# 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:** 42
**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:** [March 2, 2025, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/822 "2025-03-02T01:31:31Z")
Another living connection with Chubby Checker’s early career is Dee Dee Sharp, who released the duet “Slow Twistin’” with him in 1962. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/823 "2025-03-09T20:47:02Z")
Happy 91st birthday to Joyce Van Patten — who, in the 1970s, was the Columbo villain who murdered A and framed B for it _while also murdering B and framing A for it,_ because, honestly: do you want an innocent man struggling to convince anyone who’ll listen that, despite all that evidence, he didn’t do it? Or do you just want, y’know, _all that evidence?_ ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/824 "2025-03-14T01:30:10Z")
Sally Jessy Raphael, the talk show host with the red glasses, is 90. **90!** ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/825 "2025-03-14T01:58:20Z")
Eva Marie Saint Who starred in On the Waterfront. 100 years old ---
**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:** [March 14, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/826 "2025-03-14T02:00:21Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Sally Jessy Raphael, the talk show host with the red glasses, is 90. Thanks, she counts. I wasn’t aware she was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/827 "2025-03-14T04:27:43Z")
(Has this been already cited?) [William H. Webster,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Webster) former CIA and FBI Director and Chair of Homeland Security until age 96, and; proof that he’s still sharp as a tack, signatory of a letter disputing Trump’s unsuitably for office, turned 101 earlier this month. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2025, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/828 "2025-03-14T04:40:27Z")
The two Keach brothers, James (77) and Stacy (83), are still alive. For some reason, I wrongly thought at least one of them was dead. Maybe I’m remembering hearing about their father’s death (he was also an actor) back in 2003. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2025, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/829 "2025-03-14T05:56:11Z")
June Lockhart is about 3 months shy of the century mark. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/830 "2025-03-14T06:02:29Z")
The first role I knew her in was Timmy’s mother in Lassie. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/831 "2025-03-14T15:57:30Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > proof that he’s still sharp as a tack, signatory of a letter disputing Trump’s unsuitably for office I think you’ve got a double negative of sorts here. Webster is very anti-Trump, which does indeed prove he has his wits about him. The way it’s written here would imply the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/832 "2025-03-14T15:58:51Z")
Good catch. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/833 "2025-03-14T23:41:46Z")
I listened to Stacy Keach’s autobiography **All in All:An Actor’s Life On and Off the Stage** recently. I only knew him as the dad from **Titus** but it turns out he’s an acclaimed Shakespearean actor. Keach narrates the book and doesn’t shy away from his drug conviction and jail time. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/834 "2025-03-15T19:48:10Z")
The star of the movie _The Primevals_ that I mentioned in the random fact thread is Juliet Mills. I had assumed she had died. I hadn’t heard anything about her in a while. But she’s 83 and [made](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005236/) a bunch of stuff in the last few years. Bonus points: she’s married to Rex Manning! OTOH, I’ll have [_Say No More [Mon Amour]_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szvt8iWJ0oo) running thru my head the rest of the day. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/835 "2025-03-15T21:47:34Z")
Juliet has a sister who is a little more than 4 years younger than her (turns 79 in about a month), who is also still acting. And a brother who is 75. Their father lived to age 97, while their mother made it to 94, a widow for 8 months. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/836 "2025-03-17T20:42:14Z")
I thought Donald Sutherland, who died last year, had been the last surviving member of _The Dirty Dozen_ (1967). But I just learned that two members of the cast are still alive. Stuart Cooper, who played Lever, is 83 and Colin Maitland, who played Sawyer, is 82. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/837 "2025-03-23T15:31:03Z")
William Shatner (Captain Kirk) has just turned 94. His crewmates Walter Koenig (Chekov) and George Takei (Sulu) are still with us too, in their late 80s. Takei is active on social media. Live long and prosper, indeed ---
**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:** [March 23, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/838 "2025-03-23T16:52:10Z")
Hoping George Takei reaches 100. He’s a great guy. I think Bill has a real shot since he is still so active. If he drops a lot of weight quickly, we’ll know things are bad. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/839 "2025-03-25T01:28:05Z")
David Newell, who played Mr. McFeely on _Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood_, is still with us at 86. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/840 "2025-03-25T22:48:21Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > And Gene Shalit, still kicking it at 98! > > (He’ll be 99 in March) 99 today. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2025, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/841 "2025-03-26T09:21:28Z")
Jimmy Hunt, the star of the 1953 version of _Invaders from Mars_, who also did a cameo in the 1986 version, is still alive at 85. [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=41) [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=43)