# 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:** 60
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1187 "2026-01-04T18:37:53Z")
[Tom Bodett sues and settles with Motel Six](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-bodett-sues-and-settles-with-motel-six/1026323) I had no idea Tom Bodett was still alive until I saw this thread today… ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1188 "2026-01-04T20:10:02Z")
Not that he’s terribly old, but for some reason I thought Mr. T had died years ago. He didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1189 "2026-01-05T16:11:38Z")
An old episode of MacGyver aired locally – it co-starred And Vigoda. Also in the show was Rich Little\* – I checked and he is 87. Brian \* for youngsters out there, he is/was an impressionist ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1190 "2026-01-05T16:23:48Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > I had no idea Tom Bodett was still alive until I saw this thread today… He still shows up on the panel of _Wait, Wait_…_Don’t Tell Me_ fairly regularly. My Tom Bodett surprise was learning that he was not the founder or owner of Motel 6, and that his only relationship with them was as a hired spokesman. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2026, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1191 "2026-01-05T16:31:55Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > An old episode of MacGyver aired locally – it co-starred And Vigoda. Also in the show was Rich Little\* – I checked and he is 87. Rich Little is one of those odd ones. I think he just came off as older than he was. His Nixon stuff was maybe his most famous and honestly, I think he seemed to be in his 40s or 50s doing those impersonations. Uh, he was not. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1192 "2026-01-05T16:43:23Z")
Rich Little was born in 1938, so he became famous before he turned 30. I discovered some other interesting facts about him. He was born in Canada, although he became an American citizen. He is currently still doing performances at casinos in Los Vegas. His politics are distinctly conservative these days. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1193 "2026-01-05T19:33:18Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > > [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > > > I had no idea Tom Bodett was still alive until I saw this thread today… > > He still shows up on the panel of _Wait, Wait_…_Don’t Tell Me_ fairly regularly. Yes, Bodett is still very sharp and funny on that show. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1194 "2026-01-05T23:48:50Z")
Of the three actors listed at the beginning of the movie _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_, only Katharine Ross is still alive. She’s 85 and will turn 86 later this month. She also starred in _The Graduate_. It’s further interesting that she’s still married to her fifth husband Sam Elliott. She married him and they had the only child of either of them when she was 44. Elliott is more than four years younger than her. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1195 "2026-01-06T03:57:41Z")
I forgot to mention that she is his first (and only) wife and that she was divorced from the first four husbands, not widowed. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1196 "2026-01-06T13:50:42Z")
John Antrobus (playwright and scriptwriter) who died last month aged 92. Hadn’t realised he was still around. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1197 "2026-01-06T19:01:22Z")
Sidney ‘Woim’ Kibrick, mentioned earlier in this thread, died on Saturday. > **[Sidney Kibrick, Child Actor in the Our Gang Comedy Shorts, Dies at 97 - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni65646905/?ref_=nwc_art_perm)** > > IMDb, the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1198 "2026-01-19T23:21:53Z")
Sandie Shaw, a British singer whose hit songs were released between 1964 and 1969, is still alive at 78. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1199 "2026-01-19T23:33:41Z")
78? Petula (which I like to pronounce PET-ula because I think it sounds funny) Clark is 93. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1200 "2026-01-20T00:03:44Z")
And Dion is 86. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1201 "2026-01-20T00:06:17Z")
Sandie Shaw’s musical career fell apart so badly in the early 1970s that she had to work as a waitress. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1202 "2026-01-20T02:46:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Petula (which I like to pronounce PET-ula because I think it sounds funny) Clark That was how Gerry Todd pronounced it on SCTV. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1203 "2026-01-20T02:50:01Z")
I… did not know that. I got it from a g/f in the ‘80s. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1204 "2026-01-20T04:23:34Z")
The group Spanky and Our Gang broke up in 1969 (and never had any more hits, although it came together again with different members in later years). Spanky McFarland was the lead singer. She’s now 83. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1205 "2026-01-20T18:46:23Z")
Time marches on, while the definitive Lord of Time stands above, watching. Happy 92nd birthday to Tom “Captain Rum” Baker. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2026, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-our-current-abe-vigodas-people-you-might-be-surprised-to-learn-are-still-alive/919985/1206 "2026-01-23T04:10:52Z")
Keir Dullea (from _2001: A Space Odyssey_) is 89. Incidentally, I once talked with him for a few seconds. He came to a showing of that movie at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland on July 5, 2018. [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=59) [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=61)