# \[Surviving\] public figures from WWII **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680 "2011-05-21T13:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/21 "2011-05-21T22:22:25Z")
Sci-Fi author Frederik Pohl began his writing career in the 1930’s, and edited pulp magazines \*Astonishing Stories \*and _Super Science Stories_ from 1939 to 1943. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/22 "2011-05-21T22:25:37Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Forces sweetheart [Vera Lynn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_lynn)? Very popular during the war. Yeah, but does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/23 "2011-05-21T22:30:38Z")
Actress [Ann Rutherford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Rutherford) was well known as Andy Hardy’s girlfriend and Scarlett O’Hara’s younger sister. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/24 "2011-05-21T22:30:59Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > SNL announcer [Don Pardo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Pardo) was a war reporter for NBC radio during WWII. Reminds me that Andy Rooney was a fairly well known reporter back then. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/25 "2011-05-21T22:41:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Reminds me that Andy Rooney was a fairly well known reporter back then. I considered Rooney, but wasn’t sure how [well known he would have been](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rooney): > [@](#): > > Rooney began his career in newspapers while in the Army when, in 1942, he began writing for Stars and Stripes in London during World War II. He later published a memoir, My War (1995) about his war reporting. In addition to recounting firsthand several notable historical events and people (like the entry into Paris, the concentration camps, etc.), Rooney describes how it shaped his experience both as a writer and reporter. > > In February 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force, he was one of six correspondents who flew on the first American bombing raid over Germany. Later, he was one of the first American journalists to visit the Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II, and one of the first to write about them. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/26 "2011-05-21T22:41:25Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > Maybe I got it wrong, but I believe that’s her handle sans the changing royal title. What would you call her, Elizabeth Windsor? It’s been addressed in several recent GQ threads, and “Elizabeth of York” has not been the proper title of any Queen Regnant or Consort since Henry VII’s wife (and the Yorkist heiress in her own right). “Elizabeth Windsor” is, per the Royal Family’s own website, the proper usage for her on those rare occasions when she needs to show a surname. ======= Not surviving presently, but surviving to an exceptionally recent date, were several secondary public figures associated with the warmaking nations themselves, as opposed to the living celebrities from entertainment so far listed: Vyacheslav M. Molotov, Foreign Minister of the USSR, and Harold Macmillan, Minister of State Resident in the Middle East (where he was in charge of logistics and political fall-out) during the war, both lived until 1986. Emperor Hirohito of Japan, whose decision to override his generals and surrender ended the war, died only in 1989, and of course Elizabeth, then Queen Consort of England, lived until 2002. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/27 "2011-05-21T23:09:11Z")
Pete Seeger was fairly well known even before the war, as one of the Almanac Singers along with Woodie Guthrie. Petula Clark began her career as a child singer on a BBC Radio show for the troops. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/28 "2011-05-21T23:16:15Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > It’s been addressed in several recent GQ threads, and “Elizabeth of York” has not been the proper title of any Queen Regnant or Consort since Henry VII’s wife (and the Yorkist heiress in her own right). “Elizabeth Windsor” is, per the Royal Family’s own website, the proper usage for her on those rare occasions when she needs to show a surname. I’m not really an expert on The Royals - just a semi-interested bystander. I guess that “Elizabeth Windsor” would have worked. I wasn’t 100% sure on the name of The Royal House at her birth until I just looked it up. She was born a Windsor. She was not, however, a Queen Regnant during WWII and she has never been a Queen Consort. Elizabeth of York does not have to be considered a title as much as it could simply be a way of referring to her. As one might refer to her father, Albert of York around the same time. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/29 "2011-05-22T01:56:47Z")
Robert Blake started his movie career in Our Gang comedies in 1939, though he was known as Mickey Gubitosi back then. Still, he started being credited as Bobby Blake before the end of the War. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/30 "2011-05-22T06:45:17Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > I’m not really an expert on The Royals - just a semi-interested bystander. I guess that “Elizabeth Windsor” would have worked. I wasn’t 100% sure on the name of The Royal House at her birth until I just looked it up. She was born a Windsor. > > She was not, however, a Queen Regnant during WWII and she has never been a Queen Consort. Elizabeth of York does not have to be considered a title as much as it could simply be a way of referring to her. As one might refer to her father, Albert of York around the same time. If you need to call her something, call her Queen Elizabeth the Second, or QE2 for short. There’s no need to invent names, she’s already _got_ a name that everyone knows. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/31 "2011-05-22T07:07:42Z")
Not really a national figure, but [Albert Rosellini](http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5156) who was most famous for being the governor of Washington State in the 50’s and 60’s, was the state senate majority leader during World War Two and is still alive today at 101 years old (and still somewhat politically active). ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/32 "2011-05-22T09:14:28Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Yeah, but does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? She’s hugely famous - she’s on TV loads and ‘We’ll Meet Again’ is played on every other programme about the war. > [@samjones](#): > > Maybe I got it wrong, but I believe that’s her handle sans the changing royal title. What would you call her, Elizabeth Windsor? She was always Princess Elizabeth. But I knew who you meant, hence me mentioning it to the other person. ---
**Author:** ![Dave.B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9f8e36/32.png) [@Dave.B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave.B)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/33 "2011-05-22T09:23:16Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > She’s hugely famous - she’s on TV loads and ‘We’ll Meet Again’ is played on every other programme about the war. A Pink Floyd related woosh there, I think? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/34 "2011-05-22T09:36:22Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > A Pink Floyd related woosh there, I think? Oops, yes–didn’t mean it as a whoosh though. [Vera](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MummZBgO3Ek&feature=player_detailpage#t=19s) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/35 "2011-05-22T09:37:01Z")
> [@Dave.B](#): > > A Pink Floyd related woosh there, I think? Oh, actually that’s vaguely familiar - silly me. 😃 ---
**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 22, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/36 "2011-05-22T11:01:35Z")
Doris Day was reasonably well-known as a singer during WWII. Her first big hit, “Sentimental Journey,” coincided with VE Day. ---
**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 22, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/37 "2011-05-22T11:06:35Z")
Angela Lansbury, still alive. Her first movie was **Gaslight** , 1944. Also starred in wartime hits **National Velvet** (Sadly, Elizabeth Taylor just misses the cutoff) and **The Portrait of Dorian Gray**. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/38 "2011-05-22T11:58:11Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > If you need to call her something, call her Queen Elizabeth the Second, or QE2 for short. There’s no need to invent names, she’s already _got_ a name that everyone knows. I was worried that if I were to refer to her as Queen then some pedantic jerk would feel entitled to educate me about 20th Century Royalty. Little did I know… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/39 "2011-05-22T12:11:07Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I thought maybe Dick York’s sister. 😛 She was replaced by Elizabeth Sargent, with no explanation offered. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680/40 "2011-05-22T13:31:22Z")
Patty Andrews, the sole surviving member of the Andrews sisters Rose Marie, famous for the “Dick van Dyke” and “Hollywood Squares” shows in the 1960s, actually started in the late 1920s, made a short with Al Jolson that is on “The Jazz Singer” DVD (her memory is that when they were done, Jolson said…fine kid, beat it, scram and had a radio show and records in the 30s. Not much on movies which is why we seldom think of her. Not quite sure how famous Harry Morgan was in WWII…he had a substantial role in 1943’s “The Ox-bow Incident” but the former “Dragnet” and M_A_S\*H" actor is still around. One of the few in the Dragnet ensemble who didn’t die in his 50s or 60s like Jack Webb and Barton Alexander. It’s the clams, Joe, the clams (a line from the 1966 TV movie) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surviving-public-figures-from-wwii/582680.md?page=3)