Comments on: Top 5 actors over 70

By: georg fiscus

georg fiscus — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 06:54:12 +0000

eli wallach…… ben gazarra……

By: JimInNashville

JimInNashville — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:33:12 +0000

Bruce Dern. Harry Dean Stanton.

By: JimmyC

JimmyC — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:54:04 +0000

Tink, Hackman and Connery have both been retired for years, but Hopkins is still going strong. Still, his recent work in movies like The Wolfman haven’t exactly been the high point of his career.

By: Tink in Cali

Tink in Cali — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:17:13 +0000

Great list! I am quite shocked that Dame Judi is 75. She is fabulous. Gene Hackman was working quite a bit for awhile but I think you reported that he retired. What about Sean Connery or Anthony Hopkins? Any good roles were too long ago? Anything new coming from them?

By: JimmyC

JimmyC — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:05:21 +0000

Ugh, Betty White. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see an actress her age getting steady work, but she only seems to get more annoying with each passing year.

Michael Caine is 77?! Wow. As someone who just watched the trailer for Harry Brown, I wish I had Caine’s liveliness NOW, not to mention when I’m 77.

I would add Peter O’Toole, who at 78 has recently done memorable work in Stardust, Ratatouille, Venus, and Troy.

By: cftoto

cftoto — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:22:17 +0000

Erin -

Nicholson was outstanding in “About Schmidt,” and the fact that he can still convey the twinkle, the irreverence of his younger days is reason enough to include him here.

MacLaine hasn’t turned in a great, meaty role in some time. Loren, and White and Rowlands are not getting leading roles these days. White appears as quirky comic relief … Loren spiced up “Nine” but from what I understand it wasn’t a major role (I haven’t seen it yet)

I did consider Burstyn, but she didn’t beat out the others on this list.

Paula -
I did think about Christopher Lee, but he’s often in supporting roles or genre films which don’t require major acting chops. Not that he couldn’t deliver, but being a Jedi hunter is not the role of a lifetime.

By: Paula

Paula — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:06:38 +0000

How about Christopher Lee? He’s close to 90 and still going strong, lucky for us.

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:39:36 +0000

I’m not sure Jack Nicholson really belongs on this list. You said yourself he hasn’t appeared on the big screen since 2007 (although it appears he has something in the works), whereas Clint Eastwood’s ‘Gran Torino’ came out more recently, and it appears he ALSO has something in the works right now (according to imdb).

Also, I can think of several women who have continued to work past 70 in both dramatic and comedic roles: Sophia Loren might not be the busiest woman in Hollywood, but she still works regularly here AND abroad. Ellen Burstyn has worked on no less than 25 projects in both film and television since her 70th birthday. Gena Rowlands is still doing her thing and she’s 80! Betty White is enjoying a pretty fantastic “come back” at the moment, and Cloris Leachman has several irons in the fire too.

And how could you not put Shirley MacLaine on this list!? For shame! She may not be turning in Oscar-worthy dramatic performances, but she works hard and often.

And finally, I think we’ve made a TON of progress in recent years in terms of not only seeing women turn in amazing performances even as they age, but in allowing them to BE SEXY. Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep are both in their 60s, looking fabulous, and have starred in romantic comedies in recent years. Glenn Close looks better now than she did 30 years ago, and show me one man who wouldn’t give Helen Mirren a go, or one woman who wouldn’t punch a puppy to look as good as her in a bikini. I think all four of these women will continue to work well into their 70s.

By: kbiel

kbiel — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:26:13 +0000

I’ll give you “Four Christmases” although I think he portrayed the only sympathetic character (or was the only one to be able to portray their character sympathetically) in that movie.

On the other hand, in 2003 Duvall was in three great movies and in 2005 he was in “Thank You for Smoking”. According to IMDB he is slated to co-star in Terry Gilliam’s next production.

By: cftoto

cftoto — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:09:45 +0000

I love Duvall … but I feel like he’s been phoning it in too often lately. He still works a ton, and I think appearing in mediocre films like “Four Christmases” hurts his screen persona.

I met him a few years back in his sprawling home in Northern Va. – a warm memory, indeed.