# Oldest person whose fame does not relate to their age? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171 "2012-12-06T12:06:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**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 6, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/21 "2012-12-06T18:23:51Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I agree with Irving Berlin, Bob Hope, and George Burns. I’d also add in the Queen Mother and John D. Rockefeller as being major celebrities. The rest are minor celebrities at best, with some, like Dr. Denmark, being almost completely unkown outside of certain specialized circles. Luise Rainer won back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Actress! ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/22 "2012-12-06T19:39:30Z")
**Mickey Rooney** is still kickin’ at 92. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/23 "2012-12-06T21:07:23Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > **Mickey Rooney** is still kickin’ at 92. Betty White turned 90 this year, and has a staring role on a sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/24 "2012-12-06T21:18:54Z")
Wait, Bob Hope was a centenarian? I knew he was pretty old, but I thought that he was in a different category from George Burns. Another one who’s up there is physicist [Hans Bethe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Bethe), who made it to nearly 99. He was active right up to the end, too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/25 "2012-12-06T21:35:12Z")
It amazes me that author Beverly Cleary is still alive at age 96! I read the Ramona books in elementary school. ---
**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 7, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/26 "2012-12-07T02:53:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, Bob Hope was a centenarian? I knew he was pretty old, but I thought that he was in a different category from George Burns. > . Yep he made it past 100 as well. I think Bob Hope lived longer than him by just a few days. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/27 "2012-12-07T03:31:11Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Not to everyone. I was about to post exactly that…Mr. Abbott (if you please) is VERY well-known in theater circles. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/28 "2012-12-07T03:41:55Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Fun fact: there are two living Nobel laureates who are over 100 years old: […] [Ronald](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Coase) Coase, age 101 (who won the economics prize in 1991.) If he can hang on another three weeks, he’ll make it to 102. Still active, too, writing and publishing — some people are a marvel. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171/29 "2012-12-07T04:18:37Z")
Adolph Zukor isn’t well know today, but he was a very successful movie mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures. In the 1930s and 40s he was Chairman of Paramount and well known to the filmgoing public; he died in 1986 at 103. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-person-whose-fame-does-not-relate-to-their-age/643171.md?page=1)