Special Report

Celebrities Over 80 Who Are Still Fan Favorites

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Advances in medicine and the fact that at least part of the population takes better care of itself than it used to (less smoking, more visits to the gym, etc.) have had an unmistakable effect on our collective longevity. Average life expectancy at birth in the U.S. in 1921 was 60 years. In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, it was 76.1 years – and that was actually a decline, presumably not permanent, from a high of 78.8 years in 2019, thanks largely to COVID-19. (You’re apt to live longer in some places than others, though. These are the states with the longest life expectancy according to the CDC.)

The good news about growing older – besides the fact that, as the joke goes, you no longer have to worry about dying young – is that the longer you last, the better the odds are that you’ll last even longer. According to the CDC, Americans who reach the age of 65 today will live an average of 18.4 more years – until they’re 83 (and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are now almost 55 million Americans over 65, twice what there were 50 years ago).

Of course, everybody ages differently. “Eighty,” it has been said, “is the new 60,” and “Age is just a number.” But there are plenty of 80-year-olds who look and act and feel 80, if not older – and the tragedy of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 300,000 people in this country, many of them in their 40s or 50s.

On the other hand, most likely due to some combination of good genes, good habits, and sheer good luck, an increasing number of people of advanced years remain not only healthy but active in highly public and often highly influential roles.

Consider controversial media mogul Rupert Murdoch (92), Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (91), Pope Francis (87). And of course the major American political figure generally considered to be the leader of the free world is 80.

Or consider the entertainment industry: Betty White hosted “Saturday Night Live” at 88; B.B. King toured until he was 89; Tony Bennett may have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016, but he continued recording and performing live for another five years, making his last public appearance, with his sometime collaborator Lady Gaga, at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan in celebration of his 95th birthday. (And here’s a list of 25 famous actors who lived to be over 100.)

Click here for a list of celebrities who are 80 or older and still going strong

Any number of well-known actors, directors, musicians, and television personalities are still going strong into their ninth decade. To determine the most famous celebrities who are 80 and older, 24/7 Tempo drew information on birthdates from OpusData, a service of The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services, then ranked octogenarians and nonagenarians based on average daily Wikipedia pageviews between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2022.  

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41. Kris Kristofferson
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,594 per day
> Birthdate: June 22, 1936
> Age: 87 years

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40. Brian Wilson
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,644 per day
> Birthdate: June 20, 1942
> Age: 81 years

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

39. Shirley MacLaine
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,722 per day
> Birthdate: April 24, 1934
> Age: 89 years

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

38. John Williams
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,770 per day
> Birthdate: Feb. 8, 1932
> Age: 91 years

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Andreas Rentz / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

37. Donald Sutherland
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,933 per day
> Birthdate: July 17, 1935
> Age: 88 years

Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

36. Paul Simon
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,934 per day
> Birthdate: Oct. 13, 1941
> Age: 81 years

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Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

35. Quincy Jones
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 4,966 per day
> Birthdate: March 14, 1933
> Age: 90 years

John Phillips / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

34. Mel Brooks
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,066 per day
> Birthdate: June 28, 1926
> Age: 97 years

Evan Agostini / Getty Images

33. Gene Hackman
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,135 per day
> Birthdate: Jan. 30, 1930
> Age: 93 years

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Cindy Ord / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

32. Martha Stewart
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,168 per day
> Birthdate: Aug. 3, 1941
> Age: 82 years

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

31. Ridley Scott
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,318 per day
> Birthdate: Nov. 30, 1937
> Age: 85 years

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Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

30. Robert Duvall
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,352 per day
> Birthdate: Jan. 5, 1931
> Age: 92 years

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29. Christopher Walken
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,557 per day
> Birthdate: March 31, 1943
> Age: 80 years

Jerry Markland / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

28. Chuck Norris
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,760 per day
> Birthdate: March 10, 1940
> Age: 83 years

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Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

27. Joe Pesci
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,798 per day
> Birthdate: Feb. 9, 1943
> Age: 80 years

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

26. Jon Voight
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 5,918 per day
> Birthdate: Dec. 29, 1938
> Age: 84 years

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Lia Toby / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

25. Ian McKellen
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,002 per day
> Birthdate: May 25, 1939
> Age: 84 years

Rich Polk / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

24. Robert Redford
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,046 per day
> Birthdate: Aug. 18, 1936
> Age: 86 years

Jemal Countess / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

23. James Earl Jones
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,056 per day
> Birthdate: Jan. 17, 1931
> Age: 92 years

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Rich Fury / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

22. Patrick Stewart
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,129 per day
> Birthdate: July 13, 1940
> Age: 83 years

Carlos Alvarez / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

21. Judi Dench
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,183 per day
> Birthdate: Dec. 9, 1934
> Age: 88 years

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Jeff Spicer / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

20. Michael Caine
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,333 per day
> Birthdate: March 14, 1933
> Age: 90 years

Brandon Bell / Getty Images News via Getty Images

19. Willie Nelson
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,406 per day
> Birthdate: April 29, 1933
> Age: 90 years

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

18. Martin Sheen
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,419 per day
> Birthdate: Aug. 3, 1940
> Age: 83 years

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Greg Doherty / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

17. Anthony Hopkins
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 6,581 per day
> Birthdate: Dec. 31, 1937
> Age: 85 years

Tabatha Fireman / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

16. Maggie Smith
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,015 per day
> Birthdate: Dec. 28, 1934
> Age: 88 years

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Ethan Miller / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

15. Mick Jagger
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,193 per day
> Birthdate: July 26, 1943
> Age: 80 years

Arturo Holmes / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

14. Ringo Starr
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,197 per day
> Birthdate: July 7, 1940
> Age: 83 years

Arturo Holmes / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

13. Martin Scorsese
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,233 per day
> Birthdate: Nov. 17, 1942
> Age: 80 years

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12. Morgan Freeman
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,590 per day
> Birthdate: June 1, 1937
> Age: 86 years

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

11. Barbra Streisand
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,592 per day
> Birthdate: April 24, 1942
> Age: 81 years

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Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

10. Dick Van Dyke
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,649 per day
> Birthdate: Dec. 13, 1925
> Age: 97 years

Emma McIntyre / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

9. Julie Andrews
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 7,768 per day
> Birthdate: Oct. 1, 1935
> Age: 87 years

Emma McIntyre / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

8. Jane Fonda
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 8,265 per day
> Birthdate: Dec. 21, 1937
> Age: 85 years

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Kevin Winter / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

7. Bob Dylan
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 8,416 per day
> Birthdate: May 24, 1941
> Age: 82 years

Allen Berezovsky / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

6. Jack Nicholson
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 9,093 per day
> Birthdate: April 22, 1937
> Age: 86 years

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Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

5. Al Pacino
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 10,182 per day
> Birthdate: April 25, 1940
> Age: 83 years

Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

4. Robert De Niro
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 10,233 per day
> Birthdate: Aug. 17, 1943
> Age: 80 years

Amy Sussman / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

3. Harrison Ford
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 11,124 per day
> Birthdate: July 13, 1942
> Age: 81 years

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Mike Coppola / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

2. Paul McCartney
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 12,476 per day
> Birthdate: June 18, 1942
> Age: 81 years

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1. Clint Eastwood
> Avg. Wikipedia pageviews: 16,367 per day
> Birthdate: May 31, 1930
> Age: 93 years

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