# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/41 "2009-05-20T22:16:00Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Richard Crenna played William Denton That’s _Walter_ Denton! He’d been playing a variation on that character since before Our Miss Brooks. ---
**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, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/42 "2009-05-20T23:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > 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). OK, that’s going to be hard to top. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/43 "2009-05-21T01:19:18Z")
[quote=“drm, post:36, topic:497077”] Keiko Agena who played Lane Kim on Gilmore Girls was 27 when she started on Gilmore Girls. QUOTE] That means she was in her 30s when her character was still a teenager. ---
**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 21, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/44 "2009-05-21T01:26:34Z")
> [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](#): > > That’s _Walter_ Denton! He’d been playing a variation on that character since before Our Miss Brooks. Yeah, I knew that – I do not know why I typed “William”. I mean I can hear in my head Eve Arden saying, “That’s nice Walter. Now you and Harriet go out and play or something.” But do I type “Walter?” No, I type “William”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/45 "2009-05-21T01:28:58Z")
I never watched a single episode of 90210, but Luke Perry was 25 when it began and 35 when it ended. How old was his character supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/46 "2009-05-21T01:37:29Z")
Michael J Fox was in his 20’s when he first played Alex Keaton. When he played Marty McFly in Back to the Future III, he was in his late 20’s. ---
**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 21, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/47 "2009-05-21T01:45:05Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I never watched a single episode of 90210, but Luke Perry was 25 when it began and 35 when it ended. How old was his character supposed to be? Roughly 16-26 from beginning to end. The show starts with them as high school juniors and ends 10 years later, about 3 years post college graduation. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/48 "2009-05-21T01:55:15Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > But Bart is still 10. Not a teen. 🙂 Nancy Cartwright also voices Nelson and (I think) Jimbo, apparently teens. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/49 "2009-05-21T02:09:26Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. The winner here might be _Saved By The Bell_. While the show overall was not connected to reality as we know it, it did at least manage to have actors of the appropriate ages for their roles: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 15 Mario Lopez, 16 Dustin Diamond, 12 Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, 15 Lark Voorhies, 15 Elizabeth Berkley, 17 All ages are for when the series began in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/50 "2009-05-21T02:09:55Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Nancy Cartwright also voices Nelson and (I think) Jimbo, apparently teens. But doesn’t Jimbo also have a teenage son? Or is that Kearny? I forget which thug is who. Hmmm…I think it’s Kearny…Jimbo is the one who’s too dumb to have sex. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/51 "2009-05-21T02:13:47Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. Fonzie was supposed to be a 23-year-old man who hung around with a bunch of high school students? And bragged about scoring with high school girls? That’s a lot creepier than the idea of a 29-year-old man playing an 18-year-old. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/52 "2009-05-21T02:24:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Fonzie was supposed to be a 23-year-old man who hung around with a bunch of high school students? And bragged about scoring with high school girls? > > That’s a lot creepier than the idea of a 29-year-old man playing an 18-year-old. Back when going to college wasn’t the norm, the dating pool was a lot deeper. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/53 "2009-05-21T02:34:52Z")
Ellen Muth was 22 when she played 18 year old dead girl Georgia Lass in Dead Like Me. That’s not so bad, but she reprised her role as George in the movie. George is still 18, but Ellen was 28. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/54 "2009-05-21T04:17:28Z")
It was a different time back then. Even Wally Cleaver went out with girls that were older than him and one dropped out of High School and was working. So that was different back then. Laurie Walters who played Joanie on _Eight is Enough_, was 30 when the series started. She was the oldest of the cast members, other than Tom Bradford. She was even older, in real life, than Betty Buckley who played Abby her step mother. I am not sure if she was supposed to be a teen ager on the show or in her 20s. Since David was 23 and she was supposed to be the third oldest kid, after David and Mary it’s possible she was supposed to be 19 when the show started. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/55 "2009-05-21T07:13:35Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > But doesn’t Jimbo also have a teenage son? Or is that Kearny? I forget which thug is who. > > Hmmm…I think it’s Kearny…Jimbo is the one who’s too dumb to have sex. It’s Kearny. You forget though that they all attend Springfield _Elementary_. That puts their ages at 12, maximum. ---
**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 21, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/56 "2009-05-21T14:45:18Z")
On 8 is enough, in real life there are plenty of men who have trophy wives who are as young or younger than their kids. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/57 "2009-05-21T21:52:15Z")
This is a new movie from the accursed Wayans’ family which, from the publicity photos, appears to star 37-year old - and still cute as all get out - [Essence Atkins](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040591/) as a high schooler. I know this thread is for tv and not movies, but that’s still pretty remarkable, that a 37 year old could pass for a teen. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077/58 "2009-05-21T22:07:23Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > It’s Kearny. > > You forget though that they all attend Springfield _Elementary_. That puts their ages at 12, maximum. Unless they’ve been held back over and over and over… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oldest-tv-teen/497077.md?page=2)