# The "Am I Old?" Test
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 17, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373 "2022-06-17T14:54:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/41 "2022-06-17T16:31:20Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> 22 out of 24; I don’t recognize Charles Aznavour or Bruce Forsythe.
Same here
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### Author:  [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/42 "2022-06-17T16:34:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Ethel Merman: Wasn’t she the neighbor on I Love Lucy?
I didn’t see that episode but I bet it was a hoot!
I was able to immediately put a face to 20 names but about 13-15 would probably meet the OP’s criteria. I’m 60.
Unblurring the source of the list was a real head slapper. I shoulda guessed that!
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/43 "2022-06-17T16:36:23Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#):
>
> Everyone knew Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown was well after her appearance on Spoiler as I recall.
(1988 for Murphy, 1976 for X)
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/44 "2022-06-17T16:37:48Z")
> [@dirtball](#):
>
> I got everyone but Bruce Forsythe, and I’m 64.
Me, too. But I’m 70.5.
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/45 "2022-06-17T16:38:59Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> I know the commercial you’re talking about (some “international coffee” line of instant coffees?) but pretty sure it wasn’t Lena Horne, it was some foreign actress. Rula Lenska?
Yes, the “friends visiting from Europe” woman was Rula Lenska. She is a Polish-born British actress, although she was largely unknown in the US. The commercials were actually for Alberto VO5. You can find a lot of them on YouTube.
Lena Horne was a singer and actress, winner of multiple Grammy Awards, participant in the March on Washington, winner of a special Tony award for her one woman show _The Lady and Her Music_, and all-around superstar performer.
Like almost everyone else, I recognized everyone except Charles Aznavour and Bruce Forsythe. I want to say that I’ve heard the name Bruce Forsythe, possibly from British TV, but I don’t know anything about him. I am 55.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/46 "2022-06-17T16:40:37Z")
I’m apparently not the right demographic in some way.
I recognized that about 1/3rd of the names were or maybe still are in showbiz. Of those I recognized, I think about half are dead or retired. All are has-beens.
I’d never heard of the other 2/3rds of them. May as well have been pulled at random out of a phone book.
I’m 63 and media-aloof to a probably unhealthy degree.
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/47 "2022-06-17T16:41:27Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#):
>
> Yes, the “friends visiting from Europe” woman was Rula Lenska. She is a Polish-born British actress, although she was largely unknown in the US.
I knew who she was, but that’s because I watched (and _loved_) Rock Follies and Rock Follies 77.
On edit: I just googled Bruce Forsyth, and the first page doesn’t say anything much beyond his being an “entertainer.” Pretty generic. Sounds like he was just…there.
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### Author:  [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/48 "2022-06-17T16:48:19Z")
Recognize more than ¾ of the names.
Joel Grey and Bruce Forsythe were the names that gave me the answer.
I‘m 53, and a few years ago I saw Mummenschanz live. Felt like a kid again.
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/49 "2022-06-17T16:48:31Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#):
>
> Sandy Duncan
Weirdly Sandy Duncan was an animated guest star (as herself) on Scooby Doo in the very early 1970s, along with Batman, Lurch and Dick Van Dyke. The apparent expectations of who 7-year-olds in 1973 would recognize were … odd
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Ethel Merman: Wasn’t she the neighbor on I Love Lucy?
Ethel Merman did guest star on “The Lucy Show”
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu1vAQiYoEU)
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/50 "2022-06-17T16:51:55Z")
You aren’t alone. I could have written your answer word-for-word, down to the age.
My parents did not permit me to watch TV while I was growing up (well, I was allowed 30 minutes/week, which I usually spent on Leave It To Beaver, My Favorite Martian, or Captain Nice). I don’t know whether that caused or simply reinforced an innate lack of interest in pop culture, but to this day I barely know who most celebrities are in sports or any performing arts.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/51 "2022-06-17T16:56:37Z")
I got 17 right, but I’ve never seen the Muppet Show
I’m 60
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/52 "2022-06-17T16:59:47Z")
66, and I thought i knew every one of them, but looking up Bruce Forsyth, I found I was thinking of someone else. But I know all the rest.
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### Author:  [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/53 "2022-06-17T17:01:26Z")
I knew 21 of them. Creeping toward 68.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/54 "2022-06-17T17:05:43Z")
Ethel Merman was the soldier in the Army hospital with shell shock in “Airplane!”
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJofODuHbco)
War is hell.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/55 "2022-06-17T17:06:32Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> 22 out of 24; I don’t recognize Charles Aznavour or Bruce Forsythe.
Thanks for saving me some typing, **kenobi**.
Age - 62
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/56 "2022-06-17T17:06:46Z")
> [@Horatius](#):
>
> The original Muppet Show, it’s the only reason I know who or what
> “Mummenschanz” is.
They also appeared on Carson and Letterman.
Oh, and I’m 49 and knew 12 names. Some I know I had watched their TV shows in my childhood but not since, some more deeply remembered/recently watched, and Jim Neighbors, where I’ve seen every episode of _Andy Griffith_ and _Gomer Pyle_ approximately 873 times each and is probably by far the most recognizable person on the list.
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/57 "2022-06-17T17:12:28Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> Ethel Merman was the soldier in the Army hospital with shell shock in “Airplane!”
No, that’s Lt. Hurwitz. He _thinks_ he’s Ethel Merman.
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### Author:  [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/58 "2022-06-17T18:25:14Z")
21 of them I know for sure. Don’t know Forsythe, Aznavour although the names are kinda familiar. Have no idea about Mummenschanz. I’m 75. Never watched the Muppet Show; is that where Mummenchanz comes from?
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/59 "2022-06-17T18:30:39Z")
Mummenchanz was a stage show - kind of like the more recent “Blue Man Group” - it had commercials that terrified me
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=300&width=400&href=https://www.facebook.com/wpixarchives/videos/mummenschanz/2178283372416156/
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### Author:  [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2022, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-am-i-old-test/966373/60 "2022-06-17T18:40:08Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#):
>
> it had commercials that terrified me
I just looked up a [sesame st performance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe95sn0cN3k&ab_channel=vreude) and might have nightmares now. Flashback to clayface from Batman.
Anyway, I recognize only 3 or 4 names from the original list and I’m 42.
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