# Who Is The Oldest Actor Consistently Working These Days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726 "2007-01-04T20:44:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/1 "2007-01-04T20:44:32Z")
A little bit of background. My wife rented and watched the entire “Winds of War” miniseries, and when she saw the venerable Charles Lane, she said, “Hey, the Petticoat Junction guy.” I noted that he would be 102 years of age in about three weeks. She asked if he still worked in movies/TV. I replied that I didn’t think he had acted onscreen since about 1994/95. Which led me to thinking… who is the oldest actor/actress who is still going fairly strong. Regular on a show, or appears in say at least ten guest spots/roles a year or more on TV/movies/stage. So, who? Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/2 "2007-01-04T20:50:43Z")
I don’t know about who currently is the oldest, but George Burns lived to be 100 years old and was active and making movies until age 98. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/3 "2007-01-04T20:55:59Z")
Christopher Lee will be 85 in May, and he’s still busy. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/4 "2007-01-04T20:58:23Z")
Patrick Macnee will be 85 in February. Does he still do that schlock for the SciFi channel? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/5 "2007-01-04T20:58:33Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Rhosis] A little bit of background. My wife rented and watched the entire “Winds of War” miniseries, and when she saw the venerable Charles Lane, she said, “Hey, the Petticoat Junction guy.” [/QUOTE] “That Petticoat Junction guy” is actually [Frank Cady](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0128326/), also still alive, at 91 (though he hasn’t worked since 1990). Phyllis Diller is still working at 89, Gloria Stuart is 96 and was still acting in 2004, and you can’t kill that obnoxious little golem Mickey Rooney with an ax: he’s still working at 86. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/6 "2007-01-04T21:00:28Z")
“obnoxious little goblin” 😃 Hey, we saw Cady in **Rear Window** a few days back. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/7 "2007-01-04T21:00:30Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] you can’t kill that obnoxious little golem Mickey Rooney with an ax: he’s still working at 86. [/QUOTE] Anybody here care to test that theory? ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/8 "2007-01-04T21:04:40Z")
My guess would be Kitty Carlisle who is now 96 years old. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/9 "2007-01-04T22:16:31Z")
Who is that terribly old-looking guy who was in the jello wrestling in Old School? He always looks like he’s about to die. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/10 "2007-01-04T22:19:18Z")
OK, it’s [url=“[Patrick Cranshaw - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186498/)”]Patrick Cranshaw, born June 1919. Oops, he’s on the other side as of Dec 2005. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/11 "2007-01-04T22:28:44Z")
Abe Vigoda? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/12 "2007-01-04T22:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] “That Petticoat Junction guy” is actually [Frank Cady](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0128326/) [/QUOTE] Yeah, but Charles Lane was an irregular on PJ and it’s still one of two references I use when I refer to him, the other being “It’s a Wonderful Life.” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/13 "2007-01-04T22:52:23Z")
According to imdb the life of Charles Lane _using_ Charles Lane is “In Production” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893501/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893501/) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/14 "2007-01-04T22:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=BMalion] Abe Vigoda? [/QUOTE] Born 2/24/21 according to IMDB. Which would make him. . . one minus seven. . . carry the the one. . . 86 on his next birthday. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/15 "2007-01-04T22:54:15Z")
[Kevin McCarthy](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002994/) is 92 and still working. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/16 "2007-01-05T00:56:31Z")
[Kitty Carlisle Hart](http://www.kittycarlisle.com/) whom I have had in the Death Pool the last 2 or 3 years performs a cabaret act on a fairly regular basis at the age of almost 96. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/17 "2007-01-05T01:04:45Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Oops, he’s on the other side as of Dec 2005. [/QUOTE] YOU’RE MY BOY, BLUE! :ducks & runs: ---
**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, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-oldest-actor-consistently-working-these-days/386726/18 "2007-01-05T15:58:44Z")
The oldest continuously working person is show business is probably the director Manoel de Oliveira: > **[Manoel de Oliveira](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manoel_de_Oliveira)** > > Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira GCSE GCIH (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Portuguese: \[mɐnuˈɛl doliˈvɐjɾɐ\]; 11 December 1908 – 2 April 2015) was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about World War I. In 1931, h... He’s 98 and still directing a film every year, which is about the average pace for directors. The actors mentioned in this thread who are in their nineties are apparently just working for a few weeks every year.