# People who reached a world class level starting their discipline after the age of 30? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766 "2015-11-27T21:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![szabrocki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@szabrocki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/szabrocki)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/21 "2015-11-28T00:16:40Z")
I forgot to mention that non previous experiences really made little difference as to the outcome of my success. I studied something completely new in computer science called Vitualization. I had to compete with anyone who tried. It was new and we all heard about it together. I went into it as a designer/architect early in the game and it worked for me. To me it is an art as well as a science. The trick is the willingness and ability to reinvent yourself. Z ---
**Author:** ![Oddball\_92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b3f665/32.png) [@Oddball\_92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oddball_92)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/22 "2015-11-28T00:31:15Z")
The late actor Noble Willingham taught government and economics at my high school before he got his first acting role in 1971. I believe is was almost 40. I don’t know if he is considered “world class” or not but he was in some top notch movies. ---
**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 28, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/23 "2015-11-28T00:31:26Z")
John Houseman was mainly a behind-the-scenes man in movies, a few brief bit acting roles, but mainly a producer and writer. His first major part at age 71 in “The Paper Chase” won him an Oscar for best supporting actor. After that, he became well known as an actor and pitchman doing it the old-fashioned way…he EARNED it! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/24 "2015-11-28T00:31:44Z")
[Joseph Conrad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad#Works) published his first novel at age 37. ---
**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 28, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/25 "2015-11-28T00:45:22Z")
Pat Burns worked as a police officer for 16 years with a little scouting hockey on the side. In his mid 30s he moved full time into coaching. He won three Jack Adams awards for NHL coach of the year, one Stanley Cup and was posthumously elected in the Hockey Hall of Fame. > **[Pat Burns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Burns)** > > Patrick John Joseph Burns (April 4, 1952 – November 19, 2010) was a National Hockey League head coach. Over 14 seasons between 1988 and 2004, he coached in 1,019 games with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils. Burns retired in 2005 after being diagnosed with recurring cancer, which eventually claimed his life five years later. > In 2014, he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. > As a child, Burns had always wanted to play on a NHL t... ---
**Author:** ![guitario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@guitario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guitario)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/26 "2015-11-28T01:00:48Z")
Thanks for all of your replies so far. There are some great people to research - please keep it up! ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/27 "2015-11-28T01:40:40Z")
Norman Maclean was no stranger to writing but did nothing for a broad, popular audience until, at the behest of his family at age 65, he wrote _A River Runs Through It_. Perhaps you have seen the film. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/28 "2015-11-28T03:03:57Z")
Finbarr O’Reilly worked as a print journalist writing stories, but he first picked up a camera in 2005 and subsequently won the World Press Photo _Photo of the Year_ award [the very next year](http://www.finbarr-oreilly.com/about-finbarr-oreilly/) at the age of 35. It’s not a complete career 180, but the discipline of writing is quite different than photography, although there is certainly a crossover in skill sets in terms of getting close to the story and news sense. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/29 "2015-11-28T04:26:21Z")
- laida? vitualization? – BRB \* ETA: so, despite what I, Google, and probably everyone else, thinks, it isn’t a typo… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/30 "2015-11-28T04:42:18Z")
I took up telemark ski racing in my 30s and ended up on my national team. But I don’t know if that really counts, for the field is very small compared to things like alpine ski racing. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/31 "2015-11-28T04:47:13Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > [Stephen Leacock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Leacock) published his first fiction book in his late 30’s. And even then, he kept his day job as a political economist at McGill. My grandfather had an economics course under him. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/32 "2015-11-28T08:35:17Z")
John Houston’s list of accomplishments as a director and screenwriter began in his 20’s, but he was nearly 60 when he began acting. He was nominated for an Academy Award (and won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor) for his first role, in _The Cardinal_. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/33 "2015-11-28T09:09:33Z")
Bluesman [T-Model Ford](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOIU9l4WiuQ)was almost sixty when he picked up a guitar for the first time. He taught himself to play and published his first record well into his seventies. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/34 "2015-11-28T10:06:24Z")
Oscar-nominated actors Richard Farnsworth didn’t become an actor until he was over 60. He spent most of his career as a stunt man. Shelby Foote is probably best remembered as a historian of the Civil War, but he didn’t start writing non-fiction about the war until he was in his 40s. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/35 "2015-11-28T10:26:45Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > - laida? vitualization? – BRB \* > ETA: so, despite what I, Google, and probably everyone else, thinks, it isn’t a typo… So what does it mean then, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/36 "2015-11-28T13:21:07Z")
It **is** a typo, but not the one you think. Remember Oregon Trail on the Apple IIe? That bit where you have to buy victuals for your trip? All **szabrocki**! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/37 "2015-11-28T13:43:09Z")
My favorite story of this is [Wayne Rogers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Rogers). Actor, played Trapper John on MASH. Left at age 42 because he felt he was being pushed into a supporting role behind Alan Alda. True enough, I guess. Kept a bit of acting but also went into investment management and strategy as well as [other business pursuits](http://waynerogers.webs.com/). A complete flip from where he was in his mid-40s now sits on several boards - including chairing a bridal dress firm’s board - and is a commentator on investments. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/38 "2015-11-28T13:55:25Z")
Kathryn Joosten was born in the 1930s, and didn’t start acting until the 1980s; by the 1990s, she was fielding TV roles like “Cafeteria Lady” and “Supermarket Customer”; but in the 2000s, she soon went from playing the President’s executive secretary on THE WEST WING to winning Emmy after Emmy on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/39 "2015-11-28T14:44:13Z")
Vera Chapman published her first novel at 75. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766/40 "2015-11-28T15:30:49Z")
My sport is archery flight shooting. We try to break records for how far we can shoot arrows. I set all my world records past the age of 60 and started in the sport at about 55 years old. Most of the top flight shooters have been past the age of 50. I believe his is do to the amount of time spent building equipment that younger folks do not always have available to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-reached-a-world-class-level-starting-their-discipline-after-the-age-of-30/738766.md?page=3)