18 Notable People From History With Serious Longevity
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Vote up the figures who have - or had - serious staying power.
The Grim Reaper comes for us all in the end, but some people really keep him waiting. While many notable figures have passed way before their time, the folks featured here - alive and deceased - have all made it at least well into their 90s.
From the oil tycoon whose last wish went unfulfilled to the beloved TV star who had one last joke up her sleeve, this collection looks at those who led incredibly long lives.
On December 12, 1925, the world’s first motel opened in San Luis Obispo, CA. One day later, Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born in West Plains, MO. That first motel closed its doors for the last time back in 1991, whereas Van Dyke’s TV career was still going some three decades beyond that.
In a 2021 interview, he expressed his hope of making it to that milestone year:
The point is to enjoy it. I’m looking forward to 100. George Burns made it and I’m gonna do it too!
- Age: 99
- Birthplace: West Plains, USA, Missouri
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
- Theatre Magazine Company
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
When George Abbott - who became a producer and director in both theater and film - was born in a small town in western New York in 1887, Grover Cleveland was president; it was two years before the Dakotas were admitted into the Union; and the Gilded Age was in full swing.
Some 57 years later, a columnist remarked that nobody alive came close to matching the sheer volume of output by the man known as “Mr. Broadway” - and his career still had almost 40 years left.
Abbott stayed active all of his life, and even turning 100 didn’t slow him down much. He passed peacefully in 1995 at the astonishing age of 107.
- Age: Dec. at 107 (1887-1995)
- Birthplace: Forestville, New York, USA
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
A bona fide comedy legend, Mel Brooks has been entertaining audiences for more than seven decades and has written, produced, and starred in some of the most influential comedies ever made.
Back in the 1950s and ‘60s, Brooks performed a series of sketches alongside Carl Reiner (who lived to be 98) as the 2,000-year-old man. He’s now getting closer to realizing that age in real life.
Brooks was born in 1926, the same year Harry Houdini died; evidently, the world can only harbor so many great showmen at once.
- Age: 98
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
- Marion S. Trikosko
- Wikimedia Commons
- No known copyright restrictions
Perhaps the most influential entertainer of the 20th century, Bob Hope was born in England in 1903 - the same year as the Wright Brothers’ historic maiden flight - and moved to Cleveland, OH, at a young age. He was still working by the turn of the 21st century, into his 90s. His legal first name was Leslie, but he chose Bob as a friendlier stage name.
A stage and movie actor and a pioneer of stand-up comedy, Hope began entertaining American soldiers way back in 1941 and kept up a busy schedule for the next 50 years. Although his place as an entertainment legend was assured, his act grew stale in his later years.
Few things age quite as quickly as comedy, and Hope’s tired and outdated jokes about women and minorities alienated younger audiences. At a time when such comics as Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin were using their acts to speak truth to power and poke fun at the establishment, Hope was very much part of that establishment himself. The prevailing feeling was that he had stayed in the limelight a little too long.
In 1998, his “death” was announced by Arizonan Robert “Bob” Stump, a retired US Representative and Senator who mistakenly read a prepared obituary by the Associated Press and assumed Hope had passed. The comedian's actual demise didn't come for another five years, a few months after his 100th birthday.
- Age: 65
- Birthplace: Eltham, England, UK
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
George Burns enjoyed a career renaissance beginning in 1975 - at age 79 - with an Oscar-winning turn in The Sunshine Boys, his first film role in 36 years. Even more remarkable was the fact he’d had a triple bypass just six weeks before filming began and had learned the entire script by heart. This unlikely comeback story lasted almost 20 years.
In 1983 - still well short of his centenary - he authored a book titled How To Live To Be 100 Or More and pledged to make good on that promise with tongue firmly in cheek:
Will I reach 100? Sure. I'm booked into the London Palladium in January of 1996.
Sure enough, Burns made it to 100, which he credited to a balanced diet, daily naps, and an exercise routine that would have put much younger men to shame.
- Age: Dec. at 100 (1896-1996)
- Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
Impressive longevity?Kirk Douglas - born Issur Danielovitch - overcame extreme poverty and discrimination as the child of Russian Jewish immigrants in New York to become one of the top leading men of the golden age of Hollywood. As a child, he took on several jobs to get by and carried that work ethic into his acting career, averaging three movies a year at his peak.
He survived multiple health scares - as well as a 1991 helicopter crash that claimed the lives of two passengers - to make it all the way to 103. His final movie role came in Empire State Building Murders in 2008, 62 years after his first appearance in film, in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
- Age: Dec. at 103 (1916-2020)
- Birthplace: Amsterdam, New York, USA
Impressive longevity?If you've ever seen a nature documentary produced by the BBC, you’ve heard that voice. Sir David Attenborough has written, produced, and narrated documentaries for the network since the 1950s, and is still active to this day.
Born on May 8, 1926, in Middlesex, England, the biologist, natural historian and author is just a few months younger than the very medium he's had such a celebrated career on.
- Age: 98
- Birthplace: London, England, UK
Impressive longevity?The 39th US President tends to be ranked somewhere in the middle of the pack by historians. His efforts to promote human rights and environmental concerns in the White House were laudable, but a sluggish economy consigned him to a single term as president.
Since leaving the White House in 1980, Carter has earned a reputation as the greatest ex-president in recognition of his decades of humanitarian and philanthropic efforts. He became the longest-lived former president in 2019, beating the record of one of his successors, George H.W. Bush (who lived to 94).
- Age: Dec. at 100 (1924-2024)
- Birthplace: Plains, Georgia, United States of America
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
Best known for his long stint as the host of The Price Is Right, Bob Barker’s signature send-off to remind viewers to spay and neuter pets was responsible for a drastic reduction in the rate of animals euthanized in the US. Since 1973, the rate has plummeted from 13.5 million to 1.5 million in 2009.
Barker was born in Darrington, WA, on December 12, 1923, just a few weeks after the arrest of Adolf Hitler, following the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch, also called the Munich Putsch.
- Age: Dec. at 99 (1923-2023)
- Birthplace: Darrington, USA, Washington
Impressive longevity?The British monarch traditionally sends a congratulatory message to any subject celebrating their 100th birthday. Over the course of her 70-year reign, Elizabeth II sent out many centenary messages but didn’t quite make that milestone herself. Longevity clearly runs in the family; her mother made it to 101, while her husband passed a year before her at 97.
A lot changed over the course of her life; when she was born in April 1926, the British Empire was near its territorial peak, though in major decline after the First World War. By the time she took the throne in 1953, Britain was at the beginning of its decolonization phase. At the time of her demise, that globe-spanning empire was merely a handful of overseas territories.
- Age: Dec. at 96 (1926-2022)
- Birthplace: England, London
Impressive longevity?Betty White was in grade school when sliced bread was invented back in 1928, so she may have actually had some idea about what the best thing was before that.
Her longevity can best be illustrated by the fact that after she starred as Rose Nylund from 1985 to 1992 in The Golden Girls - whose premise was about women enjoying their golden years - she continued to work in TV for another 30 years. White passed just 2 ½ weeks before her 100th birthday, and just after a special celebrating her centenary had been filmed. Even in death, this most golden of gals just had to have the last laugh.
- Age: Dec. at 99 (1922-2021)
- Birthplace: Oak Park, Illinois, USA
Impressive longevity?One of the most polarizing public figures of the 20th century, Henry Kissinger was Richard Nixon’s national security adviser and later Secretary of State (a position he retained in the Ford administration). The first foreign-born Secretary of State, Kissinger and his family moved to the US from Germany in 1938 to escape Nazi persecution. After distinguished service with the US Army in WWII, he began his academic career at Harvard.
As a well-regarded expert in foreign policy, he advised multiple presidents before taking a position in the Nixon administration. He took an unsentimental approach to diplomacy, favoring balance and order over ideals. This led to such diplomatic triumphs as Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in 1972, arms treaties with the Soviet Union, and personally negotiating peace deals in the Middle East.
On the other hand, Kissinger's obsession with secrecy caused him to cut out colleagues and hide the bombings of Laos and Cambodia from Congress. Escalating and ultimately prolonging the Vietnam War achieved little for the US beyond inflating the casualty list. The destabilization Operation Menu caused contributed to the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the genocide that followed.
Kissinger secretly met with North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho many times to hammer out a peace agreement. For what eventually became the Paris Peace Accord, Kissinger and Tho were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Only Kissinger accepted - and later tried to return the award. Out of the White House, Kissinger used his expertise and contacts to set up a highly successful consulting company still active to this very day. His 100th birthday celebration in June 2023 included many high-profile attendees, though the guest list was kept secret.
He died at age 100 the same year at his home in Connecticut.
- Age: Dec. at 100 (1923-2023)
- Birthplace: Fürth, Bavaria, Germany
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
- Gustave Doré
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
13Enrico Dandolo (d. Age 97/98) - An Extremely Eventful End To An Unusually Long Medieval Life
Naturally, this collection is dominated by figures from the two most recent centuries, as it stands to reason that sanitation and medical care of the Middle Ages wouldn’t be conducive to extreme old age. While it’s possible an unheralded peasant or minor noble breached 100, there's at least one medieval leader who very nearly reached a century.
Enrico Dandolo became Doge of Venice in 1192 when he was already well into his 80s, an astoundingly old age for the 12th century. He was no mere figurehead, either; he led the Venetian forces in the Fourth Crusade and the sack of Constantinople a decade later - the first successful breach of the city's walls in 900 years.
All this while, Dandolo was in his 90s and had been blind for at least 20 years.
- Age: Dec. at 98 (1107-1205)
- Birthplace: Venice, Scorzè, Italy
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
- Photo:
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
14Georgia O’Keeffe (d. Age 98) - 900 Paintings Across Seven Decades
While some artists die tragically young, others make it to ripe old ages, but Georgia O'Keeffe's longevity was another level entirely. The Wisconsin native juggled a teaching career with her own art until making a breakthrough in 1918.
She began taking annual trips to New Mexico to paint in solitude for months at a time before moving there full-time in 1949. O'Keeffe produced some 900 paintings until her failing health and eyesight caused her to slow down in her last two decades; she passed in 1986.
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
- Photo:
- American Press Association
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
Born into a modest upstate New York household, John D. Rockefeller amassed an enormous fortune in the post-Civil War years. His business, Standard Oil, crushed the competition and by 1882, had control of 90% of the nation’s oil refineries and pipelines. His dubious business practices invited the scrutiny of muckraking journalists and nervous legislators. leading to key anti-trust laws.
The emotional toll that toil took on Rockefeller led to a nervous breakdown in the 1890s; he also lost all of his hair, including his eyebrows. After amassing such an enormous fortune, he wisely retired in 1896 at 58. He spent the rest of his days on philanthropic pursuits, giving away the majority of his ill-gotten gains. Rockefeller had a personal goal of living to be 100, but that was one achievement money couldn’t buy - he passed at 97. His grandson David, however, made it to 101 in 2017.
- Age: Dec. at 97 (1839-1937)
- Birthplace: Richford, New York
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
Hans Blix was an otherwise obscure Swedish politician and diplomat who found himself in the eye of the storm over the manufactured casus belli for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was the head weapons inspector for the United Nations whose findings directly contradicted the claims of the second Bush administration over Saddam Hussein’s weapons program. In an interview 20 years on from the invasion and vindicated by history, Blix reflected on what drove the US to war in 2003:
My theory is that it was more of a direct consequence of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The United States was like a giant gorilla wounded by a small arrow from a pygmy. It was a humiliation. They needed to strike back at someone, and the Taliban in Afghanistan were not enough. They needed to go on to the Axis of evil.
Now well into his 90s, Blix is working on his latest book.
- Age: 96
- Birthplace: Uppsala, Sweden
Impressive longevity?- 17
Rebecca Latimer Felton (d. Age 94) - A Mixed Old Bag
Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first woman to serve in the US Senate, albeit for a grand total of 24 hours as an appointment to replace the deceased Thomas E. Watson of Georgia; she was sworn in on November 21, 1922. As the wife of a congressman, she was heavily involved in her husband’s campaigns and an advocate for women’s suffrage and reforms in prisons and education.
If you’ve wondered why Felton isn't a more celebrated figure in American history as the first female senator - she was also the last former slaveholder to serve in Congress and an outspoken white supremacist. Even by the standards of the time, her views on race were extreme; she even spoke against Black suffrage and in favor of lynchings.
Her day in the Senate came late in life, at 87 - a veritable whippersnapper by today’s standards but ancient in her day in 1922. She lived another 7 years, passing at age 94 in 1930.
- Age: Dec. at 94 (1835-1930)
- Birthplace: Decatur, Georgia, USA
Impressive longevity? - Photo:
- Jermone Howard / US Army
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
Strom Thurmond represented South Carolina in the US Senate for more than 47 years (the fourth-longest overall) and holds two noteworthy records. The first is for the longest filibuster, at a time when the procedure wasn’t nearly as abused as it is today and when it actually involved putting your body on the line. Thurmond held the floor for an entire 24 hours; it was an impressive feat of endurance, but the target of his determination was far less admirable - he opposed the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
He ran for president in 1948, finishing a distant third on a pro-segregation ticket but did actually win a handful of Southern states. A Dixiecrat who crossed the aisle in 1964 to join the Republican Party, Thurmond served until 2003 - after he turned 100 years old. He passed six months after retiring from the Senate.
- Age: Dec. at 100 (1902-2003)
- Birthplace: Edgefield, South Carolina, USA
Impressive longevity?- Photo:
