In Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, Dick Van Dyke is about four years older than the actor who is playing his father.
Ah, but the day of Bilbo’s party (which is where the movie opens), he had just turned 33; which is not only less of a difference, but probably almost equivalent (that is the ‘coming of age’ birthday amongst hobbits, & probably equivalent to 18-20 in human years).
Part of the weirdness is in that, in the book, ~17 years passes between the party and the start of Frodo’s adventure, while in the movie, it’s not clear but appears to be a matter of months. It’s very hard to say how old Frodo is supposed to be in the movie, and it would seem unwise to treat the book as canon for the age of the movie’s character.
I don’t think this is right (and others up-thread seem to agree). Hobbits have a slightly “streached” out lifespan, so Frodo is roughly the equivalent of an early twenty-something human. And of course, for all we know, Hobbits appear relatively youthful in human terms till they reach very old age. They certainly seem to maintain a somewhat child-like demeanor even when they’re relatively old.
Hence my point with the other Tolkien creations, it seems silly to start finding mythological creatures that are miscast by age, since most mythological creatures don’t have lifespans that map to human ones.
Wow I had no idea that Radar on MASH* was supposed to be so young.
Actually Olivia Newton-John was 29 when she made Grease. The movie was released in June and she turned 30 in September 
Ron “Horshack” Palillo turned 30 just as *Welcome Back Kotter *was going off the air. He was the oldest of the “Sweathogs”
Alan “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” Ruck was 29 when he made the movie, like Newton-John turning 30 shortly after it was released.
Michael J Fox was 29 when the last “Back To The Future” movie was made.
There was Max “Doogie Howser” Casella who was 22 when the show begin. I don’t know how old he was supposed to be.
What about Henery "Fonzie’ Winkler. I know he was 29 when the show started, but I don’t think Fonzie was supposed to be a teenager right? Wasn’t he just a so called thug that just hung out at the drive in?
17 years? Just how long was the journey to Mordor?
EDIT: I see **SCSimmons **addressed this. Why was there the long delay between finding the ring and the start of the journey, then? I’ve only seen the movies, and after slogging through thirty pages of Fellowship, my interest in reading the source material is nil.
I’m no Tolkien expert, but wasn’t this “life force tied to Middle Earth” thing a movie invention? And at that, wasn’t it only true for Arwen?
My recollection is that Gandalf only started trying to find out more about the ring after Bilbo’s party, and it took him and Aragorn a long time to find Gollum. They found Gollum a very short time before Frodo left the Shire, and that was also a short time AFTER Gollum had “escaped” from Mordor.
Sean Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford and has played his father. Connery was also the father of Dustin Hoffman in Family Business despite being only 7 years older.
I’m sure this isn’t right. In the train dining car scene (I can’t find a clip) she says how old she is, I think it’s in her late 20’s. After all, she does say she has a career as an industrial designer, so she can hardly be 20. Grant is supposed to be about 40, I suppose, a difference that certainly isn’t unheard-of, then or now.
Roddy
No, it’s true for all elves – Tolkien puts it: “…the Elves’ fate is to remain in Arda until its ending.” Their spirits (but their bodies necessarily) are essentially immortal, but … well this is a bit too much of a digression to explain further.
Concerning Frodo: no way should a 50-year old hobbit look 18, even with the ring. Keep in mind that before Frodo left the Shire he had basically never put it on. I’ll concede that they mature more slowly than humans, but not vastly more.
A bit more on Frodo: Tolkien describes that Frodo should look “just out of his tweens,” which means in his thirties, basically. So I guess the ring had some influence; it’s not 100% clear in the text to what extent Frodo used it before he left, but my impression has always been very little. Butterbur described him thusly: “A stout little fellow with red cheeks…That won’t help you much as it goes for most hobbits… But this one is taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye.”
Well, why wouldn’t she?
Fonzie was supposed to be older than the other guys but they never really said how old he was. He was not a thug, he was a biker and a mechanic. I don’t think he ever actually hit anyone, they always got scared and ran off when he was around. In early episodes the censors would not let him wear a leather jacket unless he was near his bike so the writers just put him near his bike for almost all his scenes. They thought the leather jacket made him look bad but it was OK for safety when he was near his bike. They eventually gave in and he wore the leather all the time.
Well, I could be wrong; like I said, it’s been awhile since I saw the movie. I just remember thinking she is not that young, this is ridiculous…and if she were that young, she would be far too young for Cary Grant’s character.
I feel like I’ve had this discussion here before. Maybe I can find a reference to when I actually remembered the ages.
ETA: I did find it, and then I accidentally closed the window and I don’t feel like re-searching to provide a link, but she’s 26. I think at the time I saw the movie, I was 26 and was like “whaaaaa no way” when she says her age.
Once an actor finishes high school there are no restrictions on how they can work. That makes it easier to hire a 20 year old to play a high school kid. A 16 year old or younger has to be tutored while acting.
Yeah, in the books I’m not sure if his age is ever specifically mentioned, but Snape should be 30ish or so.
Earl Hyman is only eleven years older than Bill Cosby, but played his dad on The Cosby Show.
Clarice Taylor is 10 years older and played his mother.
He was “born” on January 9, 1960 and Voldemort killed him(with Nagini) in 1998, which makes him 38 in book 7.
They just cast Rickman because he’s awesome.
Oh, my cite is this web site:
Speaking of the Huxtables, Claire (Phylicia Rashad) and Cliff (Cosby) are supposedly rough contemporaries – they were both teenagers at the same time, according to Cliff (he talks about skipping out on a church picnic to make out “when we were very teenagery…”) but Cosby and Rashad have 11 years between them. Their stated in-show age difference varied from 4 - 6 years, I think.
Also, oldest daughter Sondra was supposed to be 20 at the time she first appeared toward the end of the first season. Actress Sabrina LeBeauf was 27. Which put her only 10 years younger than Rashad, her on-screen mom.
Edited to add: And re: Harry Potter, the Marauders and Snape are all supposed to be age contemporaries. Rickman, as stated above, Rickman is 64; Timothy Spall (Peter) is 53; Gary Oldman (Sirius) is 52; and David Thewlis (Remus) is 46. So the one who’s supposed to be the oldest-looking (Remus is described as having gray hair) is actually the youngest.