# What celebrity surprised you when you first learned of their true age? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449 "2014-04-18T22:31:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/41 "2014-04-20T02:46:35Z")
Ming Na turned fifty last year. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/42 "2014-04-20T03:05:39Z")
I’m watching Graham Norton on BBC America. He said he’s 51. Wow, he looks closer to a decade younger to me. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/43 "2014-04-20T04:43:16Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Since it often takes African American and African performers longer to become famous, I’m rarely surprised when they are somewhat older than they appear (Jamie Foxx looks younger than he is, but he’s less than 9 months younger than myself and I’m 47). He was 24 when I first knew about him. I would’ve thought older, but back then everybody was older to me. I’m still more surprised of his success and that he’s an Academy Award winning actor, when I know him best as [being in drag and doing ducklips](https://arockridgelife.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/wanda.jpg). I suppose I will add Steve Martin. He’s 68, that’s not terribly surprising, but since his hair has been silver forever it made him look older while paradoxically seeming to never age. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/44 "2014-04-20T05:06:00Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Demetri Martin and Chris Hardwick are both in their 40s. I think I actually stopped liking Demetri Martin when I learned his age. My opinion of him went from “He’s quite talented” to “No wonder he seemed talented; he has 20 years of experience at acting 20.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/45 "2014-04-20T05:38:37Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Since it often takes African American and African performers longer to become famous, I’m rarely surprised when they are somewhat older than they appear (Jamie Foxx looks younger than he is, but he’s less than 9 months younger than myself and I’m 47). Foxx doesn’t seem younger to me. It’s probably because I can remember back when he was doing _In Living Color_ in the early nineties so I’ve been seeing him for twenty years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/46 "2014-04-20T05:52:05Z")
Jennifer Beals is another actress who looks younger than her real age (she’s 50). When she was on _The Chicago Code_ some people were saying she was too young to play a Police Commissioner. But the actual head of the Chicago Police Department at the time was only 51. (And other people said that Beals, a Chicago native, wasn’t doing the accent right.) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/47 "2014-04-20T06:01:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Foxx doesn’t seem younger to me. It’s probably because I can remember back when he was doing _In Living Color_ in the early nineties so I’ve been seeing him for twenty years. I think that’s why I’m not shocked at the previously mentioned Chris Hardwick’s age. I was a fan of his back when I was in high school/college, and knew then he was older than that. Biggest shocker for me is an actor named Steven Anthony Lawrence. Here’s [his picture](http://i2.listal.com/image/1817790/600full-steven-anthony-lawrence.jpg). He’s 23. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/48 "2014-04-20T06:06:34Z")
Paolo Nuttini sings like an aged black guy who’s seen some hard times. His music, that he writes, is so good it seems like you’ve always heard it. I first saw him live in 2006, but on a huge stage, and he was barely visible, and I was with friends and just dancing around and not looking at the stage or the screens. He doesn’t appear much in public as a celeb-type person, so I never saw his face, and he’s been around for a while. He’s 24. Twenty-fucking-four. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/49 "2014-04-20T06:13:46Z")
Actors I was really surprised to learn are over 21: Jack Gleeson (Joffrey) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen) of _Game of Thrones_ Sarah Hyland (Haley) of _Modern Family_ Hyland looks so young that while she’s perfectly believable as the irresponsible teenager on her sitcom I couldn’t believe her at all as Blanche Barrow in the recent Bonnie and Clyde miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/50 "2014-04-20T10:34:43Z")
That’s so weird about Wilford Brimley. What must all those other actors in _Cocoon_, who were well into their seventies, have thought about their not-yet-50 costar? One who amazed me in the opposite way was Brian Benben, when I saw him pop up on a show my wife watched (Private Practice). He looked like he had spent two decades hermetically sealed or something. My wife is too young to remember _Dream On_, so I blew her mind by pointing out that he graduated high school when her parents were still in middle school. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/51 "2014-04-20T11:03:39Z")
Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gormet, died some years ago at 65. I thought he was 65 twenty years prior to that! Character actor William Hickey died some years ago at 69. I would have thought he was in his 70s twenty years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/52 "2014-04-20T14:00:17Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > James Marsters was in his late 30s when he became famous as Spike on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and played the role into his 40s on BUFFY and ANGEL, but looked in his 20s. THIS, plus Charisma Carpenter - I think she was either late 20’s or early 30’s when she started. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/53 "2014-04-20T14:21:51Z")
SlackerInc writes: \> That’s so weird about Wilford Brimley. What must all those other actors in Cocoon, \> who were well into their seventies, have thought about their not-yet-50 costar? I decided to look all these ages and the release date up. _Cocoon_ was released on June 21, 1985. Wilford Brimley was born on September 27, 1934 and so was 50. Don Ameche was born on May 31, 1908 and so was 77. Hume Cronyn was born on July 18, 1911 and so was 73. Jack Gifford was born on July 25, 1908 and so was 76. Jessica Tandy was born on June 7, 1909 and so was 76. Gwen Verdon was born on January 13, 1925 and so was 60. Maureen Stapledon was born on June 21, 1925 and so was 60. Herta Ware was born on June 19, 1917 and so 68. And so he was 50 and some of the others were only in their sixties. I suspect that the reason that Brimley looked fifteen years older than his real age at the time of that movie is that he was heavily tanned from his early careers as a ranch hand, wrangler, blacksmith, and stunt man (and tanning really does make you look older), from the fact that he was heavy-set in comparison to his co-stars (since anyone who spends most of their life as a Hollywood actor knows that you have to stay in good physical shape to get good roles), and the fact that he went bald and gray early (and anyone in Hollywood knows that you get a wig and dye your hair if you want good roles). In some sense, Brimley looked more like an average person of his age in 1985, not like an actor who’d pushed himself all his life to continue to look young. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/54 "2014-04-20T14:47:47Z")
Back in the 60s when I was just a kid and very big into movies I saw somewhere that Paul Newman was 40. He was at the height of his big screen popularity then, and I would have guessed he was about 30. Well, 30 was one thing, but 40 seemed old for a leading man. That was ridiculous of course, but when you’re 10 or 12, you have ridiculous opinions. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/55 "2014-04-20T15:15:47Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Wikipedia says Chelsea Handler is 39, so you’re not far off. Except I was talking about six years ago or so! ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/56 "2014-04-20T18:52:10Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Lorde. > > Royals was released when she was 16. She was born in 1996 for fuck’s sake. I couldn’t believe it when I found out. Sure, the subject matter of her songs is predominantly youth-culture-oriented, but listen to her being interviewed and you’d give her at least another ten years, if not more. > > How can someone that young be not only so prodigiously talented, but so informed and articulate? Really? She sounds exactly like an artsy teenager to me. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/57 "2014-04-20T19:21:51Z")
I find it more surprising that a New Zealander based a song off of baseball. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/58 "2014-04-20T19:48:29Z")
I was a little surprised when a story about Chelsea Clinton’s current pregnancy mentioned she was 34. Where does the time go? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/59 "2014-04-20T21:37:59Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Except I was talking about six years ago or so! Yeah, she’s been looking like she’s been forty for about a decade now, so I guess she’s another one whose age is finally catching up to her looks. In the opposite direction, Jim Parson’s doesn’t really look 41. Which is why he can successfully play someone about 10 years younger. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449/60 "2014-04-21T00:40:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Foxx doesn’t seem younger to me. It’s probably because I can remember back when he was doing _In Living Color_ in the early nineties so I’ve been seeing him for twenty years. I saw Jamie Foxx doing stand up before _ **In Living Color** _ in LA. He was decent enough, but he looked like a teenager at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-celebrity-surprised-you-when-you-first-learned-of-their-true-age/686449.md?page=4)