# Performers still working who got their start pre-TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927 "2008-03-03T07:35:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927/1 "2008-03-03T07:35:21Z")
To be clear, I don’t expect this is a hard question. I just read that James Lipton’s first acting role was as a kid on the Lone Ranger radio show. This made me wonder, what other people who are to this day still working in front of the camera got their start in the days before TV? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2008, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927/2 "2008-03-03T08:13:13Z")
[Mickey Rooney](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Rooney)’s still going strong ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927/3 "2008-03-04T02:03:34Z")
Three off the top of my head: Ed McMahon, Mike Wallace and Paul Harvey. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927/4 "2008-03-04T02:55:51Z")
[Ruby Dee](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002039/) made her first film in 1939 and appeared on Broadway in **South Pacific** in 1943. [Fyvush Finkel](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0277882/) was a star in Yiddish theater in the 40s. Peter Graves first film appearance was in 1942. [Don Hastings](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0368575/) started out in radio prior to TV and did some theater. He was picked for one of the earliest TV shows: **Captain Video** and is still working steadily today as a regular on **As the World Turns**. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927/5 "2008-03-04T03:14:06Z")
One question: How recent does the work have to be? Last few months? Last few years? Also, does it have to be film/TV, or can any type of performing art do? [Stan Freberg](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0292677/) had his earliest credits in radio to a few years before television became a major medium. [June Foray](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004931/) claims a local radio career dating to the 1930s, and still works. [Rose Marie](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0547300/) appears in some Vitaphone short subjects. It’s been a long time since he’s appeared in film, but [Tony Martin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0553149/) still has the occasional nightclub engagement. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/performers-still-working-who-got-their-start-pre-tv/439927/6 "2008-03-04T03:40:01Z")
[Christopher Lee](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000489/#actor1940) got his first film role in 1948 (he was already 26 :eek: )