the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually still alive

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Who knew?

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

(Richard Widmark)

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 10:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Saddam Hussein, obv

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 11:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Stanley Baxter

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 12:21 (twenty-two years ago)

(Inverting the question completely) Thora Hird.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 12:22 (twenty-two years ago)

she was famous.

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Anita O'Day: though I had never heard of her until the time I also learned that she was still alive.

― the pinefox, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 13:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Clive Dunn is the obvious one.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Dennis Hopper, every time.

― TOMBOT, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Mickey Rooney

― Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

She was famous, yeah, but I thought she was alive and she's not.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

So I guess it's only half-inverted.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

J.D. Salinger, every time I hear it, I'm surprised.

― Huckleberry Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm always vaguelly confused that he even exists.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

George Jones.

― Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Elvis Presley

― jewelly (jewelly), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Joe Namath - I could have sworn he had a heart attack years ago!

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Red Auerbach, who I had to make sure was still alive by going to Dead or Alive?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, didn't Studs Terkel die? That site lists him as alive. Or am I thinking of Irv Kupcinet?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

That guy from the Von Bondies

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Wednesday, 24 December 2003 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel particularly bad for this, having been such a huge fan of his music, but only earlier in 2003 did I learn that Mr. Sly Stone in fact did not die sometime in the early 80s.

― nickalicious at granny's crib, Thursday, 25 December 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Ursula Moray Williams

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Thursday, 25 December 2003 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Reg Varney

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Friday, 26 December 2003 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Dave Allen

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 26 December 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I couldn't believe Christopher Lee was alive when I found out he was doing Saruman (and then the Star Wars dingus). He's like, 80!!!

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Oops: Kupcinet just kicked the bucket about a month ago. Studs is alive and well.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

GENE WILDER. I swear he died.

― TEH ONE AN ONLEY DEANN GULBAREY (deangulberry), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Reg Varney's still alive?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:01 (twenty-two years ago)

richard pryor.

― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 27 December 2003 02:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i read something saying Nina Simone only died this year. Can that be right?

― isadora (isadora), Sunday, 28 December 2003 08:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Windsor Davies

― Ricardo (RickyT), Sunday, 28 December 2003 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

gene wilder recently had a bout with cancer, which thank god he survived.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Sunday, 28 December 2003 21:52 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

Bosko Balaban Stats For Season

Name Bosko Balaban
Team Aston Villa
Total Appearances 0
Starts 0
Substituted 0
Total Minutes Played 0
Avg Minutes Played Per Start 0
Goals 0
Avg Goal Mins When Starting 0.0
Avg Mins Played/Goal Scored 0
Goals Scored As Sub 0
Number of Bookings 0
Total Booking Minutes 0
Avg Bookings Per Start 0
Number of Red Cards 0
Total Red Card Minutes 0
Avg Red Cards Per Start 0
Avg Booking Minutes When Starting 0.0

― bosko, Monday, 14 June 2004 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I was surprised that Bosko even lived.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 June 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

Telma Hopkins!

but that was last week.

today it was ARNOLD STANG!!!!

don't know why i though telma hopkins died.

― tremendoid, Friday, 8 February 2008 06:25 (eighteen years ago)

Zsa Zsa Gabor just turned 91 a few days ago.

― Roz, Friday, 8 February 2008 07:03 (eighteen years ago)

abe vigoda

― remy bean, Friday, 8 February 2008 07:11 (eighteen years ago)

I think Ernest Borgnine is still at it too.

― nickn, Friday, 8 February 2008 07:52 (eighteen years ago)

doris day

― Frogman Henry, Friday, 8 February 2008 08:00 (eighteen years ago)

she's getting a grammy tomorrow

― tremendoid, Friday, 8 February 2008 08:03 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

Shirley Temple

― lol @ dog w/ sunglasses (Pillbox), Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:06 (fifteen years ago)

!!!

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:07 (fifteen years ago)

Leonard skinner, but he's now dead.

― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

I was surprised that Bosko even lived.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, June 15, 2004 4:15 AM (6 years ago) Bookmark

dying here

had no idea Sam Beckett lived until 1989 until the other day

― CharlieS, Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:12 (fifteen years ago)

j.d. salinger, but then he died not long after i found out

― just1n3, Thursday, 23 September 2010 19:24 (fifteen years ago)

four months pass...

Louie Anderson

― Godzilla vs. Rodan Rodannadanna (The Yellow Kid), Friday, 18 February 2011 06:17 (fifteen years ago)

He was on Tim & Eric a year or two ago.

― Wacky Way Lounge (Evan), Friday, 18 February 2011 06:41 (fifteen years ago)

Kenneth Mars, but once again after he was dead.

― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 18 February 2011 07:56 (fifteen years ago)

Jane Russell

― Alba, Friday, 18 February 2011 09:00 (fifteen years ago)

Clive Dunn

― Alba, Friday, 18 February 2011 09:01 (fifteen years ago)

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Noguchi, wow. He was already 41 when he autopsied Robert Kennedy

― Josefa, Thursday, 26 February 2026 12:56 (one month ago)

German actress Marianne Koch, who I just saw in A Fistful of Dollars the other night, 94.

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Thursday, 26 February 2026 12:59 (one month ago)

Noguchi, wow. He was already 41 when he autopsied Robert Kennedy

with luck he’ll get to autopsy junior

― Mollusk, Virginia (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 26 February 2026 14:03 (one month ago)

called out of retirement for one last caper

― mark s, Thursday, 26 February 2026 14:30 (one month ago)

Karl Rove... just assumed he was burning in hell with Rumsfeld & Cheney

― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 27 February 2026 00:12 (one month ago)

German actress Marianne Koch, who I just saw in A Fistful of Dollars the other night, 94.

Lived long enough to be a delight on the recent blu ray remaster special features. Loved her recounting her surprise that Italian film crews broke for lunch, even when conditions were such that no work could be done all morning, and would choose great restaurants regardless of their distance to set.

― a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 27 February 2026 10:16 (one month ago)

also Clint was very polite but "considering his politics I cannot go along with him now"

― a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 27 February 2026 10:16 (one month ago)

Cool.

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Friday, 27 February 2026 10:26 (one month ago)

Thomas Pynchon. I spotted a casual mention that his most recent novel was set in Milwaukee, so I looked it up, assuming it came out in 1992. But no, it came out in April 2025. That's, like, this year.

88!

That's not his age, by the way. I was just expressing my support of Nazism.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Friday, 27 February 2026 11:10 (one month ago)

Sharmila Tagore, 81.

― Galactic Poetaster (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 5 March 2026 22:29 (three weeks ago)

Fat City author Leonard Gardner, 92

― the novel opens on a Hampstead dinner party (Matt #2), Thursday, 5 March 2026 22:33 (three weeks ago)

Barbi Benton, 76.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 10 March 2026 04:11 (two weeks ago)

Lech Wałęsa, 82

― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 10 March 2026 16:59 (two weeks ago)

Richard Benjamin, 87
Paula Prentiss, 88

Not that old but not only are they still alive, but they're still married to each other, since 1961.

― nickn, Tuesday, 10 March 2026 17:12 (two weeks ago)

This is very sweet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv7ksOkztrU

― congragulations (stevie), Tuesday, 10 March 2026 17:23 (two weeks ago)

Tommy Steele, 89

― Mark G, Saturday, 14 March 2026 08:50 (one week ago)

yeah I could swear he died about 25 years ago but it's almost certainly that I'm confusing him with someone else

― Francis Fuck Coprolalia (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 14 March 2026 10:15 (one week ago)

margaret busby (81) formerly of the publisher allison & busby is interviewed in the FT today

ok she isn't hugely famous but she is OF NOTE re my interests & circle

― mark s, Saturday, 14 March 2026 11:12 (one week ago)

Jurgen Habermas. German philosopher.

― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 14 March 2026 14:47 (one week ago)

*opens everything app* oh wait! Oh no!

― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 14 March 2026 14:47 (one week ago)

had the same thought on seeing his obit. I took a philosophy class nearly 30 years ago with a prof who was a big Habermas guy.

― jaymc, Saturday, 14 March 2026 16:45 (one week ago)

Tommy Steele, 89

This was a regular Xmas fave when I was a kid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b26HqOJ0Uuc

― congragulations (stevie), Sunday, 15 March 2026 16:34 (one week ago)

Like, the main theme tune, "You can do whatever you put your mind to", regularly pops into my mind in times of misery. No doubt the movie is awful - tried to show it to my kid a few years back and she was having none of it. But on the plus side, the main villain is played by Ethel from Eastenders, and I remember the whole conceit of the sentient toys being thrown in the fire being absolutely terrifying to me as a kid.

― congragulations (stevie), Sunday, 15 March 2026 16:35 (one week ago)

Pete Frame of Rock Family Trees fame, 83

― you're not tarkovsky, get the fuck on with it (Matt #2), Monday, 16 March 2026 19:16 (one week ago)

Loved those things. Remember they would always be in Trouser Press.

― Galactic Poetaster (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 06:35 (one week ago)

the spinoff TV series in the 90s is some great rock'n'roll rockumentary - the New York punk, Birmingham rock and Fleetwood Mac episodes are godlike.

― congragulations (stevie), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 09:24 (one week ago)

Poor Pete, this thread is cursed.

― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 18 March 2026 11:49 (one week ago)

Maybe it should be locked??

― congragulations (stevie), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 11:55 (one week ago)

Donald Trump

― cryptosicko, Wednesday, 18 March 2026 13:19 (one week ago)

Rupert Murdoch

― Francis Fuck Coprolalia (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 13:22 (one week ago)

Stephen Miller

― omar little, Wednesday, 18 March 2026 13:26 (one week ago)

John Krasinski

― Judi Dench's Human Hand (methanietanner), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 14:08 (one week ago)

Pete Frame.

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 14:13 (one week ago)

lol

― jus au rascal (wins), Wednesday, 18 March 2026 14:15 (one week ago)

*googles* yup

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 18 March 2026 14:20 (one week ago)

the incredibly prolific sci-fi author and editor robert silverberg ('silverbob' in shakey's terminolongy) is 91

― mookieproof, Thursday, 19 March 2026 02:31 (one week ago)

both of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg's children

― Francis Fuck Coprolalia (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 19 March 2026 10:58 (one week ago)

"the incredibly prolific sci-fi author and editor robert silverberg ('silverbob' in shakey's terminolongy) is 91"

I learn from Wikipedia that he has attended every Hugo Award ceremony since the first one, in 1953. Which got me to wondrin' who is the earliest winner or nominee of the Best Novel Hugo who is still alive, to which the answers are Samuel R Delany, nominated in 1966 for Babel-17, and Piers Anthony, nominated the year after for Chthon. They are both still alive.

I learn that Murray Leinster was born in 1896! He wrote "A Logic Named Joe", an uncanny story that predicts a future where people have networked computer terminals in their homes, with a government-imposed censor that stops people from looking up "how to poison your wife" or "how to rob a bank". But one particular terminal develops consciousness and starts to bypass the censorship. It's extraordinarily prescient for 1946.

"Seven super stimpacks" and "by digging a tunnel through an adjacent building on a Sunday". Those are the two answers.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Saturday, 21 March 2026 00:25 (six days ago)

I learn that Murray Leinster was born in 1896! He wrote "A Logic Named Joe", an uncanny story that predicts a future where people have networked computer terminals in their homes, with a government-imposed censor that stops people from looking up "how to poison your wife" or "how to rob a bank". But one particular terminal develops consciousness and starts to bypass the censorship. It's extraordinarily prescient for 1946.

Ten or so years later, "A Logic Named Joe" was dramatized into one of my fave episodes of X Minus 1.

― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 21 March 2026 00:30 (six days ago)

for Scottish people of a certain age - Mary Marquis is 92 and still out there somewhere

― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Saturday, 21 March 2026 01:41 (six days ago)

Mary has taken over from Stanley Baxter and Glen Michael.

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Saturday, 21 March 2026 13:00 (six days ago)

... Una McLean however is 95 and 96 in a couple of months (fingers crossed).

― Schlub 7 (Tom D.), Saturday, 21 March 2026 13:02 (six days ago)

Honestly I thought Chuck Norris died at least a decade ago

― podcast Diderot (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 21 March 2026 13:05 (six days ago)

Potential new Scottish telly icon for this thread - Mary Marquis is still with us at 91.
― Overtoun House windows (aldo), Friday, 2 January 2026 10:39 (two months ago)

Two posts in a couple of months means she's hit the right status.

― Overtoun House windows (aldo), Saturday, 21 March 2026 17:29 (six days ago)

Freddie 'Parrotface' Davies, 88. Still performing apparently.

― Ward Fowler, Saturday, 21 March 2026 18:09 (six days ago)

Mr Rogers' Neighborhood handyman and jazzbo in the 'hood Joe Negri. 99!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Negri

― bendy, Sunday, 22 March 2026 14:14 (five days ago)

<3 pittsburgh <3

― mookieproof, Monday, 23 March 2026 01:51 (four days ago)

Also: Mr. McFeely (David Newell), 87, Betty Aberlin, 83.

― Sam Weller, Monday, 23 March 2026 09:55 (four days ago)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Geneshalit.JPG

gene shalit turned 100 today

― mookieproof, Thursday, 26 March 2026 01:15 (yesterday)

Kendo Nagasaki, 84. Was due to wrestle again next month in Dudley but has pulled out due to the promotion involving Reform/Farage.

― Dan Worsley, Thursday, 26 March 2026 18:49 (yesterday)

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