TV Stars Over 90 Who Are Still With Us Today
We ended 2021 with the unexpected passing of dear Betty White. I say unexpected because even at age 99, People Magazine had just rolled out an issue about her days before, in anticipation of her 100th birthday in mid-January, with a new documentary film about her to be released at the same time. I say dear because seemingly everybody in America loved her — a rare feat these days.
Part of the sadness of losing a television icon is because we have spent years watching them on countless episodes of our favorite shows. We may have a favorite movie star, but we’re lucky if they consistently put out one movie per year. Pop music stars are the only other kinds of celebrities that are beloved as much as TV stars, but even they are not playing favorite characters weekly for twenty-four episodes (in the old days) per year.
With that, I wondered how many TV stars are in their nineties and still with us. I’ve come up with my list below. While many of them have had shining moments in other media, it was television that brought them their biggest audience and fame. I’m counting them down from oldest to youngest in that age group.
Norman Lear, 99, has rarely been seen on the screen outside of interviews, but I include him because he’s one of the most successful television writers and producers of all time (All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times, and One Day at a Time, among many others). In his nineties, he produced the successful new edition of One Day at a Time and the new version of Good Times and also wrote his memoir. Look for a big celebration if he makes it to 100 next summer.
Bob Barker is 98. In his early days he was a radio broadcaster, but later hosted the game show Truth or Consequences (1956–1975), and, most famously, The Price is Right from 1972–2007, holding the record for longest-running game show host.
Angela Lansbury has had a distinguished career in the theater (five Tony Awards) and film (three Oscar nominations), but didn’t become a household name until late in life when she played Jessica Fletcher for twelve years on TV’s Murder She Wrote. Lansbury is now 96.
Dick Van Dyke, 96, was the star of the still much-loved The Dick Van Dyke Show in the ’60s and some may remember him as the star of Diagnosis: Murder for several seasons in the ’90s. He’s appeared on numerous other programs. He has also appeared in several films (as recent as Mary Poppins Returns in 2018) and has a Tony Award. He has five Emmys for his work in television.
June Lockhart is also 96. She is most famous for her Mom roles in Lassie (1958–64) and Lost in Space (1965–68), but also had a role in Petticoat Junction (1968–70). She was also known for hosting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rose Bowl Parade several times, as well as being a guest star on many other series. Today, she is the voice of Alpha Control in the Netflix version of Lost in Space. Did you know she had a Tony for her first Broadway role in 1948?
Peter Marshall, 95, is best known for being the longtime host of the game show Hollywood Squares (1966–81). Today, he hosts the Music of Your Life radio program.
Marion Ross, 93, who famously played Marion Cunningham on the hit show Happy Days (1974–84), later did a full season on The Love Boat and two seasons on the critically acclaimed Brooklyn Bridge series. She has kept busy as well with other projects and officially announced her retirement in 2018.
Bob Newhart is still with us at age 92. He had two successful comedy shows using his own name, The Bob Newhart Show in the ’70s and Newhart in the ’80s. (His show Bob, in the ’90s, was not a success.) Prior to his television career, he was a well-known standup comic and recorded several best-selling comedy albums. He finally won an Emmy in 2013 as a frequent guest star on The Big Bang Theory.
Barbara Walters, a pioneer in broadcasting, is now 92 and officially retired with a final appearance on The View (which she produced and also served as co-host for many years) in 2014. Her final on-air appearance was for ABC’s 20/20 in 2015. Walters became the first woman to co-host a news program, The TodayShow, in 1974, and in 1976 became the first woman to co-host an evening news program. Her annual specials with Hollywood stars and world leaders garnered big ratings and critical acclaim.
Although he appeared in many films early in his career, Robert Wagner, 91, really became a star in television, with three series, It Takes a Thief (1968–70), Switch (1975–78), and, most famously, Hart to Hart (1979–84). He later had recurring roles in Two and a Half Men and NCIS.
Marla Gibbs, 90, was best known for playing sassy Florence on the popular CBS show The Jeffersons (1975–85), for which she received five Emmy nominations. She followed that up with a successful run in 227 (1985–90). In recent years, she’s had several film roles and in 2021 she took on a role in the daytime series Days of Our Lives. Still working.
Angie Dickinson, 90, could arguably be called a film actress, having appeared in over fifty of them. However, she herself once said that she never felt she became well known until her turn in Police Woman (1974–78). She also appeared in dozens of television movies and as a guest on several series.
William Shatner, 90, from the original cast of the cult hit Star Trek (1966–69), is still making headlines today, having flown on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space flight in 2021. He has also been releasing music at a steady pace in recent years. Shatner has also appeared in dozens of films and television movies. His other successful series included T.J. Hooker (1982–86), as host of Rescue 911 (1989–96), and Boston Legal (2004–08), for which he won an Emmy award.
Dan Rather was one of the Big 3 network news anchors (the others being Tom Brokaw at NBC and Peter Jennings at ABC) from the ’80s to the mid-‘00s. Rather was the CBS anchor from 1981–2005. He was fired after a controversy over his use of unauthenticated documents for a news report. However, the scandal didn’t stop him. These days, at age 90, he hosts The News With Dan Rather on a YouTube Channel and tweets regularly on current news topics, mostly around politics.
Rita Moreno, also 90, is having a career renaissance, with a juicy supporting role in the Steven Spielberg remake of the iconic film musical West Side Story. Of course, Moreno will always be remembered for her role as Anita in the original, for which she won an Oscar. However, other than that, most of her success has come in television. When she couldn’t get decent film work (even after her Oscar), she went on a tear with television, becoming a frequent guest on variety shows and other series. She starred in several series herself, including Electric Company (1971–77), Oz (1997–03), and the revival of One Day at a Time (2017–20). She is the rare recipient of the EGOT — an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.
Reading through these, one can get a clue as to their longevity. Nearly everyone on this list worked into their 80s and half of them are still actively working today. That was true of Betty as well.
There is really no magical secret to the fountain of youth. Continue to do the work you love.
