The Oldest Living Actors In Hollywood Today

We know their names, we've seen their films and TV shows, but sometimes we forget that some of the iconic pioneers of Hollywood are still alive today. Some of them have been around since the early golden days of Old Hollywood, so they've really seen it all. Many have helped make strides in equality for performers and paved the way for modern stars today — making it easier for future actors to make their mark in Hollywood. They've helped shape the way we look at TV and film, and their iconic performances still live in the memories of people from all generations. 

Hollywood and the acting profession can be a tough road to take, but those who've made it this far wouldn't change their journey for anything. For better or for worse, these actors are all legends in their own right. These are some of the oldest living actors in Hollywood today.

Iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren is known as a legend from the Golden Age of Hollywood and one of the most beautiful actresses in Italy and the United States, and she's far from slowing down. Loren was born Sofia Villani Scicolone in Rome to unmarried parents and was raised in poverty-stricken Naples — not the best recipe for a happy childhood in 1930s Italy. However, she grew up to be very beautiful, and Loren's mother started entering her in beauty pageants when she was 16. 

It was through these pageants that Loren was discovered by film producer Carlo Ponti — who would eventually become her husband. Loren already had natural acting talent, which helped Ponti turn her into the glamorous actress we know today. He started by casting her in small parts in low-budget Italian films, and her big break came when Loren was cast in Vittorio De Sica's "The Gold of Naples." In 1956, Loren was finally introduced to the American public by starring in "The Pride and the Passion."

Over the years, Loren has accumulated an impressive and varied list of film credits, both in comedy and drama. She would go on to be nominated for Best Actress in "Marriage Italian Style" and then receive that treasured Academy Award for Best Actress for the film "Two Women." The American Film Institute ranks Loren as the 21st greatest film star of classic Hollywood.

Best remembered as the ultimate, cool Hitchcockian blonde, Tippi Hedren's most famous performances were in the Hitchcock films "The Birds" and "Marnie." Born in Minnesota before relocating to California, Hedren got her start as a model. After her divorce from actor Peter Griffith, she started doing commercial work. It was through her commercials that director Alfred Hitchcock discovered Hedren and offered her a seven-year contract and the starring role in "The Birds."

Being in acclaimed movies and working with a famed director like Alfred Hitchcock should have propelled Hedren to stardom, but unfortunately, that didn't happen the way it should have. Alfred Hitchcock was very much a bully, preying on Hedren and sexually harassing her. When she refused his advances, Hitchcock threatened her career. Feeling that further dealings with Hitchcock weren't worth it, Hedren told Hitchcock to do what he wanted. And sadly, he did keep his promise to blackball her career by keeping Hedren under contract and refusing to cast her in any significant movie projects. She wouldn't be cast in another major film until 1967 — three years after "Marnie" was released. 

While Hedren's future roles and projects would not carry the prominence of "Marnie" and "The Birds," she managed to find later success on television and became a passionate defender of animal rights. Both her daughter, Melanie Griffith, and her granddaughter, Dakota Johnson, are now well-known film actresses.

Gene Hackman's story is the stuff of inspiration, and it shows just how far a gritty sort of determination can get a person. He went from being voted Least Likely to Succeed by his acting class to one of the most iconic actors of his era. Shockingly, Hackman didn't get his big break until he was practically ancient (by Hollywood standards, at least). That was in "The French Connection," when he was 41 years old — and he says he almost wasn't cast.

Hackman didn't just make a living playing the tough guy. He learned at a young age just how hard life could be. Born on January 30, 1930, he was just 13 when his father hopped in his car, waved, and drove away. After a rough few years punctuated with fights and run-ins with the law, he joined the Marines. After four and a half years in the Corps, and right before the Korean War, a severe motorcycle accident ended any hope of a military career. 

At 26 years old, already seemingly aged out of young Hollywood, Hackman decided to enroll in acting school at the encouragement of his new wife, where he didn't get along with anyone ... save one friend named Dustin Hoffman. Bonding over their dislike of their fellow students, Hoffman and Hackman redoubled their efforts, and the rest is, as they say, history. He never heard from the rest of his acting class.

Comedian, writer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks is a living icon. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, by the time the young Brooks was in high school, he was already an accomplished pianist, drummer, and mimic, having studied under the legendary musician Buddy Rich. After serving in World War II, Brooks worked as a comedian and entertainer at resorts in the Catskills before landing his big break in television as the co-creator of "Get Smart." 

Next came his first full-length feature film, which he wrote and directed, "The Producers." "The Producers" wasn't well-received at the box offices at first, but Brooks won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. In later years, this first Mel Brooks film became a well-known cult classic and would be adapted into a hit Broadway musical.

Brooks would go on to create other popular parody films such as "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," "Spaceballs," and "Young Frankenstein." He also started his own production company, Brooksfilms, to showcase more serious work such as "The Elephant Man." Brooks was also a longtime partner and friend of comedian Carl Reiner. Reiner and Brooks, as well as their wives Estelle Reiner and Anne Bancroft, were all good friends and often collaborated together. Bancroft passed in 2005, and Estelle Reiner passed in 2008. Up until Carl Reiner's death in 2020, Brooks and Reiner saw each other almost daily, spending their 90s trading jokes on entertainment and politics.

Dancer, comedian, and actor Dick Van Dyke is still going strong at 98 years old. After serving in the military in World War II and well into the 1950s, Van Dyke held a variety of acting jobs, including game show host gigs. His big break came when he was cast in the Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie," which earned him a Tony Award. (He would reprise his role in the film adaptation of the musical.) After his Broadway success, Carl Reiner would approach Van Dyke about starring in a sitcom about Reiner's experiences as a comedy writer for Sid Caesar. Van Dyke signed on, and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" was born. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" would also serve as a huge career boost for other actors like Mary Tyler Moore, Morey Amsterdam, and Rose Marie.

In addition to his TV successes, Van Dyke would go on to star in major motion pictures such as "Mary Poppins" and "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang." While critics skewered Van Dyke's Cockney English accent in "Mary Poppins," he received high acclaim for his acting and dancing skills — despite a rough time with the accent, his role as Bert is one of his best known and most highly praised film appearances. Van Dyke is still continuing to act and has been seen in recent films such as "Night at the Museum" and "Mary Poppins Returns."

At the age of 99 years old, Eva Marie Saint is currently the oldest living Academy Award winner. Saint was able to claim this title quite recently after Oscar winner Oliva de Havilland passed away on July 26, 2020, at the age of 104. Saint received her degree from Bowling Green State University in 1946 and jumped straight into a radio acting career in New York City while taking classes at the Actors' Studio. Her role in the TV, film, and Broadway production of "The Trip to Bountiful" attracted Hollywood's much-desired attention, leading to Saint being cast in her debut film "On the Waterfront." It was this role that earned Saint her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

For a long time, Saint was often typecast in parts where she usually played the sweet, saintly character with flowing, blonde hair. However, she did a turnabout when Alfred Hitchcock cast her in "North by Northwest" as the cool femme fatale spy (with a sophisticated, shorter new hairdo). After the 1960s, Saint worked more on TV movies than big-screen films. Her most recent notable role was a voice acting part in the hit cartoon series "The Legend of Korra."

Few people in the celebrity-obsessed world that is the 21st century would know the name Caren Marsh-Doll, but it's safe to say that almost everyone has seen her: She was Judy Garland's stand-in for "The Wizard of Oz."

Born on April 6, 1919, Marsh-Doll (pictured at age 95) graduated from Hollywood High School and was determined to make it as a dancer. She wagered it all on auditions for the 1937 film "Rosalie," and when she was cut, she didn't take "No" for an answer. Instead, she changed her clothes, got back in line, and auditioned again. That time, she made it — and two years later, she had her own pair of ruby slippers for her walk down the yellow brick road. Although she appeared in a number of films both as a dancer and actress, it was a career that would be cut tragically short.

On July 12, 1949, Marsh-Doll was one of 48 passengers on a Standard Airlines flight that crashed outside of Los Angeles. Only 13 people survived, including Marsh-Doll. Her foot was crushed in the crash, and although doctors warned her that it would likely have to be amputated, she proved them wrong and walked again. She largely retired from her life as a professional dancer, but continued to teach, appear at festivals for "The Wizard of Oz," and volunteer. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, she recalled, "I was so thankful to just be alive. Things that bothered me before ... nothing."

[Featured image by Boyd Magers via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]

Those who grew up in the 1990s may know William Daniels' face, even if they don't know his name: he was Mr. Sweeney on the long-running sitcom "Boy Meets World." But Daniels has another claim to fame as an actor. He's the only person to date to have played three members of one of America's most eminent political dynasties.

After getting his start with his sister on the Nick Kenny Children's Show on radio, Daniels developed a respectable career on the stage, including his work in the original production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," among others. After an initial hiccup during auditions – he reported to the wrong theater – Daniels landed the role of Founding Father John Adams in the Broadway musical "1776," a role he threw himself into with gusto. Hollywood allowed him to reprise the part for the 1972 film adaptation. Four years later, Daniels played Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, in the PBS miniseries "The Adams Chronicles," and then portrayed the second president's second cousin Samuel Adams another two years later in the TV movie "The B******." Daniels joked to All Things Liberty that he'd cornered the market on acting as famous Adamses – all except family matriarch Abigail.

Now 96, Daniels told Forbes that he's taking things easy these days. He enjoys life at home with his wife, Bonnie Bartlett, visits fan conventions, and keeps in touch with the actors who played his students on "Boy Meets World."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, as of 2021, there was only one person who was a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association: actress Lisa Lu. The latter, the awarding body behind the Golden Globe Awards, noted Lu's acceptance of the Snow Leopard Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian World Film Festival in 2018. But those are only two distinctions the 97-year-old actress has acquired in a long career.

Born in Beijing in 1927, Lu's Hollywood career began with small parts on television, as well as a stint as a bilingual journalist for Voice of America. She gained notable roles in films during the 1960s, acting alongside James Stewart in "The Mountain Road" and Richard Boone in a recurring part in "Have Gun Will Travel."

As the film industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan grew, Lu began accepting more work there, finding the parts more compelling than what America had to offer. She's played Dowager Empress Cixi twice, once in Taiwan's "The Empress Dowager" in 1975 and then for director Bernardo Bertolucci in "The Last Emperor" in 1987. More recently, Lu has starred as family matriarch Ah Ma in "Crazy Rich Asians."

Barbara Rush's daughter took to Instagram in January 2024 to commemorate her mother's 97th birthday. Rush has a semi-regular presence on the social media platform via her daughter's account, and it's only the latest platform conquered by the actress, whose career goes back to 1950.

Rush established a name for herself playing high-class ladies. She was the love interest to Paul Newman in "The Young Philadelphians" (1959), and to Frank Sinatra in "Come Blow Your Horn" (1963). In the 60s, she found greater fame on the soap opera "Peyton Place," where she played Marcia Russell, and put in guest spots on "All My Children," "Batman," and "The New Dick Van Dyke Show."

Rush made several famous friends throughout her career. Speaking to Fox News (where her daughter Claudia Cowan works as a reporter), she recalled fond memories of Rock Hudson and Marilyn Monroe. She also noted that the most recent role to bring her notoriety and fanmail wasn't a film or a series, but a commercial where she manages a heap of coins from her first husband.

Some actors are known exclusively for their work in front of the camera. Over her long career, Lee Grant has picked up accolades for her efforts behind the scenes, as a director of fiction and documentary films. But the road to a filmmaking career in her own right was a long and bumpy one, and there were times Grant thought she would never have a career in movies.

Grant has confirmed her birthday as Halloween, but she's been cagey about just what year. In a conversation with Robert Osborne for Turner Classic Movies, she said that her early acting experience and aspirations were all bound up in the New York stage; Hollywood was a glamorous and far-off ideal, but not something she imagined for herself. That changed in 1951, when Grant recreated a stage role in William Wyler's 1951 adaptation of "Detective Story." She got an Oscar nomination and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress prize for her work.

But Grant's career as a Hollywood star was quickly derailed when her husband was named to the House Un-American Activities Committee; her refusal to testify landed her on the blacklist. She spent a decade in an acting wilderness, picking up only occasional TV roles. Her career revived in the 1970s, but since the 80s, her focus has been on directing; her feature debut as a filmmaker was "Tell Me a Riddle" in 1980.

June Lockhart got an early start in movies. She made her debut in a 1938 adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" at age 13 as one of the Cratchit children. Playing the parents were her actual parents, noted character actors, as she fondly recalled for The Fayette Tribune. From there, Lockhart worked her way up to ingenue parts, though the quality of films varied wildly; "Meet Me in St. Louis" is considered a classic, but "She-Wolf of London" made no waves in 1946 or since.

Lockhart achieved her greatest fame on television, where her warm and perky demeanor made her the ideal mom for two different series: "Lassie" from 1958 to 1964, and "Lost in Space" from 1965-1968. She was also noted for appearing as Dr. Janet Craig in the final two seasons of the sitcom "Petticoat Junction." By the 1980s, her wholesome, maternal image was often relied on in horror and science fiction tributes and parodies.

Through her work in "Lost in Space," Lockhart became a volunteer spokeswoman for NASA in the 1970s. In 2013, she became the third entertainer and the first actress to be awarded the agency's Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.

They say old dogs can't learn new tricks, but have they met Paul Dooley? The noted character actor is 95 years old and has a career going back to New York theater groups of the 1950s, but he's embraced the 20th century. His personal website showcases his paintings and drawings (his initial aspiration was to be a cartoonist), advertises his autobiography, and lists some of his more notable character turns in film. Dooley has played the family patriarch in Robert Altman's "A Wedding" (1970) and Wimpy in Altman's "Popeye" (1980), a cranky dad in "Breaking Away" (1979), and a more approachable father in "Sixteen Candles" (1984).

Acting has also been a family affair for Dooley. In 2013, he and his wife Winnie Holzman (co-writer of the Broadway version of "Wicked"), appeared together at the Odyssey Theater in "Assisted Living." The husband-wife team of many years wrote the play together, with each of them playing two roles. It was their first time working together on stage.

Some actors want to work until they drop. A few even dream of dying on stage or in front of a camera. Marion Ross is not one of these actors. At 95, she's happily retired, and told Do You Remember? so in a lengthy February 2022 interview. Not that she regrets her time as an actress. Born to a striving Irish-Canadian school-teacher mother, Ross had similar determination in her chosen field of acting. She was under contract to Paramount Pictures by age 23, and steady work in film and television followed, but Ross hit both a dry professional spell and a difficult divorce in the late 60s.

Things turned around when she accepted the role of Marion Cunningham in "Happy Days" in 1974. Ross played the affectionate but occasionally frustrated housewife for all 11 seasons of the hit sitcom, though she initially struggled to win over her on-screen husband, Tom Bosley. Fonder memories came from the cast softball team, which traveled the world in competition.

While Ross enjoyed her time on "Happy Days," in 2011, she joined together with other cast members to mount a lawsuit against CBS and Paramount over non-payment of revenue from DVD releases of the series and other merchandise. The case was set to go to trial on July 17, but a settlement was reached to the actors' satisfaction. And Ross has been spending her retirement in Cardiff by the Sea.

James Hong's career is seven decades long and 600 credits deep. In May 2022, that impressive legacy was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (per NBC News). It was a long way away from his days of being beaten up in grade school for his poor English, or his Korean War friends telling him that he'd either be shot by the Koreans for his American uniform or the Americans for his Chinese heritage.

Hong was honest in an interview with Ben Mankiewicz (via CBS Sunday Morning) about accepting stereotyped and demeaning parts early in his career. He explained that they were all that was on offer for him and that they let him develop his craft as an actor. On the other hand, Hong was a co-founder of the East-West Players, Los Angeles's oldest theater for Asian American performers and productions.

Hollywood eventually offered better opportunities. Among Hong's many, many credits are "Big Trouble in Little China," a memorable guest stint on "Seinfeld," voice work in "Mulan" and the "Kung Fu Panda" series, and the part of the father in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."

What's better than winning an Emmy? How about winning an Emmy alongside your spouse of 35 years? That was the feat managed by Bonnie Bartlett and her husband William Daniels in 1986, who won for their work playing husband and wife on the TV series "St. Elsewhere." They were the first husband-wife duo to win together since Alfred Hunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1965.

In an interview with Aging in High Heels, Bartlett said she got started in acting by imitating Jean Harlow for her family. After an early career in soap operas, a measure of fame came Bartlett's way when she won a role in "Little House on the Prairie" in 1973, and her Emmy win increased her profile.

Bartlett told the Gazette that she prefers dramatic parts to comedy; at the time of the interview (1987), she was enjoying work in the dark TV movie "Deadly Perception." In contrast, her husband, Daniels, prefers funnier parts. Across interviews, Bartlett has noted another difference between the two: Daniels' natural privacy and her more outgoing embrace of fame.

The Academy Awards Database keeps track of several fun statistics for trivia buffs. Among them is a list of the oldest actors and actresses nominated for Best Actor or Actress and Best Supporting Actor or Actress. In third place for the oldest woman nominated for supporting actress is June Squibb, nominated at age 84 for her role in Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" in 2013.

The same performance won Squibb a nomination at the Golden Globes that year, and she called the part the highlight of her career in an interview. Born in Vandalia, Illinois, her mother played piano accompaniment to silent films (and partly inspired Squibb's performance in "Nebraska"). Squibb began acting in the St. Louis theater scene, later breaking into Broadway with a small part in "Gypsy." The stage has remained a big component of Squibb's career; besides Broadway, she's been part of national tours and summer stock.

In film and television, Squibb has had memorable turns as a character actress. Her work as Jack Nicholson's wife in "About Schmidt," also directed by Payne, so impressed the director that the role of Kate in "Nebraska" was written for her. When asked about ageism in Hollywood by the Globes, Squibb only said that she'd been a working actress since 1952 and had no plans to change gears.

Born on May 31, 1930, the multiple Academy Award-winning Clint Eastwood established himself as a dynasty of cinema, largely thanks to two iconic parts — the first as the mysterious "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy," then as the tough-as-nails cop Harry Callahan in the "Dirty Harry" film series. After dominating in front of the camera for decades and becoming a bona fide superstar of the big screen, Eastwood tried his luck as a director. Again, success followed as he received a plethora of awards and critical acclaim for prized films such as "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby."

As of early 2024, Eastwood plans for the upcoming "Juror No. 2" to be his last film to direct before retiring from showbiz. Many expected 2021's Western film "Cry Macho" to have been the filmmaker's final effort, both as an actor and director, due to his advancing years; however, it's reported that due to the film's divisive reception and underperformance, Eastwood wanted one more try to end his career on his own terms and in the best way possible.

Eastwood's children Scott, Alison, and Francesca also followed in his footsteps and became actors, though it can be argued they haven't reached the heights set by their father.

If there is one actor who embodies the glitz and glamor of Old Hollywood, it's Robert Wagner — and it's because he lived through it and was a product of 20th Century Fox's studio system. Born on February 10, 1930, Wagner received his big breakthrough in his career after the legendary Spencer Tracy spotted his talents and cast Wagner alongside him in 1954's "Broken Lance" and 1956's "The Mountain."

While Wagner built up a solid career in Hollywood, it was his performance as Jonathan Hart in the mystery show "Hart to Hart" that brought him the most prominent attention. The show turned the actor and his co-star Stefanie Powers into television legends, as fans couldn't get enough of the on-screen rich couple being pulled into a world of international crime and mystery.

Wagner's career wasn't without controversy, though, as questions still linger about the circumstances surrounding his ex-wife Natalie Wood's death after drowning in 1981. While officially declared an accident, the ship's captain claimed that Wagner pushed Wood off the boat and tried to cover up the incident. Wagner denied any involvement in Wood's death, always maintaining it was a tragedy born from an accident.

There's no denying the influence that "Star Trek" played in shaping the sci-fi genre, and a major part of its success came from William Shatner's performance as Captain James T. Kirk. Shatner established himself as a mainstay of pop culture after playing the beloved character on three seasons of "Star Trek: The Original Series," the animated show, and in several motion pictures.

Born on March 22, 1931, Shatner was no newcomer by the time he accepted his most recognizable role in 1966, having appeared in a number of films and television shows before then. Naturally, the actor is mostly associated with the role of Captain Kirk and the "Star Trek" franchise, but he has also gone on to portray other memorable characters such as the titular hero in "T.J. Hooker," Denny Crane on "Boston Legal," and even Two-Face in "Batman vs. Two-Face."

In 2023, Shatner discussed his mortality with Variety, explaining his reasons for doing the documentary about his life titled "You Can Call Me Bill." He said, "I've turned down a lot of offers to do documentaries before. But I don't have long to live. Whether I keel over as I'm speaking to you or 10 years from now, my time is limited, so that's very much a factor. I've got grandchildren. This documentary is a way of reaching out after I die."

Michael Caine was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on March 14, 1933. After completing his schooling, Caine didn't move into the world of television or film; instead, he served in the British military from 1951. His experiences in the military, especially a life-or-death situation during the Korean War, left a lasting impact on him. After returning from service and getting married, Caine moved to London to kickstart his acting career, which eventually picked up steam in the '60s, thanks to films such as Peter Collinson's "The Italian Job."

From there, Caine reached peak after peak, staying active in show business for decades and winning Academy Awards along the way. Modern audiences remember him best for his numerous collaborations with British filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Caine portrayed Bruce Wayne's trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in Nolan's three Batman movies, while also starring in other projects such as "The Prestige," "Interstellar," and "Dunkirk."

After starring in the 2023 film "The Great Escape," Caine confirmed his retirement from acting to BBC Radio 4's "Today," saying, "I keep saying I'm going to retire. Well, I am now. I've figured, I've had a picture where I've played the lead and had incredible reviews ... What am I going to do that will beat this?"

Marla Gibbs doesn't often receive the recognition she deserves, as she became a major presence in the 1970s and 1980s television landscape. Born on June 14, 1931, Gibbs pursued acting later in her life than expected. By the time she received her first role, Gibbs was divorced with three children and had worked as a receptionist and reservations clerk. After moving to Los Angeles, she signed up for acting classes — something that always piqued her interest, as she revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. "I always wanted to be [an actor] because I was a film addict: Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Joan Caulfield, Joan Fontaine," she said. "I had a lot of sheroes."

Gibbs came to prominence in the sitcom scene, first by playing Florence Johnston in all 11 seasons of "The Jeffersons," then as Mary Jenkins in "227." She used these roles and goodwill among the audience as a platform to continue to have a career for decades, appearing in everything from "Days of Our Lives" to "Grey's Anatomy." Gibbs also wrote a memoir titled "It's Never Too Late," which she hoped would inspire others who wanted to get into acting, no matter their age.