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Monday, June 17, 2013

Famous People Who Died in their 90s

Here are some memorable celebrities who lived into their 90s.


90

John Adams: 1735-1826: 2nd President
Eugene Allen: 1919-2010: butler for multiple Presidents
Gertrude Astor: 1887-1977: actress from "Sunset Boulevard"
Richard Attenborough: 1923-2014: actor from "Jurassic Park"
Clara Barton: 1821-1912: nurse that created the "American Red Cross"
Helen Gurley Brown: 1922-2012: editor-in-chief of "Cosmopolitan"
Winston Churchill: 1874-1965: former Prime Minister of Great Britain
Arthur C. Clark: 1917-2008: sci-fi writer
Michael Collins: 1930-2021: NASA astronaut 
Sean Connery: 1930-2020: actor
Marlene Dietrich: 1901-1992: actress from "Judgement at Nuremberg"
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.: 1909-2000: actor from "Robin Hood"
Enzo Ferrari: 1898-1988: inventor of the Ferrari car company
Mel Ferrer: 1917-2008: actor from "War and Peace"
Nadine Gordimer: 1923-2014: writer of "July's People"
James Gregory: 1911-2002: actor from the tv series "Barney Miller"
Philip Baker Hall: 1931-2022: actor from "Seinfeld" 
Herbert Hoover: 1874-1964: 31st President
Jennifer Jones: 1919-2009: actress from "The Towering Inferno"
Jack Klugman: 1922-2012: actor from the tv series "The Odd Couple"
Loretta Lynn: 1932-2022: Country musician singer 
Helen Martin: 1909-2000: actress from "Good Times"
Rose Mattus: 1916-2006: co-founder of "Haagen Dazs"
Jessica McClintock: 1930-2021: fashion designer 
James A. Michener: 1907-1997: writer of "The Source"
Katherine Anne Porter: 1890-1980: writer of "Ship of Fools"
Don Rickles: 1926-2016: comedian
Doris Roberts: 1925-2016: actress from the tv series "Everyone Loves Raymond"
Peter Mark Roget: 1779-1869: published "Roget's Thesaurus"
Colonel Sanders: 1890-1980: founder of KFC
Upton Sinclair: 1878-1968: writer of "The Jungle"
Lali Sokolov: 1916-2006: book "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" based on his survival 
Jean Stapleton: 1923-2013: Edith from the tv series "All in the Family"
Desmond Tutu: 1931-2021: South African Human Right Activist 
Max von Sydow: 1929-2020: actor from "The Exorcist"
Laura Ingalls Wilder: 1867-1957: writer of "The Little House on the Prairie" series
Jane Wyman: 1917-2007: actress from the tv series "Falcon Crest"


91

Gene Autry: 1907-1998: singer
Orson Bean: 1928-2020: actor from "Being John Malkovich" 
Beulah Bondi: 1889-1981: actress from "It's a Wonderful Life"
Fernando Botero: 1932-2023: artist
Ray Bradbury: 1920-2012: writer of "Fahrenheit 451"
Sid Caesar: 1922-2014: comedian from "Your Show of Shows" 
Eric Carle: 1929-2021: writer of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" 
Julia Child: 1912-2004: chef
Hume Cronyn: 1911-2003: actor from "Cocoon"
Ruby Dee: 1922-2014: actress from "American Gangster"
Richard Donner: 1930-2021: director of "The Goonies" 
Max Factor Jr. : 1904-1996: heir of the cosmetic company
E.M. Forster: 1879-1970:  writer of "Passage to India"
Otto Frank: 1889-1990: Anne Frank's father (only surviving family member) 
Hubert de Givenchy: 1927-2018: fashion designer
Greer Garson: 1904-1996: actress 
Phil Harris: 1904-1995: voice actor for Disney, Baloo in "The Jungle Book"
Hugh Hefner: 1926-2017: founder of "Playboy" magazine
Stanley Holloway: 1890-1982: actor from "My Fair Lady"
Norton Juster: 1929-2021: author 
George Kennedy: 1925-2016: actor from "Cool Hand Luke"
Piper Laurie 1932-2023: actress from "Carrie" 
Jerry Lewis: 1926-2017: actor from "The Nutty Professor"
W. Somerset Maugham: 1874-1965: writer of "Of Human Bondage"
Ron Moody: 1924-2015: actor from "Oliver!"
Ennio Morricone: 1928-2020: Academy Award winning Italian composer
Scott O'Dell: 1898-1989: writer of "Island of the Blue Dolphins"
Louella Parsons: 1881-1972: first Hollywood gossip columnist
Pablo Picasso: 1881-1973: artist
Christopher Plummer: 1929-2021: actor from "The Sound of Music" 
J.D. Salinger: 1919-2010: writer of "The Cather in the Rye"
Stephen Sondheim:1930-2021: American composer 
Harry Dean Stanton: 1926-2017: actor from "Big Love"
Peter Thomas: 1924-2016: voice over actor "Forensic Files"
Werner von Trapp: 1915-2007: singer
Henry Travers: 1874-1965: actor from "It's a Wonderful Life"
Paul Tripp: 1911-2002: songwriter
Esther Williams: 1921-2013: actress from "Neptune's Daughter"
Robert Wise :1914-2005: director of "The Sound of Music"
Frank Lloyd Wright: 1867-1959: architect
Andrew Wyeth: 1917-2009: American artist 
Henny Youngman: 1906-1998: comedian


92

Lola Albright: 1924-2017: actress from "Peyton Place" 
Lita Baron: 1923-2015: actress from "I Love Lucy" 
Frances Bay: 1919-2011: actress from "Happy Gilmore"
Martin Bregman: 1926-2018: producer of "Scarface" and "Dog Day Afternoon"
First Lady Barbara Bush 1925-2018
Oleg Cassini: 1913-2006: fashion designer
Mary Higgins Clark: 1927-2020: mystery writer
Imogene Coca: 1908-2001: comedian from "Your Show of Shows" 
Claudette Colbert: 1903-1996 : actress from "It Happened One Night"
Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009: news anchor
Lil Dagover: 1887-1980: actress from "The Cabinet of r. Caligari"
Dolores Donlon: 1920-2012: actress from "77 Sunset Strip" 
Helen Jerome Eddy: 1897-1990: actress from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"
Eileen Ford: 1922-2014: created Ford Modeling Agency
John Forsythe: 1918-2010: actor from the tv series "Dynasty"
Jean Craighead George: 1919-2012: writer of "My Side of the Mountain"
Earl Hamner Jr. 1923-2016: writer of "The Waltons"
Helen Hayes: 1900-1993: stage actress
Peter Hobbs: 1918-2011: actor from "Barney Miller"
Lena Horne: 1917-2010: singer
Willem de Kooning: 1904-1997: artist
Sheila MacRae: 1921-2014: actress from "The Jackie Gleason Show" 
Maurice Marsac: 1915-2007: actor from "The Beverly Hillbillies"
Robert Moses: 1888-1981: city planner for Long Island
Burt Mustin: 1884-1977: actor from "All in the Family" 
Rosa Parks: 1913-2005: civil rights activist
Andy Rooney: 1919-2011: news anchor
Helena Rubinstein: 1872-1965: creator of cosmetic company
Ravi Shankar: 1920-2012: musician
Doris Singleton: 1919-2012: actress from "I Love Lucy"
Jerry Stiller: 1927-2020: comedian/actor from "Seinfeld"


93

Milton Berle: 1908-2002: actor from "The Milton Berle Show"
David Brown: 1916-2010: film producer
Robert Brubaker: 1916-2010: actor from "Gunsmoke" 
Joseph Campanella: 1924-2018: actor from "Dallas"
Jack Carter: 1922-2015: actor from "Shameless" 
John Coolidge: 1906-2000: railroad executive
Fritz Feld: 1900-1993: actor from "Bewitched" 
Betty Ford: 1918-2011: 38th First Lady and founder of the "Betty Ford Center"
Gerald Ford: 1913-2006: the 38th President of the U.S.
Estelle Harris: 1928-2022: actress from "Seinfeld" and "Toy Story" 
Patricia Hitchcock: 1928-2021: Alfred Hitchcock's only child 
Jonathan Hole: 1904-1998: actor from "Petticoat Junction" 
Isabel Jeans" 1891-1985: actress from "Gigi"
Louis Jourdan : 1921-2015: actor from 'Gigi"
Christopher Lee: 1922-2015: actor from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
James Lipton: 1926-2020: host of "Inside the Actors Studio"
Katherine MacGregor: 1925-2018: actress from "Little House on the Prairie"
Jackie Mason: 1928-2021: comedian 
Sandra Day O'Connor: 1930-2023: 1st female Supreme Court Judge 
Gordon Parks: 1912-2006: musician
Molly Picon: 1898-1992: actress from "Fiddler on the Roof"
Ronald Reagan: 1911-2004: 40th President of the U.S.
Elliott Reid: 1920-2013: actor from "Inherit the Wind"
Mickey Rooney: 1920-2014: actor from "The Black Stallion"
William Schallert: 1922-2016: actor from "True Blood" 
Liz Sheridan: 1929-2022: actress from "Seinfeld" 
Frances Sternhagen: 1930-2023: actress from "Cheers" 
Harriet Tubman: 1820-1913: American Abolitionist
Chavela Vargas: 1919-2012: Mexican singer 
Mike Wallace: 1918-2012: news anchor
Barbara Walters: 1929-2022: new anchor 
Fredd Wayne: 1924-2018: actor from "Man on the Moon" 
Richard Widmark: 1914-2008: actor from "Coma" 
Louis Zorich: 1924-2018: actor from "Fiddler on the Roof"


94

Judith Anderson: 1897-1992: actress from "Rebecca"
Burt Bacharach: 1928-2023: songwriter 
Barbara Billingsley: 1915-2010: actress from tv series "Leave it to Beaver"
Billie Bird: 1908-2002: actress from "Home Alone"
Eve Bunting: 1928-2023: children's author 
President George H.W. Bush 1924-2018
Frank Capra: 1897-1991: director of "It's a Wonderful Life"
Michael Gough: 1916-2011: actor from "Batman"
Steven Hill: 1922-2016: actor from the tv series "Law and Order"
Irene Hunt: 1907-2001: writer of "Across Five Aprils"
Josephine Hutchinson: 1903-1998: actress from "Son of Frankenstein"
P.D. James: 1920-2014: mystery writer
Lady Bird Johnson: 1912-2007: 36th First Lady of the U.S.
Elia Kazan: 1909-2003: director of "On the Waterfront"
Milan Kundera: 1929-2023: author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" 
Charles Lazarus: 1923-2018: founder of "Toys "R" Us".
Cloris Leachman: 1926-2021: actress from "The Last Picture Show"
Doris Lessing: 1919-2013: writer of "The Golden Notebook"
Anne Morrow Lindbergh: 1906-2001: writer of "The Gift From the Sea"
Astrid Lindgren: 1907-2002: writer of "Pippi Longstocking"
Rose Marie: 1923-2017: actress from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" 
Sid Melton: 1917-2011: actor from "The Golden Girls" 
Shirley Mitchell: 1919-2013: actress from "Green Acres" 
Byron Morrow: 1911-2006: actor from "The Rockford Files" 
Kumar Pallana: 1918-2013: actor from "The Royal Tenenbaums"
Les Paul: 1915-2009: musician
Pauline Phillips:1918-2013: writer of the column "Dear Abby"
Sidney Poitier: 1927-2022: actor from "Lilies of the Field" 
Nancy Reagan; 1921-2016: 40th First Lady of the U.S.
Estelle Reiner: 1914-2008: actress and mom of Rob Reiner
Charles "Buddy" Rogers: 1904-1999: actor from "Wings"
Artie Shaw: 1910-2004: musician
George Bernard Shaw: 1856-1950: writer of "Pygmalion"
Dodie Smith: 1896-1990: writer of "I Capture the Castle"
Liz Smith: 1923-2017: gossip columnist
Dr. Benjamin Spock: 1903-1998: world renown doctor/ author
Brother Theodore: 1906-2001:  actor from "The 'Burbs"
Joe Turkel: 1927-2022: actor from "The Shining" 
Abe Vigoda: 1921-2016: actor from "The Godfather"
Nedra Volz: 1908-2003: actress from the tv series "The Dukes of Hazzard"
Elizabeth Wilson: 1921-2015: actress from "The Addams Family"


95

Val Bisoglio: 1926-2021: actor from "Saturday Night Fever"  
Ernest Borgnine: 1917-2012: actor from "Marty"
Pat Carroll:1927-2022: voice of Ursula in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" 
Mona Darkfeather: 1882-1977: actress: silent film era
Phyllis Diller: 1917-2012: comedian
W.E.B. Du Bois: 1868-1963: poet
Buddy Ebsen: 1908-2003: actor from the tv series "The Beverly Hillbillies"
Mark Felt: 1913-2008: FBI agent who was known as "Deep Throat" during Watergate
John Glenn: 1921-2016: first American astronaut to orbit the earth
Edith Hamilton: 1867-1963: writer of "Mythology"
Elliot Handler: 1916-2011: co-founder of Mattel and co-inventor of Barbie 
Hal Holbrook: 1925-2021: actor from "Into the Wild" 
Celeste Holm: 1917-2012: actress from "All About Eve"
Leonid Kinskey: 1903-1998: actor from "Casablanca"
Jake LaMotta: 1921-2017: World famous boxer
Marc Lawrence: 1910-2005: actor from "Marathon Man"
Stan Lee: 1922-2018: Comic book writer
Gina Lollobrigida: 1927-2023: actress from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1956) 
Nelson Mandela: 1918-2013: (once) President of South Africa
Oscar Mayer: 1859-1955: creator of the Oscar Mayer meat company
Jayne Meadows: 1919-2015: actress from "Hollywood Squares"
Noel Neill: 1920-2016: actress from the tv series "The Adventures of Superman"
Maureen O'Hara: 1920-2015: actress from "Miracle on 34th Street"
Pope Benedict XVI: 1927-2022 
Jean Porter: 1922-2018: actress from "Little Miss Broadway"
A. J. Richards: 1909-2004: CEO of the electronic chain P.C. Richards and Son
Liz Smith: 1921-2016: actress from "A Christmas Carol" 1984
William Steig: 1907-2003: writer of "Shrek"
Gloria Vanderbilt: 1924-2019: American heiress and socialite
Virginia Vincent: 1918-2013: actress from "I Want to Live!"
Billy Wilder: 1906-2002: director of "Some Like it Hot"
Ian Wolfe: 1896-1992: actor from "Rebel without a Cause"


96

Richard Adams: 1920-2016: writer of "Watership Down"
Marian Anderson: 1897-1993: singer
Mary Anderson: 1918-2014: actress from "Gone with the Wind"
Harry Belafonte: 1927-2023: singer 
George Blakeley: 1910-2007: producer at 20th Century-Fox Pictures
Lucille Bliss: 1916-2012: voice actress from the tv series "The Smurfs"
Virginia Brissac: 1883-1979: actress from "Rebel Without a Cause" 
Frank Cady: 1915-2012: actor from the tv series "Green Acres"
Rosalynn Carter: 1927-2023: Former First Lady of U.S.A 
Arlene Dahl: 1925-2021: actress from "One Life to Live" 
Bill Erwin: 1914-2010: actor from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"
Joan Fontaine: 1917-2013: actress from "Rebecca"
Naomi Parker Fraley: 1922-2018: "real" Rosie the Riveter
John Gielgud: 1904-2000: actor from "Arthur"
Martha Graham: 1894-1991: ballerina
Monty Hall: 1921-2017: gameshow host "Let's Make a Deal"
Viola Harris: 1920-2017: actress from "The Other Guys"
Katharine Hepburn: 1907-2003: actress from "The African Queen"
Clifton James: 1920-2017: actor from "Cool Hand Luke"
Robert Earl Jones: 1910-2006: actor from "The Sting" 
Madge Kennedy: 1897-1981: actress from "Lust for Life"
Henry King: 1886-1982: director of "The Song of Bernadette"
Helen Kleeb: 1907-2003: actress from "The Waltons"
Angela Landsbury: 1925-2022: voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"
Jack LaLanne: 1914-2011: exercise and nutritional expert
Kevin McCarthy: 1914-2010: actor from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" 
Al Molinaro: 1919-1915: actor from the tv series "Happy Days"
Harry Morgan: 1915-2011: actor from the tv series "M*A*S*H"
Levi P. Morton: 1824-1920: 22nd Vice President of the U.S.
Don Pardo: 1918-2014: announcer for SNL and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Queen Elizabeth II: 1926-2022: Queen of England 
P.L. Travers: 1899-1996: writer of the "Mary Poppins" series
Cicely Tyson: 1924-2021: actress from "The Help"
Ben Welden: 1901-1997: actor from "The Adventures of Superman" 
Simon Wiesenthal: 1908-2005: writer of "The Sunflower"
Fay Wray: 1907-2004: actress from "King Kong"
Jane Wyatt: 1910-2006: actress from the tv series "Father Knows Best"
Alan Young: 1919-2016: actor from the tv series "Mister Ed"


97

Leon Askin: 1907-2005: actor from Hogan's Heros" 
Clarence Brown: 1890-1987: director of "The Yearling"
Marc Chagall: 1887-1985: artist
Shirley Chambers: 1913-2011: actress from "Gone With the Wind" 
Doris Day: 1922-2019: actress from "Pillow Talk"
Nanette Fabray: 1920-2018: actress from "The Love Boat"
Sylvia Field: 1901-1998: actress from tv series "Dennis the Menace" 
Rhonda Fleming: 1923-2020: actress from "Out of the Past" 
Ethel Griffies: 1878-1975: actress from "The Birds" 
June Havoc: 1912-2010: actress from "The Gentleman's Agreement"
George Huntington Hartford II: 1911-2008: Businessman and Heir to A&P supermarkets
Betty Jaynes 1921-2018: actress from "I Love Lucy" 
Norman Jewison: 1926-2024: director of "Moonstruck" 
Art Linkletter: 1912-2010: comedian
Louise Lorimer: 1898-1995: actress from "Dragnet"
Bill Macy: 1922-2019: actor from "Maude"
Karl Malden: 1912-2009: actor from "A Streetcar Named Desire"
John Mills: 1908-2005: actor from "Gandhi"
Barbara Perry: 1921-2019: actress from "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
Dorothy Phillips: 1882-1980: actress from "Father of the Bride"
John D. Rockefeller: 1839-1937: oil company executive
Scott Seaton: 1871-1968: actor from "Gone with the Wind"
Anne G. Sterling: 1916-2014: actress from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" 
Nora Swinburne: 1902-2000: actress from "Anne of a Thousand Days" 
Agathe von Trapp: 1913-2010: singer
Bess Truman: 1885-1982: 33rd First Lady of the U.S.
Janet Waldo: 1919-2016: voice actress from "The Jetsons" and "Smurfs"
Judge Joseph Wapner: 1919-2017: American judge from "The People's Court"
Chuck Yeager: 1923-2020: first pilot to exceed the speed of sound 
Louis Zamperini: 1917-2014: WWII subject for the book/movie "Unbroken"


98

Alicia Alonso: 1921-2019: Prima Ballerina and choreographer
Louise Bourgeois: 1911-2010: sculpter
Nathan Boya: 1924-2022: first black person to successfully survive a stunt over Niagara Falls 
Argentina Brunetti: 1907-2005: actress from "It's a Wonderful Life"
Edward Burnham: 1916-2015: actor from "Dr. Who" 
Ernestine Gilbreth Carey: 1908-2006: writer of "Cheaper By the Dozen"
Pierre Cardin: 1922-2020: fashion designer 
Movita Castaneda: 1916-2015: actress from "Mutiny on the Bounty"
Ruth Clifford: 1900-1998: actress from "Sunset Boulevard"
Helen Dickson: 1885-1983: actress from "I Love Lucy" 
Lillian Disney: 1899-1997: artist (Walt Disney's wife)
Bob Dole: 1923-2021: American Politician 
Gertrude Ederle: 1904-2003: first woman to swim across the English Channel
Josip Elic: 1921-2019: actor from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Ruth Ford: 1911-2009: actress from "Play It Where It Lays"
James Nance Garner: 1868-1967: 32nd Vice President of the U.S.
George Gaynes: 1917-2016: actor from the tv series "Punky Brewster"
Jester Hairston: 1901-2000: actor from "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Dona Hardy: 1912-2011: actress from "Superbad" 
Anthony Havelock-Allan: 1904-2003: producer of "Romeo and Juliet"
Gloria Henry 1923-2021: actress from TV show "Dennis the Menace" 
Robert Emmett Keane: 1883-1981: actor from "Boys Town"
Noah Keen: 1920-2019: actor from "The Six Million Dollar Man"
Don Keefer: 1916-2014: actor from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
Angie Turner King: 1905-2004: U.S. mathematician 
Sir Lancealot: 1902-2001: actor/singer from "To Have and Have Not"
Nolan Leary: 1889-1987: actor from "Pollyanna"
Jerry Maren: 1920-2018: actor. last munchkin from "The Wizard of Oz" to pass away.
Tony Martin: 1913-2012: American singer
Oswald Morris: 1915-2014: cinematographer 
Forbes Murray: 1884-1982: actor from "Perry Mason" 
Nolan Leary: 1889-1987: actor from "Lassie" 
Georgia O'Keeffe: 1887-1986: artist
Anita Page: 1910-2008: actress from "The Broadway Melody"
Leslie Phillips: 1924-2022: actor from "Out of Africa" 
Carl Reiner: 1922-2020: comedian, writer, director, created "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
Adeline De Walt Reynolds: 1862-1961: actress from "Come Live with Me"
Alicia Rhett: 1915-2014: actress from "Gone With the Wind"
Conrado San Martin: 1921-2019: actor from "Once Upon a Time in the West"
Elizabeth Sellars: 1921-2019: actress from "The Barefoot Contessa" (1954)
Lilia Skala: 1896-1994: actress from "Lilies of the Field"
Margot Stevenson: 1912-2011: actress from "Rabbit, Run"
Tamara Tchinarova: 1919-2017: ballerina
Florence Vanderbilt-Twombly: 1854-1952: heiress 
Dorothy Vaughan: 1910-2008: Mathematician and NASA scientist 
Eli Wallach: 1915-2014: actor from "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"


99

Eddie Albert: 1906-2005: actor from "Roman Holiday"
Renee Asherson: 1915-2014: actress from "The Others"
Bob Barker: 1923-2023: Host of "The Price is Right" 
Janet Barrett: 1916-2015: actress from "Gone With the Wind" 
Louis Blau: 1915-2014: Hollywood entertainment attorney
Mary Carr: 1874-1973: actress from "The Shop Around the Corner"
Juana Chavez: 1892-1991: mother of Cesar Chavez 
Joan Copeland: 1922-2022: actress from "Jungle 2 Jungle" 
Michael DeBakey: 1908-2008: world renown heart surgeon
Carmen Dirigo: 1907-2007: Hollywood hair stylist 
Hugh Downs: 1921-2020: News anchor from NBC news and 20/20
Donald Elson: 1923-2022: actor from "Chaplin" 
June Foray: 1917-1917: voice actress, Lucifer from "Disney's Cinderella"
Zsa Zsa Gabor: 1917-2016: actress from "Moulin Rouge"
Lillian Gish: 1893-1993: actress from "The Night of the Hunter"
Billy Graham: 1918-2018: Christian minister
Lorna Gray: 1917-2017: actress from "O, My Darling Clementine"
Maggie Griffin: 1920-2020: Kathy Griffin's mother on reality show "My Life on the D-List"
Al Hirschfeld: 1903-2003: artist
William Hoy: 1862-1961: deaf baseball center fielder
Reuben Klamer: 1922-2021: creator of the board game "LIFE" 
Patti Lewis: 1921-2022: 1st wife of Jerry Lewis and mother of his six children (all disinherited)
Norma Miller: 1919- 2019: actress from "Malcolm X"
Juanita Moore: 1914-2014: actress from "Imitation of Life"
Wood Moy: 1918-2017: actor from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
Noreen Nash 1924-2023: actress from "Ziegfeld Follies" 
Ronald Neame: 1911-2010: director of "The Poseidon Adventure" 
Prince Philip: 1921-2021: British royalty 
Gloria Richardson: 1922-2021: Civil Right Activist 
Joyce Randolph: 1924-2024: actress from "The Honeymooners" 
Mira Rostova: 1909-2009: acting coach 
Max Schmeling: 1905-2005: boxer 
Edward Shames: 1922-2021: last surviving solider from "The Band of Brothers" 
Vincent Sherman: 1906-2006: director of "Adventures of Don Juan"
Sara Sothern: 1895-1994: actress and mother of Elizabeth Taylor 
Rise Stevens: 1913-2013: actress from "Going My Way"
Larry Storch: 1923-1922: actor from "The Great Race" 
Fay Tincher: 1884-1983: silent film actress 
Maria Von Trapp: 1914-2014: singer/Inspiration for "The Sound of Music"
Betty White: 1922-2021: actress from "The Golden Girls" 
William Woodson: 1917-2017: voice actor from "The Lucy Show"

Monday, June 10, 2013

Comparisons between "Downton Abbey" and "Upstairs, Downstairs"




WARNING: COMPLETE SPOILER ALERT FOR BOTH SERIES

  Upstairs, Downstairs (1971-1975) Compared to  Downton Abbey (2010- present)



SIMILARITIES

In both shows the money is from the mother's side of the family.

In "Upstairs, Downstairs" the son kisses a maid.  In "Downton Abbey" the father kisses a maid.

In both shows there is a gay butler. Alfred in "Upstairs, Downstairs" and Thomas in "Downton..."

In "Downton Abbey" the maid, Ethel gets pregnant by a solider.  In "Upstairs.." the maid, Mary gets raped by a former employers' son. 

The daughter Elizabeth in "Upstairs..." has a very rebellious behavior similar to the daughter Sybil in "Downton.."  Sybil fights for women's equality and the right to vote, as does Elizabeth. 

In "Upstairs..." Elizabeth marries Lawrence a rebel poet against her family's wishes.  In "Downton.." Sybil marries Irish socialist, Tom to her family's dismay.

In both shows they try and contact the dead.  In "Upstairs..." by a seance and by Ouija board in "Downton..."

In "Downton.." the cook is in need of glasses as is the nanny in "Upstairs..."

In "Downton..." the head butler, Mr. Carson, once performed on the vaudeville stage as does Sarah the maid in "Upstairs..."

In both shows the masters take a real gamble in the stock market. 

In "Downton..." after Sir Robert loses all the family's money, Matthew, saves the estate with money he has  inherited in a will.  In "Upstairs..." after Lady Marjorie's father dies she learns from his will that she must sell her estate.  Their daughter, Elizabeth, buys back the house for them through money she made on the stock market and money from a lover.  

In both shows the wealthy Mother-in-Law does not step in to help save her daughter's estate. 

Daughters from both shows have an unfortunate one night stand. In "Upstairs..." daughter, Elizabeth gets pregnant as result of a one night fling.  In "Downton..." daughter, Mary, has her one time lover die of a heart attack during their sexual encounter.  

Each show has an unfortunate labor go wrong.  In "Upstairs.." the maid Sarah gets pregnant with the house's son James' baby.  She lives but gives birth to a stillborn boy.  In "Downton...." Sybil dies while giving birth to her daughter, the family later names her Sybil. 

In "Downton..." footman, Thomas, steals wine from the cellar.  In "Upstairs..." so does maid, Sarah. 

In "Downton..." a snuff-box goes missing, starting questioning between the staff.  In "Upstairs..." it is a missing broach. 

In "Downton..." the valet, Mr. Bates', has an estranged wife, Vera, who threatens to go to the newspaper with the story of Mary's one night stand.  In "Upstairs..." a soldier threatens to publish love letters of Lady Marjorie's that he found on a dead solider.  

In "Downton..." Matthew gets wounded in WWI and it leaves him temporary in a wheelchair. He is worried he will be impotent.  In "Upstairs..." Elizabeth leaves her husband because he is impotent.

Both shows deal with suicide.  In "Downton.." valet, Mr. Bates has an estranged wife that poisons herself.  In "Upstairs..." a maid named Emily hangs herself.  

In "Downton..." the master's valet, Mr. Bates gets sent to jail for murdering his estranged wife, Vera. Only to have the verdict overturned.  In "Upstairs..." parlor maid, Rose, gets sent to jail for being involved in a violent rally for women's rights.  She was only there to stop Elizabeth from attending.

Both shows have a footman named Alfred, maids named Gwen and Daisy and a chauffeur named Tom. 

In "Downton..." daughter, Edith, gets her column published in the newspaper.  In "Upstairs..." Lawrence gets his poem published in the paper.

In both series the staff get a day off for the fair.

In "Downton..." Sir Robert Crawley's cousin and heir to the estate Sir James Crawley and his son, Patrick, die in the sinking of the Titanic.  In "Upstairs..." the woman of the house, Lady Marjorie Bellamy dies aboard it. 

In "Downton.." a valet named Henry, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from battles he fought in war.  In "Upstairs," butler, Edward, also suffers from shell shock from the same reason.

In "Downton..." the head maid, Ms. Hughes sneaks food to former maid Ethel.  In "Upstairs..." head maid, Rose sneaks food to Alfred a former footman.  

In "Downton..." the cook, Mrs. Patmore always picks on her assistant, Daisy.  In "Upstairs..." the cook Mrs. Bridges always picks on her assistant, Ruby.

Both series include England entering WWI.

In "Downton.." the daughter Sybil becomes a nurse during WWI.  In "Upstairs..." the cousin Georgina serves as a nurse.

In "Downton..." Lady Crawley suffers from a miscarriage.  In "Upstairs.." Lady Hazel Bellamy and the maid Daisy also suffers from one.

In both series the households open their houses to the victims of WWI.

In both series male members from the family and staff join the armed forces during WWI.

In both shows the son and son-in-law are temporary in a wheelchair after WWI.

Both houses own dogs.