51. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
I figured that Virginia Weidler, who played the young Dinah Lord and was only thirteen when the film was released would be my best bet but she tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 41, being outlived by almost all of her adult costars. By my count Ruth Hussey, who plays Ms. Imbrie made it the longest, passing away in 2005.
52. From Here to Eternity (1953)
Oscar-winning screenwriter Alvin Sargent (87) played a character named Nair and Joseph Sargent (88) played a soldier. Neither received credit for their roles according to IMDB, and since I haven't seen this movie in about ten years I cannot validate if either actually speaks (comments, oh friends). Nair, at least, has a line in the script so I'm assuming that he does speak. If neither of these men have lines, then the recent death of Ernest Borgnine in 2012 was the end of the road for this picture.
53. Amadeus (1984)
Finally, a film that I can vouch for with certainty. Most of the leads of this particular film, including F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, and Jeffrey Jones are still alive.
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| Arthur Gardner in All Quiet on the Western Front |
Wow-I cannot believe this one (I believe the oldest film and oldest person we've profiled so far), but at 103 years of age, Arthur Gardner, who played one of the students (I cannot find if he had any actual lines in the film, though), is still alive. Gardner went on to produce a number of television westerns in the 1960's (such as The Rifleman and The Big Valley).
55. The Sound of Music (1965)
The hills are alive with the sound of lots of voices, thankfully, as Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, and all of the von Trapp children are still alive from this schmaltzy classic.
56. MASH (1970)
This is one of the only films on this list that I haven't seen, but thankfully most of the cast is still alive from this Robert Altman movie so I don't have to research too much without risk of spoilers. Almost every lead, including Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, and Robert Duvall (I never knew Robert Duvall was in this movie!) is still alive.
57. The Third Man (1949)
With the death of Alida Valli in 2006 at the age of 84 (she played Anna Schmidt) there appears to be no living members of The Third Man cast.
58. Fantasia (1940)
The only people I can find having a part in this film are Leopold Stokowski (the composer, who died in 1977 at the age of 95) and Deems Taylor (the narrator, who died in 1966 at the age of 80).
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| Frank Mazzola (left) with Natalie Wood and James Dean on the Rebel set |
The 2010 death of Corey Allen (who played Buzz) meant all principle characters in the film had passed away (odd for a film with so many young actors in the cast). However, Frank Mazzola (who played Crunch) is still alive at the age of 79.
60. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Though a few of the principle actors in this film have passed away, we certainly haven't hit any dire straits in finding stars that are still with us. Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, and John Rhys-Davies are all around and act regularly.
61. Vertigo (1958)
She made something of a comeback, at least publicly, this past year, so everyone is aware that Kim Novak is still alive and kicking at 81.
62. Tootsie (1982)
As this is a recent film, most of the main cast (including Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Geena Davis, and Bill Murray) are still alive.
63. Stagecoach (1939)
Louise Platt, who played Lucy Mallory in the movie, was the final living cast member of this classic western. She passed away in 2003 at the age of 88.
Though Francois Truffaut has passed away, most of the rest of the cast (amongst which are Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey) are still living and working.
65. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
We all know that both Clarice and Hannibal are not only still working, but actively working and in the public eye (Jodie Foster recently winning the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Hopkins starring in Noah), but also supporting players Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Diane Baker, and Buffalo Bill himself Ted Levine are all still alive.
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| Conchata Ferrell in Network |
Considering the relatively recent release date, Network has a pretty short roster of major characters still alive. Only two of the film's five Oscar nominees are still alive (Faye Dunaway at 73 and Ned Beatty at 76), as well as supporting star Robert Duvall at 83. Random fact about another living member of this cast: Conchata Ferrell, who plays Barbara Schlesinger in the film, is 71 and enjoying the biggest role of her career in Two and a Half Men as Berta (she's received two Emmy nominations for her performance).
67. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Everyone knows that Angela Lansbury, who got her third Oscar nomination for this film, is still alive, but you might not know that several minor characters are also still alive, including Henry Silva (Chunjin) and Leslie Parrish (Jocelyn Jordan).
French icon Leslie Caron made her film debut as Lise Bouvier in this iconic Best Picture winner. Now in her eighties, she's still headlining stage work and recently won an Emmy Award.
69. Shane (1953)
Jack Palance, who died in 2006, was the last living member of the cast.
70. The French Connection (1971)
Gene Hackman won his first Oscar for his role as Popeye Doyle in this classic movie. While he doesn't work anymore (he retired after, for some reason, Welcome to Mooseport), he's still alive at the age of 84.
71. Forrest Gump (1994)
The second most recent film on this list, almost every major actor in this film, including Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, and Mykelti Williamson, are still alive.
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| Haya Harareet in Ben-Hur |
Charlton Heston may no longer be alive, but Ben-Hur still has a couple of speaking characters still alive. From what I can find, at least Claude Heater (who plays Jesus...though I don't know if he actually speaks) and Haya Harareet (who played Esther, and I'm confident she has lines) are both alive. Harareet for some reason didn't work past 1964, and resides in England at the age of 82.
73. Wuthering Heights (1939)
For non-famous actors, it's hard to tell if they actually died or just the public isn't aware of the fact that they are still alive. I have no evidence to the contrary that Sarita Wooten (who played young Cathy) and Rex Downing (young Heathcliff) are still alive, so I'm keeping them on the list.
74. The Gold Rush (1925)
One of the oldest films on this list, this is probably the longest a film on this list has gone without a living cast member. Georgia Hale, who played, conveniently enough, Georgia in the movie, died in 1985 at the age of 79-she appears to be the eldest person in the cast.
75. Dances with Wolves (1990)
Only 24 years old, this film has all of its principle cast members still alive, including Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, and Rodney A. Grant.
76. City Lights
(1931)
Virginia Cherrill played the blind flower girl in Chaplin’s
masterpiece (I’ve seen all three of his films on this list, and this is easily
my favorite). She was the
longest-lived, dying in 1996 at the age of 88 (outliving paperboy Robert
Parrish by one year). Two random facts:
Cherrill actually disliked working with Chaplin and was almost recast with
Georgia Hale in the role and Robert Parrish, who is uncredited as the Newsboy,
went on to be an Oscar-winning film editor.
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| Candy Clark in American Graffiti |
77. American Graffiti
(1973)
Unlike Rebel without a
Cause, most of this particular cast went on to not as tragic lives (give or
take Mackenzie Phillips, though she is also still alive). Amongst the living cast members are
Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy
Williams, and Candy Clark, who got her sole Oscar nomination for her work as
Debbie Dunham in the film.
78. Rocky (1976)
Burgess Meredith is the only of the five main characters in
this film to have passed away: Sylvester Stallone (67), Talia Shire (68), Burt
Young (74), and Carl Weathers (66) are all around.
All but Weathers ended up with Academy Award nominations for acting
(Stallone was also the writer of the film, and would become a major movie star
in the years after this, even though this film would remain his crowning glory).
79. The Deer Hunter
(1978)
Veteran character actor John Cazale (who starred in five films…all
of which were nominated for Best Picture) is the only major character in this
film who is no longer alive.
Robert de Niro (70), Meryl Streep (64), Christopher Walken (71), and
John Savage (64) are all still kicking, with the former three gaining Oscar
nominations for their work in this film.
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| Aurora Clavel in The Wild Bunch |
80. The Wild Bunch
(1969)
Though most of the principle members of the cast have long since past (or in the case of Ernest Borgnine, fairly recently past), a few are still alive. Amongst them are Aurora Clavel (77), Jamie Sanchez (75), and prolific character actor Bo Hopkins (72), who is also one of the surviving cast members of American Graffiti.
81. Modern Times (1936)
Gloria DeHaven had a bit, uncredited part in this film, which means that it does have a living cast member still, as DeHaven is still with us at 89.
82. Giant (1956)
Another film of the 1950's where all of the most famous actors in the film have passed away, but there are still a number of supporting players from the film still alive (again-it's been a while since I've seen this particular film, so correct me if none of these characters actually speak): Jane Withers (88, played Vashti), Fran Bennett (79, played Judy), Noreen Nash (90, played Lona Lane), Elsa Cardenas (78, played Juana), and most famously, Carroll Baker, who is 82 and played Luz in the film, but is best known for another movie that year that won her an Oscar nomination and an enormous amount of scandal: Baby Doll.
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| Charlie Sheen in Platoon |
83. Platoon (1986)
One of the cast members has probably been on a few death pools through the years due to his erratic behavior, but all of the major cast members of Platoon are still alive as of this writing, including Charlie Sheen (48), Tom Berenger (64), Willem Dafoe (58), John C. McGinley (54), Kevin Dillon (48), and in a bit role, Johnny Depp (50).
84. Fargo (1996)
The newest film on this list, almost every major character in the movie in the film (save Harve Presnell, who died in 2009) is still alive. Amongst them are Steve Buscemi (56), Melissa Peterman (42), Peter Stormare (60), William H. Macy (64), and Frances McDormand (56), the latter two winning Oscar nominations for their work and McDormand of course taking the Best Actress trophy.
85. Duck Soup (1933)
Zeppo was the last of the Marx Brothers to pass away (in 1979), but he was not the last surviving member of this madcap comedy hit. That would be Raquel Toreres, who was only 25 when she was cast as the femme fatale Vera Marcal. She passed away in 1987, at the age of 78.
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| Movita Castaneda in Mutiny on the Bounty |
86. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The movies of the 1930's are so hit-and-miss on this round-up, as so few have a living member of the cast. However, we're in luck with Mutiny on the Bounty-Movita Castaneda played Tehanni in the film and is still alive at the age of 96. If that name sounds familiar, it's because the actress would briefly be married to Marlon Brando in the 1960's and give birth to two of his children. Her last major acting role happened in the late 1980's when she played Ana on the nighttime soap opera Knots Landing.
87. Frankenstein (1931)
Unfortunately, we don't have the same luck with Frankenstein. I assumed that the last surviving cast member in the film would be the woman who played Little Maria (Marilyn Harris), and I was right but unfortunately Ms. Harris passed away in 1999 at the age of 75. Harris would quit acting once she reached adulthood and settled into a domestic life. It's worth noting that Harris not only starred opposite Universal Studios star Boris Karloff, but also the biggest player at Warner Brothers of that era: Rin Tin Tin (she was just a few months old when she was featured in one of his 1924 pictures).
88. Easy Rider (1969)
Moving ahead 38 years, we've got a considerably longer list of living actors in Easy Rider, including two of the film's stars (Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, both of whom received their first Oscar nominations for the movie). Toni Basil and infamous record producer Phil Spector both also appeared in the film and are still alive (though Spector is of course living in prison after being convicted of the murder of actress Lana Clarkson).
89. Patton (1970)
Despite its recent filming, you actually have to go pretty far down the cast list with Patton to find living members of the film's call sheet. Amongst the living cast members are 82-year-old Siegfried Rauch who played Captain Steiger in the film and Stephen Young (83) who played Chester Hansen in the movie. Young also had a small part in a bit film seven years earlier, a little film called Cleopatra.
90. The Jazz Singer (1927)
This movie (which is just awful, by the way, innovation be damned), has no surviving cast members. The last surviving cast member I can find is Robert Gordon (at the time being billed as Bobby) who played Al Jolson's character Jakie as a child. Gordon would largely retire from acting as an adult and would become a television director before dying in 1990 at the age of 77.
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| Theodore Bikel in My Fair Lady |
91. My Fair Lady (1964)
I was actually genuinely curious on this one, as the main characters passed away a long time ago and I've seen this movie a few times. Once again we have Theodore Bikel, who saved us in The African Queen, coming to the rescue as Zoltan Karpathy, the most significant character in the film to still be alive. It's worth noting that Marni Nixon, who was the singing voice of Eliza Doolittle is also alive at the age of 84, and probably wondering every year why a woman who was a major contributor to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The King and I, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady hasn't gotten an Honorary Oscar yet.
92. A Place in the Sun (1951)
Another film where every obvious cast member has passed away a while ago, I believe every credited cast member has passed away (for those keeping track, I believe this is our most recent film with the entire cast having passed away, but I may be mistaken). It's been a long time since I've seen this, though, and at least a couple of the actresses in the film in uncredited parts were relatively young-my hunch is that at least one of them has both a spoken line and is still alive, but I cannot find any proof, so if there's any fans of this particular movie with some knowledge, let me know!
93. The Apartment (1960)
Thank god for Shirley MacLaine in so many ways, not least of which because as the lead actress of this film she's going strong and an easy answer for this contest. MacLaine received her second Academy Award nomination as Fran Kubelik for this movie. Also alive from the flick is Hope Holiday, who played the hilarious Margie MacDougall.
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| Samuel L. Jackson in GoodFellas |
94. GoodFellas (1990)
Two films from the 1990's for our next two slots, so we have a plethora of major stars in these films still alive, including Ray Liotta (59), Robert de Niro (70), Joe Pesci (71), Lorraine Bracco (59), and Paul Sorvino (75). Bracco and Pesci would go on to win Oscar nominations for their roles in the film, with Pesci winning the trophy.
95. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Again, another very recent film with the bulk of the stars of the film still alive. Amongst them are John Travolta (60), Samuel L. Jackson (65...and, ever prolific, he was also in GoodFellas), Uma Thurman (44), Harvey Keitel (75), and Bruce Willis (59). Travolta, Jackson, and Thurman all were Oscar-nominated for their work in the film, with the latter two earning their only Oscar nominations to date, despite very long careers in the cinema.
96. The Searchers (1956)
First off, let's just admit the obvious here-Jeffrey Hunter is perhaps the most attractive movie star you've never heard of (we've spoken a bit about his wife Barbara Rush over here), and in addition to playing Martin Pawley in this film, he also played the world's sexiest Jesus in King of Kings. Hunter died in a freak accident in 1969, though, so he's not part of this write-up. Instead, we have Vera Miles once again to the rescue (the 83-year-old also starred in Psycho on this list, as well as such classics as The Wrong Man and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance). Other actors in the film (though I cannot vouch for them actually having lines like I know Miles does, though I feel like at least a few of them do) that are still alive are Lana Wood (younger sister of Natalie, who would go on to be Bond Girl Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds are Forever and is 68 now) and 78-year-old Pippa Scott (who plays Lucy).
97. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Even looking into bit parts I am at a loss here, so it looks like Katharine Hepburn, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 96 is the longest-lived member of this particular cast.
98. Unforgiven (1992)
We're much better off with this more recent picture, with 75% of the main characters still alive (only Richard Harris as English Bob has passed away). We have of course Clint Eastwood (83), Gene Hackman (84), and Morgan Freeman (76), as well as some younger actors in Frances Fisher (62), Anna Levin (60), Jaimz Woolvett (47), and Shane Meier (36) that are still alive from this classic western.
99. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967)
We thankfully don't have to rely on Ms. Hepburn for this film, as legendary Oscar winner Sidney Poitier (87) is still with us. Also alive from this film is Katharine Houghton (69), who played his fiance in the film (and I never realized the intense age difference between the two until just now-anyone who has seen this film (I haven't) know if the 18 year gap is mentioned in the movie?). Houghton would win a Golden Globe nomination for her performance and go on to star in a sparse amount of films, though one of them for some reason was The Last Airbender (yes, the M. Night Shyamalan movie).
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| Joan Leslie in Yankee Doodle Dandy |
100. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Whew-I thought we'd end on a dour note, but thankfully one of the main stars of this particular film, Joan Leslie (she is James Cagney's onscreen wife), is still alive and kicking at 89. She's not a star the public remembers particularly well today, but in her era was a major player, starring opposite not only Cagney but also Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, and Ronald Reagan.
And there is the second half of our little write-up. Hopefully you enjoyed this half as well-if this continues to be popular I have one more similarly-themed post I may try, so comment below if you like it (or if I missed anyone)!
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