died within a few years of the release (Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable) > > There is also 1987’s “The Whales of August” but those actors were old to begin with: Lillian Gish was 94, Bette Davis 79, Vincent Price 76 and Ann Sothern, the last to die in 2001, was 78 Good ones. Any idea where that “another thread” might be? Link? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/6 "2010-11-19T20:23:41Z")
Except for Steve Guttenberg, you might expect \*Cocoon \*to be in the running soon. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/7 "2010-11-19T20:27:24Z")
Yes, but his career is dead, so I think he should count. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/8 "2010-11-19T20:34:25Z")
The entire cast of “Give 'em Hell, Harry” (1975) is dead. Of course, James Whitmore was the entire cast. Hey, what about “Swimming to Cambodia”? Spalding Gray was the entire cast! ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/9 "2010-11-19T20:36:21Z")
Is Todd Bridges still alive? _Diff’rent Strokes_ should make the cut soon. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/10 "2010-11-19T20:36:57Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Good ones. Any idea where that “another thread” might be? Link? > **[Most recent film where the principal cast are all dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=578862)** > > No, I’m not talking about zombine movies. I heard someone say once that they got depressed watching “Casablanca” because they realized that all the actors were dead. Personally, I don’t see it myself – does reading John Updike depress you too? ... ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/11 "2010-11-19T20:38:58Z")
Just a hunch here, but I’m suspecting the 70’s would be a decade to look for such a situation. Unless there’s a small cast, fewer than 10 for sure, and with most of them in their 60’s or up, the chances are good that there are some survivors. The “freak cast” thing would be a good way around the obvious “old age” factor. Another possibility would be several of the “live fast die young” types in the cast. > [@astorian](#): > > The entire cast of “Give 'em Hell, Harry” (1975) is dead. > > Of course, James WHitmore was the entire cast. I would hope the cast would have at least three or four people in it, to make it less of a “gee whiz” answer. But there’s no denying the validity here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/12 "2010-11-19T20:40:03Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > [Most recent film where the principal cast are all dead - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=578862) Wow! That’s recent. I missed it. Thanks for the link. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/13 "2010-11-19T20:55:30Z")
With James MacArthur’s recent death, all the principal cast members of _Hawaii Five-0_ (i.e., everyone who appears in the opening title sequence) are deceased, at least up through season 9 (the latest season to make it to DVD). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/14 "2010-11-19T21:53:46Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > …and Ann Sothern, the last to die in 2001, was 78 She was actually 92 (1909-2001). I loved Ann Sothern, I always thought she deserved to be more famous than she was. > [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Is Todd Bridges still alive? _Diff’rent Strokes_ should make the cut soon. But Conrad Bain is still alive, he was born in 1923 (87 in 2010). Charlotte Rae was born in 1926 (84 in 2010), Mary Jo Catlett was born in 1938 (72 in 2010) and Danny Cooksey born 1975 (age 35) and while you could argue about the housekeepers and step-son(brother) Sam being “real” cas tmembers as they were’t there for the whole series, Bain still puts a spanner in this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/15 "2010-11-19T23:16:35Z")
“Swimming to Cambodia” - 1987 Any other one person movies with a star who has died? ---
**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:** [November 19, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/16 "2010-11-19T23:28:46Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Good bet! As long as [Robert Vaughn](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001816/) stays alive, [The Magnificent Seven (1960)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/) won’t qualify, but he’s the last of “the seven” still with us. Only one of the _12 Angry Men_ is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/17 "2010-11-20T00:50:13Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Is Todd Bridges still alive? _Diff’rent Strokes_ should make the cut soon. Todd Bridges is definitely still alive. He appeared in quite a few episodes of “Everybody Hates Chris”. He’s also a commentator on “The World’s Dumbest…” on TruTV. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/18 "2010-11-20T04:54:27Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > With James MacArthur’s recent death, all the principal cast members of _Hawaii Five-0_ (i.e., everyone who appears in the opening title sequence) are deceased, at least up through season 9 (the latest season to make it to DVD). James MacArthur kicked it this year, at age 73. Given how boyish he looked that age is hard to believe at first glance. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/19 "2010-11-20T05:18:57Z")
Four of the five leads of _They All Laughed_ (1981) are dead: Ben Gazzara, Audrey Hepburn, John Ritter, and Dorothy Stratten. But Patti Hansen (Mrs Keith Richards) is of course immortal. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242/20 "2010-11-20T05:32:32Z")
I think I’ve made this mistake before: Ben Gazzara is not dead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-recent-movie-or-tv-show-with-no-living-cast-members/561242.md?page=2)