HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS IN THEIR 90S STILL GOING STRONG

Hollywood today is shaped by the dominance of streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney Plus and heralding major new stars like Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Paul Mescal.

However, it’s also still got a strong contingent of acting and directing legends producing new work decades after they first found fame.

Alongside the likes of Mary Poppins icon Dick Van Dyke and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Clint Eastwood – who celebrates his 94th birthday today – there’s an impressive group of stars who’ve survived and thrived through all of the film industry’s changes over the last 70 plus years.

Among this number, some have been household names since the 1950s and ‘60s and are still enjoying working today.

Here we take a look at Hollywood’s remarkable nonagenarians who have worked well past their well-earned retirement.

Clint Eastwood, 94

As this actor and director turns 94, there’s still not much sign of him slowing down.

Although public appearances are now rarer, Eastwood was spotted in April attending an event hosted by conservationist Jane Goodall, with whom he chatted at a reception ahead of her talk as well.

Having initially shot to stardom thanks to TV show Rawhide back in 1959, he later enjoyed successes as a film actor in Westerns like A Fistful of Dollars and Hang ‘Em High, as well as other later hits including Escape from Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, Where Eagles Dare and In the Line of Fire.

In 1971 he made his directorial debut with Play Misty For Me, before going on to establish himself as one of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers thanks to movies including Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Changeling and The Bridges of Madison County.

He is currently putting the finishing touches on his latest movie Juror No. 2, which stars Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Zoey Deutch, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris Messina.

With a release date yet to be confirmed, it’s been reported that this may well be Eastwood’s final film – he commits himself to every part of his movies, from the casting to often composing the score.

A source previously told Radar: ‘He wants to do this movie as a swan song and go out in a blazing sunset.’

Dick Van Dyke, 98

At an impressive 98 years young, Van Dyke still seems active in delightful clips shared to his Instagram account, as well as committed to his fans with an appearance at a recent convention meet and greet.

He’s also still giving interviews, as recently as this week, and kept busy in 2023 with a voice cameo as himself on The Simpsons, as well as a four-episode arc in US daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives – for which he recently became the oldest ever Daytime Emmy nominee.

Oh yes, and also popped up on The Masked Singer US, just because he could, to a joyous reception.

Van Dyke is best known for his role as chimney sweeper Bert opposite Dame Julie Andrews in 1968’s classic musical Mary Poppins, and also starred as Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, after his career was launched on Broadway by Bye Bye Birdie.

But he also starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran for five years on TV in the 1960s and won him three Emmys for acting, as well as his stint on Diagnosis: Murder and appearances in Scrubs, Night at the Museum and 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns.

The star told Deadline in a new interview of his lengthy career: “It was just a matter of enjoying myself.

‘I always loved what I was doing. If it had felt like work, I probably would have stopped it a long time ago.’

Rita Moreno, 92

Moreno is another member of true Hollywood royalty, even boasting the distinction of being an EGOT – that is someone who holds an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award for their work across the spectrum of stage and screen in the performing arts.

After starting off in small roles in the 1950s in classic movie musicals Singin’ in the Rain and The King and I, she got her breakthrough in 1961 with the movie adaptation of West Side Story.

As Anita, she got her Academy Award – and a mere 60 years later had the distinction of appearing in the newly-created role of Valentina in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the musical, which she also executive produced.

Her acting credits across stage, film and TV are extensive, with highlights including Summer and Smoke, Popi, The Ritz, The Muppet Show, The Golden Girls and Miami Vice.

Moreno was also a main player in former Netflix show One Day at a Time as well as appearing in three major films in 2023: 80 for Brady alongside Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field, Family Switch and Fast X, in which she played Vin Diesel’s character Dominic’s grandmother.

William Shatner, 93

Star Trek icon Shatner boldly became the only nonagenarian ever to boldly go where no other person in their 90s has gone before back in October 2021 after he hitched a ride on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket into space.

That – which he called ‘the most profound experience I can imagine’ – would be impressive enough by itself, but the actor has been wowing audiences for decades.

He became a TV megastar with his role as captain of the starship Enterprise, James T. Kirk, in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series in 1966.

His last appearance in the sprawling franchise came in the movie Star Trek Generations in 1994, almost 30 years later.

But he’s also done prolific other TV and voiceover work over the years, as well as appearing in movies like the Miss Congeniality movies with Sandra Bullock and Airplane II.

In 2024, he’s provided voice acting in five episodes of Netflix animation Masters of the Universe: Revolution, as well as new documentary You Can Call Me Bill, described as ‘an intimate portrait of William Shatner’s personal journey over nine decades on this Earth’.

June Squibb, 94

Squibb has become a reliable character actress for Hollywood in recent years, but she didn’t actually score her first film role until 1990 Woody Allen film Alice.

Up until then – when she was in her sixties – the actress was largely on stage, where she appeared in the original Broadway production of Gypsy in 1959.

She also paid the bills modelling for romance novels and working on cruise ships and as one of Santa’s helpers in Christmas.

The star has since appeared in movies including Scent of a Woman with Al Pacino, Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence, Far From Home and Meet Joe Black in 1998, opposite Brad Pitt.

Squibb also landed an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress after her turn in 2013’s Nebraska.

After numerous guest appearances on shows like Glee, Girls and The Big Bang Theory, this year saw Squibb’s first leading role.

She played titular character Thelma in the action comedy, which follows a nonagenarian who s duped by a phone scammer embarking on a quest to take back what is hers.

Malcolm McDowell, Clark Gregg, Parker Posey and Fred Hechinger also star.

Mel Brooks, 97

Brooks is one of Hollywood’s comedy legends as a screenwriter, filmmaker actor and songwriter.

He is also another one of the just 19 individuals to have achieved EGOT status over his seven-decade-plus career.

Brooks has received all sorts of honorary awards too, including a Bafta Fellowship, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a National Medal of Arts and even an honorary Academy Award earlier this year.

Starting off as a writer on Sid Caesar’s variety show in the 1950s, the star went on to write and direct huge movies including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs and his debut, The Producers.

He released his memoir All About Me! aged 95, before writing and producing 2023’s History of the World, Part II, which acted a a follow up to his 1981 film.

The comedy icon also had a cameo in season three of Only Murders in the Building last year.

Back in 2015 as he approached turning 90 years old, Brooks insisted that retirement wasn’t an option, and he appears to have more work on the docket still.

‘I’m a lucky man. I’m not working at the post office, I’m not loading a truck, I’m not digging holes in the ground and I’m not homeless, sleeping under a bridge,’ he told The Independent at the time.

‘I’ve got a wonderful life and I appreciate it so why stop now?’

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2024-05-31T17:43:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd