Actors Over 90 Who Gave Amazing Performances
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1.
Norman Lloyd, who was a couple of months shy of 100 when he filmed 2015’s hit Trainwreck.
Universal
Norman was memorable as a cranky character who lived at an assisted living facility with the father of Amy Schumer’s character. Amazingly, although he had been acting professionally for 93 years, this was the first time he filmed scenes that were improvised.
Norman worked with Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, and Alfred Hitchcock early in his career. Later, he was in Dead Poet’s Society and St. Elsewhere.
Library of Congress American Memory Collection
Norman (seen above in 1937) drove a car and played tennis until he was 99, and he will turn 106 in November! You can read an interview with him here.
2.
Cicely Tyson, who was 94 when she most recently played Ophelia on How to Get Away With Murder in 2019.
Charles Bergmann / Netflix / Charles Bergmann
Cicely was nominated for an Emmy in 2019 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. This was her fourth Emmy nomination for playing the mother of Viola Davis’s Annalise — all earned after she turned 90!
Cicely — who started her acting career in 1951 — was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 1972 for her role in the critically acclaimed hit Sounder.
3.
Carl Reiner, who was 97 years old when he provided the voice for Carl Reineroceros in 2019’s Toy Story 4.
David Livingston / Getty Images
Carl appeared in Toy Story 4 alongside three other comedy legends of his generation: his best friend, Mel Brooks (Melephant Brooks), then 92; Carol Burnett (Chairol Burnett), then 86; and Betty White (Bitey White), then 97.
Carl didn’t just do voices in his nineties — he also played Betty White’s love interest Max Miller on Hot in Cleveland and appeared on Parks and Recreation.
Carl created and starred in the 1960s’ The Dick Van Dyke Show and directed 1979’s The Jerk with Steve Martin. Later, he appeared in the Ocean’s film series.
Loews Inc. / Public domain
The 11-time Emmy winner (seen above in 1960) died last month at the age of 98. Just a few weeks before his death, he was interviewed on the Dispatches From Quarantine YouTube series.
4.
Betty White, who was 93 when she finished playing Elka Ostrovsky on Hot in Cleveland in 2015.
TV Land
Betty White was hilarious as an outspoken Polish caretaker on the show and was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy. In 2017, at age 95, she appeared on Bones.
In 1953, Betty became the first woman to produce a TV sitcom, Life With Elizabeth, which she also starred in. Later, she starred on the classic sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Betty (seen above in 1955) just signed on to appear in a Lifetime Christmas movie due later this year. She will be a month shy of 99 when the film debuts!
5.
Earl Cameron, who was 92 when he appeared in Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film, Inception.
Warner Bros.
Earl’s scene in the blockbuster film was opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.
Earl, upon making his film debut in 1951’s Pool of London, became one of the first Black actors to star in a British film. He later costarred in the Bond film Thunderball and on TV shows like Doctor Who.
GFD
Earl, who will turn 103 next month, said in 2017 that he’s not retired yet and would gladly take the right role.
6.
Lillian Gish, who was 93 when she played Sarah in 1987’s The Whales of August.
Alive Films
Lillian won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress for her role as an elderly woman who looked back on her life with her sister.
Lillian — who was born in 1893 — made her film debut in 1912 and reigned as one of the top silent-film stars for the next two decades. She was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1971 for her contributions to film.
Biograph Studios
Lillian (seen above in 1919’s Broken Blossoms) died in 1993 at age 99.
7.
Dick Van Dyke, who was 91 when he played Mr. Dawes Jr. in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns.
Disney
Dick — who played Bert in 1964’s classic Mary Poppins — returned 54 years later to appear in the sequel, and even got up on a table and danced!
Dick starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966, and the classic movies Bye Bye Birdie and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. More recently, he appeared in the Night at the Museum films.
CBS
Dick (seen above with Mary Tyler Moore in 1961) recently joined Cameo! He will turn 95 in December.
8.
Gloria Stuart, who was 93 when she appeared in Wim Wenders’ 2004 film, Land of Plenty.
IFC Films
The film — starring Michelle Williams — was about Los Angeles after 9/11. According to the Los Angeles Times, Gloria had “fine moments” as a resilient shut-in.
Gloria signed a contract with Universal shortly after graduating from college and went on to star in 40-plus films in the ’30s, including The Invisible Man and two opposite Shirley Temple. Later in life, she returned to acting and starred as “old” Rose Calvert in Titanic.
Public domain / Via en.wikipedia.org, Paramount/20th Century Fox
Gloria (who was only 87 when she played the 100-year-old Rose) was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1997. She died in 2010 at 100 years of age, the same age Rose was when she died.
9.
George Burns, who was 98 years old when he played 100-year-old comedian Milt Lackey in 1994’s Radioland Murders.
Universal
In this comedy-mystery set in 1939, George deftly delivered gags like, “Retire? Who’d support my mother and father?” This wasn’t the only film he acted in in his nineties. Six years earlier, the 92-year-old George starred in 18 Again, a comedy about a grandfather who body-switches with his college-age grandson.
George and his wife, Gracie Allen, went from vaudeville performers to film stars in the late ’20s. For years they thrived together as a comic duo in film, TV, and radio. Later, after Gracie’s death, George starred in 1975’s The Sunshine Boys, winning for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
George (seen above with Gracie in 1939) died in 1996 at age 100. He was interred with Gracie in a grave with this epitaph: “Gracie Allen (1902–1964) and George Burns (1896–1996): Together Again.”
10.
Angela Lansbury, who was 91 when she played the Balloon Lady in Mary Poppins Returns.
Disney
Angela’s performance of the song “Nowhere to Go but Up” is one of the film’s standout moments.
An 18-year-old Angela made her film debut in 1944’s acclaimed Gaslight, for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards. She went on to be a star of film, the stage (she’s won five Tonys) and television (she starred for years on Murder, She Wrote).
MGM
In November, Angela returned to Broadway to perform in a one-night benefit staging of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. She will turn 95 in October.
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