# Who are our current "Abe Vigodas"? (people you might be surprised to learn are still alive) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [September 7, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985 "2020-09-07T01:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 32
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/622 "2024-08-17T17:30:13Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I think you underestimate the support for homosexuals in 1970. Name another celebrity who defended being gay on national TV in 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/623 "2024-08-17T19:10:12Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > John Astin (The Riddler) Never realized that John Astin was also The Riddler. Frank Gorshin (who died in 2005) is the only Riddler I remember. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/624 "2024-08-17T20:03:05Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > Never realized that John Astin was also The Riddler. Frank Gorshin (who died in 2005) is the only Riddler I remember. Gorshin’s portrayal of the character is probably more iconic; he played The Riddler in 10 episodes, plus the 1966 movie, while Astin only played the role in 2 episodes (which, IIRC, would probably have been the two parts of just one story, as that’s how the show was structured in its first two seasons). According to [Gorshin’s Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gorshin), he was replaced by Astin for those two episodes, because he (Gorshin) was unavailable. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/625 "2024-08-17T22:44:07Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Gorshin’s portrayal of the character is probably more iconic;… John Astin was, and I assume still is, awesome. In the right roles, he was fantastic; and I feel like he could have been a great _Batman_ villain. But for The Riddler, I give the nod to Frank Gorshin. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/626 "2024-08-18T00:49:24Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Name another celebrity who defended being gay on national TV in 1970. I don’t’ have time to watch every television show from 1970 and earlier. It would require me to research and write an entire book about the history of the acceptance of homosexuality to demonstrate how gradual the acceptance was and how it began long before 1970. Let me give you a couple of examples. Judy Garland died in 1969. She worked with, was married to, and probably had a father that was homosexual. She had a large amount of fans who were male homosexuals, and she knew it and appreciated their support of her. Her funeral was the day before the Stonewall Riots. And then to tell about my personal memory of that time. At my college (a fairly liberal one), in the autumn of 1971, there were at least two groups that made demands to the college administration. One was a woman’s group that made a set of demands to the college president about the treatment of women and took over his office for a while. A second was a group of homosexual men who made a set of demands but didn’t give them to anyone in particular. (And, um, then I created the short rights movement by posting my demands on a wall in the student union.) Though some people at the college thought the demands of those two groups were unnecessarily unkind because the college was actually more sensitive to such political positions than most colleges, very few people had any real objections to women’s liberation or to homosexual rights. Incidentally, there has always been more acceptance of female homosexuals than male ones. Many people in the early twentieth century objected to male couples who lived together for their whole adult lives than to female ones who do. Consider Ann Caracristi, who retired as the deputy director of NSA. Supposedly the first acceptance of a homosexual as a NSA employee was in 1980. However, Caracristi lived her entire adult life with another single woman from the 1940s on, and no one made a big deal about it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/627 "2024-08-18T01:20:20Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I don’t’ have time to watch every television show from 1970 and earlier. Yeah, not continuing your hijack. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/628 "2024-08-18T06:13:29Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Judy Garland died in 1969. … Her funeral was the day before the Stonewall Riots. Am I mistaken in understanding that this had something to do with the rainbow symbology wrt gay rights? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/629 "2024-08-18T19:02:23Z")
I think the rainbow as gay symbol came much later. This talks about Judy Garland’s influence on gay culture > **[Judy Garland as a gay icon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Garland_as_a_gay_icon)** > > American actress and singer Judy Garland (1922–1969) is widely considered as a gay icon. The Advocate has called Garland "The Elvis of homosexuals". The reasons frequently given for her standing as an icon among gay men are admiration of her ability as a performer, the way her personal struggles seemed to mirror those of gay men in America during the height of her fame, and her value as a camp figure. Garland's role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz is particularly known for contributing The a... ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/630 "2024-08-18T23:55:53Z")
Given the titular actor of this thread I thought that I should mention the recent [passing](https://variety.com/2024/film/news/john-aprea-dead-godfather-2-full-house-1236110119/) of John Aprea who played the young Sal Tessio in _Godfather II_. Note that John and Abe both appear in the film with Abe in the flashback at the end. This just leaves DeNiro alive of the three young hoods who toasted around the kitchen table. Here’s a deleted [scene](https://youtu.be/NZTulMhtdVY) where Sal meets Vito. Bruno Kirby died in 2006 at age 57. His actor father Bruce outlasted him by several years. He was 83 and his last [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0032501/) credit seems to be from 2023. Nice run. From the Variety article: \<\\> ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/631 "2024-08-19T10:40:07Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > French leading man [Alain Delon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Delon) is still with us at 88. …or was. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/632 "2024-08-19T12:31:10Z")
Anybody mention Petula Clark? She’s 91 years old. She’s older than I thought until recently, she started her singing career as a child during WWII. She was already in her 30s by the time songs like _Downtown_ gained her notice in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/633 "2024-08-19T12:36:58Z")
Herbert Blomstedt is not only still alive at 97, he’s still conducting orchestras. > **[Herbert Blomstedt, 97 - Slippedisc](https://slippedisc.com/2024/07/herbert-blomstedt-97/)** > > The Swedish conductor will celebrate his 97th birthday... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/634 "2024-08-19T14:28:17Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > I watched an episode of the Phil Donahue program from 1989 in which he had a panel of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes and Ken Norton on. Looking up Donahue and seeing he is still alive surprised me and ‘only’ 88 years old too because he looked like he was 70 back then. Phil Donahue passed away yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/635 "2024-08-19T14:58:45Z")
When we used to visit my grandmother, then in her eighties, she would talk about the Phil Donahue show. “His guests talk about anything! Just anything! It didn’t used to be like that.” When we were driving home, I mentioned this and how it seemed to bother her. “She keeps watching, though,” said Dad. RIP, Phil, and thanks for giving my grandmother insights into the changing world. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/636 "2024-08-22T19:36:53Z")
British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough is a very active 98. Maybe it should not be a surprise that he is still alive, because he is still working and in the public eye. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/637 "2024-08-22T19:53:47Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough is a very active 98 Scared me. Alive, whew. His death will be a huge loss for the world. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/638 "2024-08-24T01:32:47Z")
Klezmer clarinetist [Giora Feidman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giora_Feidman) is still with us at 88. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/639 "2024-08-27T23:27:43Z")
Barbara Eden recently turned 93. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/640 "2024-08-28T00:05:02Z")
She’ll be fine. She’s been on my Death Pool list for a couple of years now. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/641 "2024-08-28T20:59:49Z")
I read _The Day of the Jackal_ back when I was in high school and that was a long time ago. And the book had been published a few years before I read it. So I was surprised to just learn that the author, Frederick Forsyth, is still alive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985.md?page=33)