The Centenarians – Movie Folk Who Lived 100 Years or More

Following the gallery of living Hollywood centenarians comes a brief essay further explaining this post. Following that essay is an all-time list of Hollywood movie stars who lived past age 100. (Updated 14 September 2019).

Living Movie Centenarians

Ordered from youngest to oldest …

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Marge Champion

Born September 2, 1919, age 100

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Nehemiah Persoff

Born August 2, 1919, age 100

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Diana Serra Cary
Baby Peggy Montgomery

Born October 29, 1918, age 100

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Marsha Hunt

Born October 17, 1917, age 101

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Kirk Douglas

Born December 9, 1916, age 102

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Olivia de Havilland

Born July 1, 1916, age 103

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Norman Lloyd

Born November 8, 1914, age 104

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Marta Eggerth’s passing in late 2013 got me thinking about centenarians of the movie world. As of October 2018, we still have Diana Serra Cary (Baby Peggy – 100), Fay McKenzie (100), Marsha Hunt (101), Kirk Douglas (101), Olivia de Havilland (102), Norman Lloyd (103), Julie Gibson (105), and a few others who appear in the fuller text list below.

When this post was originally published (December 2013), the following were still with us well: Lupita Tovar (Tovar died November 12, 2016 at 106); Luise Rainer (Rainer died December 30, 2014 at 104); Carla Laemmle (Laemmle died June 12, 2014 at 104); Dancer Marc Platt, of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Oklahoma! (1955) (Platt died March 29, 2014 at 100), and singer Herb Jeffries, who appeared and performed in films produced for black audiences as far back as the 1930s (Jeffries died May 25, 2014 at age 100).

This made me think about other film people who had survived to the century mark and beyond.

When I was growing up George Burns seemed to be the oldest man who ever lived, or so he’d have us think. I remember being shocked to realize that he had only recently turned 100 when he died in 1996! Then Burns’ old pal Bob Hope kind of snuck up on me and not only joined the centenarian club in 2003, but even managed to outlive Burns by ten days when he passed away that same July. One who surprised me by falling just short was Lillian Gish, the oldest public figure I can recall from my youth—older than Burns even—as well as the one whose delightful interviews first inspired me to give silent films a try. Miss Gish was just shy of 99-1/2 when she died in February 1993.

It’s just a number, but who doesn’t want to claim it? In a world where numbers are constantly crushed, statistics compiled and where status is often measured by big bank accounts, it’s reassuring to know that any regular “Jane” or “Joe” can win the battle for longevity. I don’t know about you, but right here and now at the end of 2014 I’d rather be Lupita Tovar, who most famously played in the Spanish-language version of Dracula in 1931, than the Count himself, Bela Lugosi, who left us way back in 1956. While it would be crude to say, “Lupita wins,” that succinct statement is the one buried deep in the back of our minds when we envy Tovar’s success at living.

The problem is we can never know our standing in this ultimate game until the time is here and the greater part of that time has already passed us by. And even so the game can sometimes be cruel. Does anybody envy the longevity of Audrey Munson, “the first nude star,” who appeared in a handful of movies in the late 1910s? She lived out her final sixty years in an upstate New York mental institution, dying at age 105 in 1996. I hope her time passed fast.

I wondered if it might be possible to create a list of all of the centenarians from movie history. Yes, it’s possible, though it would take a bit more fact checking to present it with true authority. Our source is the IMDb. While it’s the best source, we’ve seen in the past that it can be wrong. When it comes to longevity it sometimes has to battle improper record-keeping from less enlightened times (see Herb Jeffries above) and even little white lies of decades past, such as an actor shaving a few years off of their date of birth.

As we approach the list I should point out you may immediately notice that most of our film-related centenarians have only died in the past thirty or so years. Before celebrating our newly found longevity, remember that the history of film has a beginning date. To illustrate that point consider that a centenarian who died in 1980 would have been born in 1880; that same person would have been just twenty-years-old at the turn of the century. They would have been in their mid-thirties by the time of the D.W. Griffith blockbusters. It was more common for an actor’s career to end in their mid-thirties than begin, especially back then. You can only go back so far in history to find people who worked in the movies.

To use another round number by way of example, nobody who was born in the 1700s ever appeared in a movie. So no movie folk died at the age of 100 in the year 1900. Or any other year for quite awhile.

That is why our list doesn’t hit its stride until the 1980s and, hopefully, will grow at an even greater pace in years to come as more and more personalities reach age 100.

More qualifications: The IMDb is an international database. I’ve tried to confine my list to people who worked in Hollywood and appeared in or had their hands on at least a few Golden Age films. If they made their debut on TV in the 1950s, they’re not going to be listed. I also did not want to include actors whose careers depended upon their advanced age. In other words, if your first movie role came as “Old Lady” at age 82 you won’t be listed below. I’ve included a few non-actors, but only the best known such as Irving Berlin or Adolph Zukor (yup, both saw 100), with whom any such list would not be complete.

If I had included everybody the IMDb says topped 100 we would have a very long list of too many obscure and unknown names along with several instances of advanced age via missing paperwork.

I’ve included a few European stars in the image intense sections such as those few shown above and the several to follow. The only reason I did so was because I had the images on hand. No slight is intended towards anyone found on the text list at the bottom of this page, but who is not pictured–I simply had no images available and so they, very likely, did not appear on a collectible issue that I handle.

Following are more of the centenarians who appeared on movie cards and collectibles through the 1910s-1940s. The fact that someone saw fit to include them in a set of cards typically designed to sell other products (tobacco, candy, etc.) speaks well for how they were perceived in their own time. Plus it provides us a peek at our centenarians as they looked in their prime.

Note: I’ve linked most images to Immortal Ephemera Gallery pages.

Deceased Movie Centenarians

Ordered by most recently deceased …

Even more complete text list follows those pictured below.

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Fay McKenzie – 101

Born February 19, 1918 – April 16, 2019

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Mary Carlisle – 104

February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018

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Patricia Morison – 103

March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018

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Danielle Darrieux – 100

May 1, 1917 – October 17, 2017

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Lupita Tovar – 106

July 27, 1910 – November 12, 2016

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Luise Rainer – 104

January 12, 1910 – December 30, 2014

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Martha Eggerth – 101

April 17, 1912 – December 26, 2013

From the original post: We lost yet another classic star before reaching the New Year. Budapest-born Marta or Martha Eggerth is best remembered as an operetta star, but she was an active international film star throughout the 1930s and ‘40s as well, recalled by U.S. fans for her performances in a pair of films starring Judy Garland, For Me and My Gal (1942) and Presenting Lily Mars (1943).

Marta Eggerth was 101 years old.

WQXR posted an obituary and Manuela Hoelterhoff of Bloomberg News posts a 2012 interview with Eggerth at her Rye, NY home.

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Barbara Kent – 103

December 16, 1907 – October 13, 2011

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Doris Eaton – 106

March 14, 1904 – May 11, 2010

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Gloria Stuart – 100

July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010

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Bruce Bennett – 100

May 19, 1906 – February 24, 2007

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Carl Esmond – 102

June 14, 1902 – December 4, 2004

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Mary Ellis – 105

June 15, 1897 – January 30, 2003

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Leni Riefenstahl – 101

August 22, 1902 – September 8, 2003

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Bob Hope – 100

May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003

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Liane Haid – 105

August 16, 1895 – November 28, 2000

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Francis Lederer – 100

November 6, 1899 – May 25, 2000

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George Burns – 100

January 20 1896 – March 9, 1996

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Dorothy Dickson – 102

July 25, 1893 – September 25, 1995

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Gwen Ffrangcon Davies – 101

January 25, 1891 – January 27, 1992

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Irving Berlin – 101

May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989

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Lucile Taft – 106

October 15, 1881 – April 16, 1988

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Mabel Trunnelle – 101

November 8, 1879 – April 29, 1981

List of Movie Related Centenarians

Those pictured above are marked with an asterisk (*). All links go to the IMDb page for that name.

• Julie Gibson – September 6, 1913. Age 106. Actress.
• * Norman Lloyd – November 8, 1914. Age 104. Actor.
• * Olivia de Havilland – July 1, 1916, Age 103. Actress
• * Kirk Douglas – December 9, 1916, Age 102. Actor.
• * Marsha Hunt – October 17, 1917, Age 101. Actress.
• * Diana Serra Cary (Baby Peggy) – October 29, 1918, Age 100. Actress.
• * Nehemiah Persoff – August 2, 1919, Age 100. Actor.
• * Marge Champion – September 2, 1919, Age 100. Dancer, Actress.
• * Fay McKenzie – February 19, 1918 – April 16, 2019. Age 101. Actress.
• * Mary Carlisle – February 3, 1914 – August 1, 2018. Age 104. Actress.
• * Patricia Morison – March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018. Age 103. Actress.
• Connie Sawyer – November 27, 1912 – January 21, 2018. Age 105. Actress.
• * Danielle Darrieux – May 1, 1917 – October 17, 2017. Age 100. Actress.
• Irwin Corey – July 29, 1914 – February 6, 2017. Age 102. Comedian and actor.
• * Lupita Tovar -July 27, 1910 – November 12, 2016. Age 106. Actress.
• Meg Mundy – January 4, 1915 – January 12, 2016. Age 101. Actress
• Wally Cassell – March 3, 1912 – April 2, 2015. Age 103. Actor
• * Luise Rainer – January 12, 1910 – December 30, 2014. Age 104. Actress.
• Carla Laemmle – October 20, 1909 – June 12, 2014, Age 104. Actress.
• Marc Platt – Dec 2 1913 – March 29, 2014, Age 100. Actor-Dancer.
• Herb Jeffries – Sep 24, 1913 – May 25, 2014, Age 100 (using IMDb). Actor-Singer.
• * Martha Eggerth – April 17, 1912 – December 26, 2013, age 101, Actress-Singer.
• John Calvert – August 5, 1911 – September 27, 2013, age 102. Actor.
• Louise Currie – April 7, 1913 – September 8, 2013, age 100. Actress.
• Frederica Sagor – July 6, 1900 – January 5, 2012, age 111. Writer.
• * Barbara Kent – December 16, 1907 – October 13, 2011, age 103. Actress
• Louise Henry – June 14, 1911 – December 12, 2011, age 100. Actress
• * Doris Eaton – March 14, 1904 – May 11, 2010, age 106. Actress
• Yvonne Howell – July 31, 1905 – May 27, 2010, age 104. Actress
• Angela Clarke – August 14, 1909 – December 16, 2010, age 101. Actress
• Georgie Stone – September 3, 1909 – April 25, 2010, age 100. Child actor.
• Robert F. Boyle – October 10, 1909 – August 1, 2010, age 100. Art designer.
• * Gloria Stuart – July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010, age 100. Actress.
• Marie Glory – March 3, 1905 – January 24, 2009, age 103. Actress.
• Paula Langlen – August 12, 1906 – February 27, 2008, age 101. Actress.
• Anne Sheridan – September 27, 1908 – September 29, 2008, age 100. Actress.
• Charles Lane – January 26, 1905 – July 9, 2007, age 102. Actor.
• * Bruce Bennett – May 19, 1906 – February 24, 2007, age 100. Actor.
• Janet Adair – January 7, 1901 – October 1, 2005, age 104. Actress.
• Etta Moten – November 5, 1901 – January 2, 2004, age 102. Actress-Singer.
• * Carl Esmond – June 14, 1902 – December 4, 2004, age 102. Actor.
• * Mary Ellis – June 15, 1897 – January 30, 2003, age 105. Actress.
• * Leni Riefenstahl – August 22, 1902 – September 8, 2003, age 101. Actress-Director.
• * Bob Hope – May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003, age 100. Actor.
• Margaret Booth – January 14, 1898 – October 28, 2002, age 104. Editor.
• * Liane Haid – August 16, 1895 – November 28, 2000, age 105. Actress.
• Carlotta King – July 30, 1898 – February 10, 2000, age 101. Actress-Singer.
• * Francis Lederer – November 6, 1899 – May 25, 2000, age 100. Actor.
• Irving Rapper – January 16, 1898 – December 20, 1999, age 101. Director.
• Jesse De Vorska – July 13, 1898 – December 27, 1999, age 101. Actor.
• Dorothy Stickney – June 21, 1896 – June 2, 1998, age 101. Actress.
• Harold French – April 23, 1897 – October 19, 1997, age 100. Director.
• Ethel Owen – March 30, 1893 – February 16, 1997, age 103. Radio and TV actress.
• Audrey Munson – June 8, 1891 – February 20, 1996, age 104. Actress-Model.
• * George Burns – January 20 1896 – March 9, 1996, age 100. Actor.
• George Abbott – June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995, age 107. Writer.
• Kathleen Harrison – February 23, 1892 – December 7, 1995, age 103. Actress.
• * Dorothy Dickson – July 25, 1893 – September 25, 1995, age 102. Actress.
• Bradbury Foote – April 5, 1894 – December 14, 1995, age 101. Writer.
• Elsie Greeson – March 20, 1895 – June 11, 1995, age 100. Actress.
• Ruth Langdon – January 8, 1892 – December 20, 1993, age 101. Actress.
• Claire Du Brey – August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993, age 100. Actress.
• * Gwen Ffrangcon Davies – January 25, 1891 – January 27, 1992, age 101. Actress.
• Hal Roach – January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992, age 100. Producer.
• Lydia Bilbrook – May 6, 1888 – January 4, 1990, age 101. Actress.
• Athene Seyler – May 31, 1889 – September 12, 1990, age 101. Actress.
• Helen Bray – November 25, 1889 – October 15, 1990, age 100. Actress.
• * Irving Berlin – May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989, age 101. Composer-Songwriter.
• Vesey O’Davoren – December 8, 1888 – May 30, 1989, age 100. Actor.
• Frank M. Thomas – July 13, 1889 – November 25, 1989, age 100. Actor.
• * Lucile Taft – October 15, 1881 – April 16, 1988, age 106. Actress.
• Estelle Winwood – January 24, 1883 – June 20, 1984, age 101. Actress.
• H. Lyman Broening – June 30, 1882 – June 6, 1983, age 100. Cinematographer.
• * Mabel Trunnelle – November 8, 1879 – April 29, 1981, age 101. Actress.
• Leslie Stuart – March 15, 1862 – April 3, 1977, age 115 (Really?). Actor.
• Adolph Zukor – January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976, age 103. Pioneer executive.
• Moy Ming – Janury 10, 1863 – August 16, 1964, age 101. Actor.

Closing in on the century mark are Patricia Marmont (born 1921), Carl Reiner, Janis Paige, Jacqueline White (born 1922), Gloria Henry, Gene Reynolds, Jimmy Lydon, Rhonda Fleming, and Glynis Johns (born 1923).

If I missed someone, or if any information is incorrect, just let me know in the comments.