Hollywood Kids

I thought it would be fun to remember some celebrities who are still living.

Zsa Zsa Gabor (2/2/17). Zsa, she of multiple marriage infamy is 97.

Kirk Douglas (12/9/16) Yes, father of Michael, old Spartacus himself is 97.

Olivia de Havilland (7/1/16) She's a favorite of mine. Her role as Melanie in Gone With The Wind is classic. Did you know she teaches Sunday School in a church in France? She just became 98 last month.

Irving Benson (1/31/14) was on Carson's Tonight show a lot. Benson was one of the last (if not the only) Vaudeville performeer still alive. He's 100.

And the winner is...Luise Rainer (1/12/10). I will always remember her role in the movie The Good Earth. She was very convincing as O-lan. She is 104 years of age.

Did I miss anyone?

 

She just died. On Jan. 12th she would have been 105.

I had forgotten to mention Norman Nathan Lloyd. He was born on November 8,1914. So he's 100. Mr. Lloyd starred in St. Elsewhere. And he played Mr. Nolan in Dead Poet's Society.

 

Some More

Vera Lynn. She's a British singer. She has been known for The White Cliffs Of Dover, My Son, My Son, and We'll Meet Again.

She was born on 3/20/1917. So she's coming up on 98.

Carol Channing. She was born on 1/31/1921 (a few days after my dad's birth). So she'll be 94 later this month.

Janis Paige, she was an actress. She was featured in a lot of movies. Her birthdate is 9/16/1922. She's in her 92nd year.

Gloria Henry was born on 4/2/1923; coming up on 92. She played "mom" to Dennis The Menace.

One of my favorite singers : Doris Day. She was born on April 3 of either 1922 or 1924. Let's go with the latter date. She'll be 91. I love how she sings and acts.

Have you noticed there are no men mentioned in this post? I couldn't find any in this go-round.

 

How could I have forgotten Maureen O'Hara? She was born on 8/17/1920. She's in the middle of her 94th year.

Some of her notable movies were How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man with John Wayne. She made other movies with him. She even made a movie with John Candy (a favorite of mine).

 

I'm Finding More

How could I have missed these folks?

Alan Young. Yes, he of Mr. Ed fame. Mr. Young played Wilbur Post. "Oh Wilbur!"
He's 95, having been born Novemeber 19,1919.

Janet Waldo. She is the voice of Judy Jetson (and many other voice-overs). She's also in Adventures in Odyssey which I will admit to listening a good deal to in the past. She was born 2/4/1920. She'll soon be 95 and looks real good for her age.

Jimmy J. Lydon. Who is he you may ask? None other than Henry Aldrich. His movie mom would exclaim from a distance :"Henry, Henry Aldrich!" I miss those days when I watched those episodes. Mr. Lydon was born on 5/30/1923. He'll be 92 in a few months DV.

 

Then There's ...

...the controversial Bob Barker (12/12/1923). He'll be 91 years and one month soon.

 

Then there is Jayne Meadows who is 95 (9/27/19). She's outlived both her younger sister Audrey, and her famous husband, Steve Allen. Jane was born in China --her parents were Episcopalian missionaries.

 

Mentioning Steve Allen triggered my memory. Professor Irwin Corey was on Steve's Westinghouse show many times. Corey always broke me up.

The comic is 100 (7/29/1914)

 

In the 80's and 90's when I sometimes watched the David Letterman show his mother made periodic visits. She's a sweet woman at 93 (July/18/1921).

Someone who is not associated with show business, but because of his extreme age I feel compelled to mention him.

Zhou Youguang is acknowledged as the father of Pinyin. Pinyin is a pronunciation guide for the Chinese language. Elementary students learn it before progressing to the written Chinese characters. Zhou was assigned the task by Chairman Mao in 1955. The former headed up the team and he completed the job three years later.

He is translated the entire Encylopedia Britannica into Chinese. What a workhorse. But now he sleeps a lot and works when he wants to.

How old is he? He just turned 109! (1/13/1906)

I actually prefer the Yale system --but Pinyin is necessary for practical purposes.