# Oldest TV Teen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077 "2009-05-20T15:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/21 "2009-05-20T17:17:52Z")
Stacey Dash was 29 when she played Cher’s best friend in the 1995 movie Clueless. She reprised the role during Clueless’ incarnation as a sitcom from 1996-99. The series finale was Cher and her friends’ high school graduation, which meant Ms. Dash was a 33 year old playing an 18 year old in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/22 "2009-05-20T17:25:39Z")
Gary Burghoff was 29 when he first started playing Radar O’Reilly on MASH. He played the role for eight seasons (Only two episodes in the eighth) and it was often remarked that he was too young to drink. (So under 21, or maybe that would have been 18 at the time?) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/23 "2009-05-20T17:39:44Z")
Jonathan Winters played an infant on _Mork & Mindy._ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/24 "2009-05-20T18:16:53Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It always seemed to me that Fonz was supposed to be at least 3-5 years older than Richie and the other kids. That’s why they looked up to him. That was my understanding too. In fact, there was an early episode set during the 1956 Presidential Election in which Fonzie gave a short speech supporting the re-election of Ike. Given the voting age was 21 at that time, it could be implied that the Fonz at the time was of voting age (or, if not, somewhere between the ages of 18 to 21). Of course, continuity and extreme detail didn’t really matter that much in that show. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/25 "2009-05-20T18:31:22Z")
Wikipedia says Fonz was 19 in 1956. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/26 "2009-05-20T18:34:42Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Nancy Cartwright was 32 when she first started voicing Bart Simpson. She’s 51 now. But Bart is still 10. Not a teen. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/27 "2009-05-20T18:36:55Z")
Do movies count? There was an extended flashback in _The Natural_, where Robert Redford and Glenn Close had to pull it off even though they both had to be in their forties already. You almost couldn’t see them at all, through all the Vaseline on the lens. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/28 "2009-05-20T19:04:13Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > If **Exapno** hadn’t specified ‘TV’ and ‘series’ together with other restrictive criteria it would have given me an opportunity to mention Robert Redford (48) briefly playing his character Roy Hobbs as a teenager in _The Natural_. > > As it is, I can’t in all fairness give out this information. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Do movies count? There was an extended flashback in _The Natural_, where Robert Redford and Glenn Close had to pull it off even though they both had to be in their forties already. You almost couldn’t see them at all, through all the Vaseline on the lens. I haven’t seen that movie in ages, and I don’t recall that scene. It sounds like Redford’s visage was obscured pretty well, though. Not so with Tom Hanks, a sprightly \*\*37-year old \*\*when he played Forrest Gump as a high-schooler. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/29 "2009-05-20T19:14:56Z")
[Leo Gorcey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0329832/bio) made Bowery Boys movies until 1956, when he was 39. They showed on TV all the time, so I think they count. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/30 "2009-05-20T19:15:04Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > [Vanessa Marcil](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000522/) - but maybe they weren’t teens anymore when she stared in 90210. They weren’t. They’d been graduated from college for at least a year before Vanessa showed up on the show. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/31 "2009-05-20T19:56:46Z")
> [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](#): > > They weren’t. They’d been graduated from college for at least a year before Vanessa showed up on the show. Crap. Still, she’s hawt! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/32 "2009-05-20T20:32:35Z")
At the final/graduation episode of _[Head of the Class](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_the_Class)_, where since the kids were gifted presumably they were all 17-18, the actors included: Brian Robbins (as Eric Mardian): 28 Tony O’Dell (as preppy Allan): 31 Dan Frischman (as nerd Arvid): 32 Michael De Lorenzo (as Alex): 32 The remaining cast was mostly early to mid 20s. ---
**Author:** ![DonJorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/47e85d/32.png) [@DonJorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonJorge)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/33 "2009-05-20T20:45:27Z")
Erin Karpluk (31) portrays Erica Strange, in ‘Being Erica’. In each episode she goes back in time, sometimes to her teen years. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/34 "2009-05-20T20:57:58Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Do movies count? There was an extended flashback in _The Natural_, where Robert Redford and Glenn Close had to pull it off even though they both had to be in their forties already. You almost couldn’t see them at all, through all the Vaseline on the lens. Check out post #18. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/35 "2009-05-20T21:17:58Z")
Richard Crenna played William Denton probably when he was in 30s. Depending on which birthdate one credits, he might have been anywhere between 29 and 35 while he played the wierd teen in _Our Miss Brooks_. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/36 "2009-05-20T21:26:28Z")
Keiko Agena who played Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls was 27 when she started on Gilmore Girls. Taylor Kitsch who plays Tim Riggins was 25 when the Friday Night Lights TV series started. Scott Porter who plays Jason Street was 27 when it started. Minka Kelly (Lyla Garrity) was 26. Strangely there is a whole other crew who are ACTUAL high school age. Susan May Pratt (Mandella) was 25 when 10 things I hate about you was released. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/37 "2009-05-20T21:30:00Z")
Jason Earles, who plays Miley Cyrus’ older brother in _Hannah Montana_, is 32 years old, just under 15 years younger than his TV father. I’m not sure if they ever mentioned how old he’s supposed to be in the show, but he acts as if he’s seven years old. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/38 "2009-05-20T21:38:56Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think Fonz was supposed to be a teen. He was not in school, he worked as a mechanic. And I think I remember one episode where he filled in as a substitute teacher at the high school. A movie example, but Moaning Myrtle from the _Harry Potter_ series was a teenager when she died, and presumably shouldn’t have aged since, but was played by [Shirley Henderson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0376602/), born in 1965 (which would have made her 37 when she started the role). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/39 "2009-05-20T21:53:16Z")
Perhaps a more challenging thread would be one on TV shows where the teen characters really **were** played by actors roughly the same age as the character. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/40 "2009-05-20T22:05:20Z")
In the movie **18 Again!** George Burns, then aged 92, sort of plays the role of a teenager. (The premise of the movie involves a body swap, of course). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077.md?page=3)