It's Amazing That These People Are Still With Us

Mikie June 19, 2023 at 02:35 5950 views 64 comments
Thought about this today while listening to Harry Belafonte, who only recently (!) died. Just a random list of influential people who are still around — and feel like they’ve been around forever, in the sense that their careers have spanned my entire life and most of my parents’ lives.

If you were in a coma starting in 1967, and woke up today 56 years later, much of the following list would make you feel right at home.

[list]
[*] [s]Tony Bennett[/s]
[*] John Kander
[*] Johnny Mathis
[*] Bobby Vinton
[*] Dion
[*] Julie Andrews
[*] Bob Dylan
[*] Frankie Valli
[*] Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr
[*] Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
[*] Van Morrison
[*] [s]Brian Wilson[/s] & Mike Love & Al Jardine
[*] Roger Waters & Dave Gilmore
[*] Jimmy Page & Robert Plant
[*] Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel
[*] Willie Nelson
[*] John Fogarty
[*] Neil Young
[*] Cat Stevens
[*] [s]Bob Newhart[/s]
[*] Dick van Dyke
[*] Bill Cosby
[*] Doc Severinsen
[*] Woody Allen
[*] Mel Brooks
[*] Jane Fonda
[*] Carol Burnett
[*] Carlos Santana
[*] Noam Chomsky
[*] [s]Henry Kissinger[/s]
[*] Pat Buchanan
[*] [s]Jimmy Carter[/s]
[*] [s]Bob Barker[/s]
[*] Irving Yalom
[*] [s]Jimmy Buffett[/s]
[*] John Williams
[*] Johnny Gilbert
[*] Dick Cavett
[*] William Shatner
[*] [s]Jane Goodall[/s]
[*] Buzz Aldrin
[*] Eva Marie Saint
[*] Gloria Steinem
[*] Dolores Huerta
[*] Ralph Nader
[*] [s]Phil Donohue[/s]
[*] [s]Quincy Jones[/s]
[*] Sophia Lauren
[*] Rex Reed
[*] Robert Wagner
[*] Richard Dawkins
[*] William Daniels
[*] Alfonso Arau
[*] Elaine May
[*] Clint Eastwood
[*] [s]Gene Hackman[/s]
[*] [s]James Earl Jones[/s]
[*] David Attenborough
[*] Warren Beatty
[*] [s]Dr. Ruth[/s]
[*] Isabel Perón
[*] [s]Ethel Kennedy[/s]
[*] Don King
[*] Bob Cousy
[*] Sam Donaldson

Many more I’ve missed, so feel free to add. But these people started so young and got so famous so quickly that it’s as if they’ve been in the background since the 1880s.

Pat Sajak retiring from Wheel of Fortune is another catalyst. Gordon Lightfoot and Tina Turner dying also got me thinking.

[Written in June 2023 originally]

Comments (64)

180 Proof June 19, 2023 at 16:02 #816304
Quoting Mikie
[ ... ] Dion
Julie Andrews
Bob Dylan
Frankie Valli
Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr
Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Van Morrison [ ... ]

The only name of the still-living that surprises me on this list is Keith Richards. :death: :flower:
Mikie June 19, 2023 at 17:39 #816321
Reply to 180 Proof

True— but you know what really surprised me? Frankie Valli. He was big before Dylan and the Beatles!
Mikie July 22, 2023 at 03:09 #823839
Well, cross Bennett off the list…
:confused:
Noble Dust July 22, 2023 at 03:54 #823847
I know Dick Van Dyke's grandson. Good dude.

If the list were in order, Mick Jagger & Keith Richards would be at the top...
jgill July 22, 2023 at 04:20 #823854
Quoting Mikie
But these people started so young and got so famous so quickly that it’s as if they’ve been in the background since the 1880s.


?
Mikie July 22, 2023 at 11:18 #823896
Quoting Noble Dust
I know Dick Van Dyke's grandson. Good dude.


That’s cool!
Sir2u July 23, 2023 at 01:39 #824002
Lost this week.

Jane Birkin - Je t'aime.

https://youtu.be/JIQiGN-vO-g

They sneaked this into the 9th Grade end of year dance, Oh the memories of being 15!
Sir2u July 23, 2023 at 01:44 #824003
Carlos Santana should be on the list maybe, he is close to 80.

It would be a shame to lose him, great music over so many decades.
Mikie July 23, 2023 at 02:50 #824008
Reply to Sir2u

A little “young” for the above list, but I’ve added anyway because it FEELS like he’s been around since the Big Bang.
universeness July 23, 2023 at 12:44 #824072
Henry Kissinger !!! 100 years old.
I was also surprised to hear Tommy Steele was still alive!
User image
User image
Mikie July 23, 2023 at 14:48 #824083
Reply to universeness

Kissinger…yeah. Don’t know if it’s fantastic, but certainly bizarre.
Sir2u July 24, 2023 at 14:05 #824256
Quoting Mikie
A little “young” for the above list, but I’ve added anyway because it FEELS like he’s been around since the Big Bang.


Hey, he is older than Cat Stevens and only a couple of years younger that Niel Young.
Mikie July 24, 2023 at 15:57 #824265
Quoting Sir2u
Hey, he is older than Cat Stevens and only a couple of years younger that Niel Young.


Touche.
Sir2u July 24, 2023 at 21:35 #824299
Reply to Mikie And he can make that guitar sing like no other. :rofl:

If you watch his videos, quite a few of the band's members get a moment of solo playing, something a lot of the great artists don't do. Even with guests, he takes backseat quite often.

https://youtu.be/6Whgn_iE5uc

One of my favorites.
Mikie August 26, 2023 at 18:19 #833738
Another one bites the dust. Bob Barker, at 99.
Mikie November 30, 2023 at 02:44 #857397
Henry Kissinger, 100.

Charles Munger, 99.
Mikie March 20, 2024 at 22:22 #889562
How is Diana Ross only 79?
Sir2u March 21, 2024 at 00:47 #889605
Quoting Mikie
How is Diana Ross only 79?


Because there are still a few days until she is 80, on March 26.
Hanover March 22, 2024 at 12:19 #889925
I like this thread. It presents a good death watch so we can be on the look out and not be surprised when someone drops off.

My fear though is that one day I'll log on and find my name crossed off from the living. I think I'll feel somewhat slighted, having been alive all this time and then only learning second hand by reading about it on a website. I just feel like something like that deserves an in person conversation, or at least a phone call.
Tom Storm March 25, 2024 at 23:55 #890868
Paul Hogan is 84. I remember when he was just a pedestrian TV comedian, before he sold out with that pedestrian mega hit, Crocodile Dundee.
Mikie March 29, 2024 at 02:10 #891877
Quoting Hanover
I like this thread. It presents a good death watch so we can be on the look out and not be surprised when someone drops off.


Every time I see or hear a name, or come across some legend on Wikipedia that only has a “born” date, I add it to the list. Robert Wagner? I couldn’t believe that he was still alive.

Some people seemed old even when I was a kid, like the same age they are now. Which is strange, because from a certain perspective they haven’t aged in 40 years.
ssu March 29, 2024 at 14:04 #891978
Quoting Mikie
If you were in a coma starting in 1967, and woke up today 56 years later, much of the following list would make you feel right at home.

And just how many persons from 1967 would know many from that list? Somebody not from Georgia surely will have difficulties to know the Georgia State Senate member Jimmy Carter, who had then only lost a Georgia gubernatorial election. You also have to be quite a Space fan to know Buz Aldrin in 1967, even if he then had I guess two space missions on his record (and the longest space walk). Then it was the Mercury Astronauts that were famous. Not the Gemini and the Apollo missions were just going on...

Makes me think how many will be around when it is 2080. Yep, there surely will be those that are now for example 10-29 years and we have no idea of them how powerful and well known they will be in the 2080's. However, there are those who we might know.

Justin Bieber, 86 years.
Jennifer Lawrence, 90 years.
Taylor Swift, 91 years.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 95 years.
Madonna, 122 years.

Now, when they estimate that people born now will likely to reach an average age of 100, I'm sure the list will be long.
Mikie April 12, 2024 at 02:13 #895772
Quoting ssu
And just how many persons from 1967 would know many from that list?


I’ve gradually added to the list. It made more sense in the original list. But good point.

Quoting ssu
Madonna, 122 years.


Hopefully not. Good lord.
Mikie April 15, 2024 at 02:51 #896658
I just realized Ethel Kennedy is still alive. How is that possible? Wow…

RFK got killed in 1968 and they already had 11 kids.
Sir2u April 29, 2024 at 23:54 #900098
Still going strong.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/willie-nelson-turns-91-today-130000313.html
Mikie April 30, 2024 at 00:18 #900101
Reply to Sir2u

I hope Willie lives another 15 years
Sir2u May 01, 2024 at 00:14 #900395
Sir2u May 02, 2024 at 01:13 #900645
User image

RIP Duanne Eddy

Mikie May 03, 2024 at 03:34 #900968
Quoting Sir2u
Duanne Eddy


I have no idea who that is.
AmadeusD May 03, 2024 at 05:35 #900985
Reply to Mikie Rabble Rouser. Youtube.
Sir2u May 03, 2024 at 13:05 #901038
Quoting Mikie
I have no idea who that is.


Your loss youngster. :rofl: :lol:
Mikie May 03, 2024 at 14:05 #901051
Reply to Sir2u

:shade:

Hey, sometimes they slip through the cracks.
praxis May 04, 2024 at 04:24 #901243
Paul Auster.

Sir2u May 05, 2024 at 20:54 #901623
Quoting Mikie
Hey, sometimes they slip through the cracks.


:lol: :rofl:
Count Timothy von Icarus May 06, 2024 at 17:29 #901873
Reply to Mikie

Iggy Pop is the one that gets me. I saw him when he was probably like 65 or so and he still put on a hell of a show.
Mikie May 14, 2024 at 20:57 #903989
Just added Dr Ruth. How is she still around?

Kind of like Richard Simmons— very big in the 80s, but haven’t really heard from them in a long time and just assumed they died a long time ago and I never heard about it.

But no. Still alive. Cool! :up:
javi2541997 May 15, 2024 at 04:39 #904083
I understand that this thread is focused on people from the Anglo-Saxon nations. Yet, I want to share with you that Isabel Perón (the second wife of Perón, the famous Argentinian President) is still alive.

She has been living in Madrid since the end of the 1970s.

She is 93 years old, and she was briefly the President of Argentina in 1974.

Isabel Perón
Mikie May 15, 2024 at 14:27 #904147
Reply to javi2541997

I added to the list. Nutty that she’s around too.
Mikie May 17, 2024 at 23:04 #904710
Dabney Coleman. So strange that he popped into my thoughts yesterday while cutting the lawn. My mind wandered to "Cloak and Dagger," an old 80s movie -- and I wondered if he was still alive. At that moment, he was. 24 hours late...not. So strange.

I used to always get him confused with the Dad from A Christmas Story.

Tom Storm May 19, 2024 at 23:27 #905309
Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) is 92. I remember watching her reruns 50 years ago. They seemed old then.
Sir2u May 20, 2024 at 13:39 #905499
RIP Frank Ifield

I honestly thought he had died years ago.



Benkei May 22, 2024 at 11:55 #905977
Retitle this thread to: "How dare these people survive beyond my expectations"
Sir2u May 22, 2024 at 14:46 #906016
Benkei May 22, 2024 at 15:08 #906019
Reply to Tom Storm I loved that serie as a kid. Don't know why, it wasn't hip in the 90s at all.
Mikie May 23, 2024 at 00:56 #906082
Reply to Benkei

Hey— I like most of those people. I originally titled it “bizarre and fantastic,” but then I remembered Kissinger was on there. Not so fantastic.
Mikie June 19, 2024 at 03:02 #910908
RIP Willie Mays. Not on my list, but should have been.
javi2541997 June 20, 2024 at 18:30 #911180
RIP Donald Sutherland. Sublime actor. I remember his characteristic role of 'Atilla' in 1900. This movie is great. Good drama and magnificent actors.

Moliere June 22, 2024 at 00:30 #911428
Reply to javi2541997 I've never seen that one, but want to now.

He showed up to Occupy Vancouver!
Mikie July 13, 2024 at 14:55 #916988
Dr Ruth.

Another one off the list.
Mikie July 13, 2024 at 21:24 #917094
Richard Simmons.

Shannon Dorherty wasn’t one I expected.
Mikie July 19, 2024 at 01:51 #918745
Bob Newhart has been on the list since the beginning. Rest in peace. :confused:
javi2541997 July 20, 2024 at 12:01 #919008
Tomiichi Murayama who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He is 100 years old and still living. Murayama led a difficult legislature and confronted a major crisis: the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

User image

Sir2u July 29, 2024 at 12:39 #921346
RIP Jerry Fuller. The writer of so many great songs.



https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jerry-fuller-songwriter-whose-hit-113043618.html
Sir2u August 18, 2024 at 15:52 #926409
RIP Alain Delon

Another one bites the dust.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/alain-delon-frances-flawed-screen-064114112.html
Mikie August 19, 2024 at 16:04 #926629
Phil Donohue

Another one off the list.
Tom Storm September 02, 2024 at 03:07 #929613
Brigitte Bardot is still living; she was making movies seven decades ago.
Mikie September 09, 2024 at 22:21 #931056
James Earl Jones. :sad:
Mikie September 27, 2024 at 14:26 #934931
Maggie Smith— not on the list, but probably should have been.
Mikie October 10, 2024 at 17:19 #938543
Ethel Kennedy. 96. It amazes me she was still around.
Mikie November 05, 2024 at 00:53 #944811
Quincy Jones
Mikie February 27, 2025 at 19:01 #972669
Gene Hackman. That’s a big one.
Moliere March 01, 2025 at 03:22 #973004
Reply to Mikie Yeah -- quite the tragedy it looks like too. Last I heard it was asphyxiation from a gas leak, explaining why it was him and his wife and one dog.
Mikie March 01, 2025 at 04:19 #973014
Reply to Moliere

I heard carbon monoxide more specifically. But I don’t think they know yet— nor why (ordinary) pills were scattered everywhere.

He was very old in any case— but still. I’d like to know, just out of curiosity.
Mikie June 12, 2025 at 21:30 #994020
Brian Wilson was on my list for a while. :sad: Bad vibrations.