Age Is No Factor

[EZway2go]

With the recent passing of Sherman Hemsley, I was reminded that his Jeffersons co-star Isabel Sanford died a few years ago, but I wasn't sure when. When I looked it up, I was surprised to find she died 8 years ago at age 86. Since Sherman was only 74, that would have made Louise Jefferson 20 years older than her husband George.

I wondered about what other age differences there must have been on classic television through the years. Probably the most famous had to be William Frawley, who was 22 years older than Vivian Vance on I Love Lucy. Furthermore, Ethel Mertz was played up to be much older than Lucy when, in reality, the two were only a couple years apart.

Although he died 50 years ago, I was surprised that Joseph Kearns on Dennis The Menace was only 55. Since Mr. Wilson was supposed to be retired, he could have easily passed for someone in his 70s. Alice Pearce, the first Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched was only 48 when she died, yet to me she seemed much older.

Maybe that's what happens as we baby boomers get older. Reality sets in and it's hard to believe we are now as old as, or even older than, all the "old grown-ups" we grew up with and looked up to in our youth.

 

[bpatrick]

When "The Dick Van Dyke Show" started in 1961, Dick was 36;
Mary Tyler Moore, 24. Dick had some reservations about casting
an actress that much younger as his wife, but it turned out to be
one of the classic pairings. I don't think viewers really knew or
cared about the age difference.

 

[firepoint525]

Natalie Schafer was something like 20 years older than Jim Backus. They were, of course, the Howells on Gilligan's Island.

 

[jwk1979]

When Sanford and Son debuted, Redd Foxx was only in his late 40's but was playing a 65 year old man. Demond Wilson was playing his 30 year old son but was only about 15 years younger than the Redd Foxx was.

That's happening alot on tv today with actors playing parents to actor not much younger than they are. On BlueBloods, Len Cariou plays Tom Selleck's dad yet he is just 6 years older than Tom Selleck. On Body of Proof, Joanna Cassidy plays Dana Delany's mom, yet she is only 9 years older than Delany. And on "Rizzolli and Isles", Lorraine Bracco plays Angie Harmon's mom, but is only about 16 years older than Angie Harmon.

 

[KeithE4]

When Sanford and Son debuted, Redd Foxx was only in his late 40's but was playing a 65 year old man. Demond Wilson was playing his 30 year old son but was only about 15 years younger than the Redd Foxx was.

That's happening alot on tv today with actors playing parents to actor not much younger than they are. On BlueBloods, Len Cariou plays Tom Selleck's dad yet he is just 6 years older than Tom Selleck. On Body of Proof, Joanna Cassidy plays Dana Delany's mom, yet she is only 9 years older than Delany. And on "Rizzolli and Isles", Lorraine Bracco plays Angie Harmon's mom, but is only about 16 years older than Angie Harmon.

Best known of that group were 60-something Irene Ryan as 80-something Granny on The Beverly Hilbillies, and 60-ish Estelle Getty as 80-ish Sophia on The Golden Girls.

Also on The Beverly Hillbillies, when the show started in 1962, Donna Douglas was 29 when she played 18-year-old Elly May.

If you want to go the opposite direction, Melody Paterson was 16 when she played 20-something Wrangler Jane on F Troop.

 

[jwk1979]

Best known of that group were 60-something Irene Ryan as 80-something Granny on The Beverly Hilbillies, and 60-ish Estelle Getty as 80-ish Sophia on The Golden Girls.

Estelle Getty was actually a couple years younger than Bea Arthur was when she played Dorthy's Mom Sophia in the Golden Girls.

 

[ShawnHill1]

Another show from the Norman Lear factory where age was no factor was Good Times...

Jimmie Walker, who just recently celebrated his 65th birthday, is only nine years younger than his TV dad, John Amos; Amos himself is 19 years younger than his TV wife, Esther Rolle.

 

[Hal Erickson]

Hans Conried was three years younger than Danny Thomas when he played elderly Uncle Tonoose, and only three years older than Tony Randall when he played Tony's dad on the latter's 1976 sitcom.
Tim Moore was CONSIDERABLY older than Ernestine Wade when they played husband and wife on AMOS N ANDY.
Leo Carrillo was 70 years old when he started playing Pancho on THE CISCO KID, and 76 when the show ended.
Lorne Greene was but 13 years older than his "son" Pernell Roberts on BONANZA.
And it has only been revealed in the last 10 years or so that Gracie Allen was several months older than George Burns, rather than 10 years younger.

 

[RicoGregg]

Lorne Greene was but 13 years older than his "son" Pernell Roberts on BONANZA.

In the movie Earthquake, Ava Gardner was cast as Lorne Greene's daughter! Age-wise, they were in the same zip code.

 

[bpatrick]

On "The Bold And The Beautiful," Ronn Moss (Ridge) is 60
in real life; John McCook (Eric, Ridge's adoptive father) is
67 and Susan Flannery (Stephanie, Ridge's mom) is 69.
(Any "B&B" fans here? If so, maybe you can straighten me
out: didn't Stephanie have an affair with some guy from Italy
and Ridge was the result? Or am I wrong and Eric is Ridge's
natural father?)

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Most "teen" stars past and present were/are above 18, some near 30, blame those damn child labor laws

Vicky Lawrence was much younger than her character on Mama's Family

 

[bpatrick]

A gray wig and some makeup will do that for you. IIRC, Vicki
was just out of high school when Carol Burnett hired her in 1967,
so she would probably have been in her 30s when she did "Mama's
Family" in the '80s. She's 63 now.

 

[Braves2005]

Laurie Walters who played Joanie Bradford on Eight Is Enough is 6 months older than Betty Buckley who played her stepmom Abby on the show. She was only 11 years younger than Diana Hyland who played her mother Joan.

Michael Learned from The Waltons is only 11 years older than Richard Thomas (John-Boy).

 

[anotherguyTN]

This subject was partially discussed in the thread about the death of Robert Hegyes of Welcome Back Kotter a few months back: http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=205627.0

On the Jeffersons again, there was only 11 years difference between Sherman Hemsley and both Mike and Damon Evans, who played Loinel and were only a few weeks difference in their ages. (It's odd that the number 11 keeps coming up in this thread. ??? )

On the Cosby Show there was only 10 years difference between Phylicia Rashad and Sabrina Lebauf, who played the oldest daughter Sondra, and only 11 years difference between Bill Cosby and Earle Hyman, who played his dad.

On MASH everyone in the original cast would have aged 11 years in a series that was about a 3 year war. It was mentioned in an early episode that Radar was 19, although Gary Burghoff was actually 29 at the time the series started. So when he left the series in 1979, he was 36, although Radar would have probably been in his early 20's.

Along with that, although it wasn't mentioned what Klinger's actual age was, Jamie Farr was 38 when the series started, which would have been too old for a draftee corporal, and was 49 when the series ended. He was actually older than most of the doctors except McLean Stevenson and Harry Morgan, and also Loretta Swit.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I kind of edited an earlier post and meant for my last post to read that Jamie Farr was older than Loretta Swit, along with most of the doctors. Sorry about the mixup.

 

[larkin]

On The Mothers-In-Law, Roger C. Carmel was only a little 3 years older than his TV son played by Jerry Fogel who, at age 32, was playing a college student. Kaye Ballard who played Jerry's mom is only 11 years older.