# The oldest movie with a still-living actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732 "2009-05-08T07:21:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/1 "2009-05-08T07:21:58Z")
What is the oldest movie that a still-living actor was in? Let’s limit it to actors named in the opening credits, not bit parts and extras. Are any silent movie kids still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/2 "2009-05-08T07:53:46Z")
For a first approximation, I’ll throw in [Mickey’s Circus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0415998/) from 1927, starring a 7-year-old Mickey Rooney. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/3 "2009-05-08T08:39:56Z")
I nominate _[Cirque Hollandaise](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014776/)_, a 1924 Dutch film featuring the up-and-coming Johannes Heesters, who now at 105 still gets occasional gigs. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/4 "2009-05-08T11:17:35Z")
Here’s a nod to Disney and Iwerks’ [Alice’s Wonderland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H58meqbp5Ps), from 1923. Virginia Davis is still with us, last I checked. And I checked less than a minute ago. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/5 "2009-05-08T12:43:36Z")
I don’t really have much to offer the thread (I would have guessed Shirely Temple or Mickey Rooney), but I just wanted to tip my hat to **panache45** and the rest of my fellow Dopers who constantly surprise me with wonderful and creative thread subjects. I love waking up, opening the Dope, and seeing how someone managed to put up yet another great topic to discuss about the minutia of entertainment! Well played! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/6 "2009-05-08T12:56:12Z")
I came in to mention Olivia de Havilland from Gone with the Wind. Not the oldest, but certainly the most famous. She has a long running feud with her half-sister Joan Fontaine, and neither one of them will die first. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/7 "2009-05-08T13:29:07Z")
Doesn’t win, but Jean Darling from the “Our Gang” comedies is 86 and made her debut in 1926 at the age of 4. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/8 "2009-05-08T14:30:57Z")
1914 - _Kidnapped in New York_, starring Baby Marie Osborne. [Link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Marie) I think with this I likely win. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/9 "2009-05-08T15:23:15Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I came in to mention Olivia de Havilland from Gone with the Wind. Not the oldest, but certainly the most famous. She has a long running feud with her half-sister Joan Fontaine, and neither one of them will die first. I’m seeing a Futurama episode in the making… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/10 "2009-05-08T15:36:14Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > 1914 - _Kidnapped in New York_, starring Baby Marie Osborne. > > [Link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Marie) > > I think with this I likely win. It took me a good 5 minutes to try to confirm that Marie _Osmond_ is not in her 90s. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/11 "2009-05-08T15:39:04Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > It took me a good 5 minutes to try to confirm that Marie _Osmond_ is not in her 90s. Gotta love those Mormon genetics! ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/12 "2009-05-08T17:45:52Z")
I appreciate that y’all are documenting your claims with links, but it will be a lot easier to track who’s winning if you include an age or birthdate. for the record: Shirley Temple - Date of Birth: 23 April 1928 … Mickey Rooney - Date of Birth: 23 September 1920 … Virginia Davis(-McGhee) born December 31, 1918 … Baby Marie Osborne, born November 5, 1911… Johannes Heesters - Date of Birth: 5 December 1903 … ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/13 "2009-05-08T18:11:10Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I appreciate that y’all are documenting your claims with links, but it will be a lot easier to track who’s winning if you include an age or birthdate. The question isn’t about the oldest actor, but the oldest movie. I think 1914 is gonna be tough to beat, although it doesn’t say if she starred in that or not. If not, we could fall back to 1916’s _Little Mary Sunshine_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/14 "2009-05-08T18:13:32Z")
I guess _Cirque Hollandaise_ (1924), with Johannes Heesters, is the oldest movie with an _adult_ actor (18+) who is still alive today. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/15 "2009-05-08T19:50:26Z")
In a completely pointless side category, as near as I can tell, the oldest movie to include a still living person who won an acting Academy Award is: [Sehnsucht 202](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023449/) (1932) which included Luise Rainer who is still alive at 99 years old and won her awards in 1937 and 1938. For men it would be [They Knew What They Wanted](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033150/) (1940) with the late starting (28 years old, now 97) Karl Malden. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/16 "2009-05-08T19:51:59Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The question isn’t about the oldest actor, but the oldest movie. I think 1914 is gonna be tough to beat, although it doesn’t say if she starred in that or not. If not, we could fall back to 1916’s _Little Mary Sunshine_. She starred in it all right - she played the kidnapped kid. [Link.](http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/420183/Kidnapped-In-New-York/overview) I really think this will be hard to beat - that movie is 95 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/17 "2009-05-08T20:05:35Z")
> **[Who are the oldest film actors? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/general-arts-and-entertainment/Who_are_the_oldest_film_actors)** > > As of August 20th 2017, Mary Carlisle.Born February 04th 1914, she made her debut in the 1923 silent film, Long Live the King with Jackie Coogan. This is a list of the oldest living actors. If there is anybody who can beat Baby Marie, it’s one of those but I doubt it. There seem to be quite a few famous actors from 1916/1917 who are still alive, Kirk Douglas, Ernest Borgnine, Celeste Holm and Olivia de Havilland ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/18 "2009-05-10T01:40:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The question isn’t about the oldest actor, but the oldest movie. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry and thanx ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/19 "2009-05-10T05:30:15Z")
Sam Drucker still lives! Gotta email him. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732/20 "2010-11-19T17:15:38Z")
Bumping the thread to report that “Baby” Marie Osbourne Yeats has died at the age of 99. [Link.](http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/18/local/la-me-baby-marie-osborne-20101118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-oldest-movie-with-a-still-living-actor/495732.md?page=2)