One of the sweetest, most beloved actors of this generation (and previous ones!), Betty White passed away on December 31st, 2021, just as she was poised to turn 100 on January 17, 2022. Passionate about her craft, she continued to appear on screen well into her golden years.
But White wasn't alone. Many actors have careers that span more decades than some people have been alive. While it's important to celebrate the long and successful career of White, there are many other actors who have made their mark in Hollywood well into their 90s.
Acting since the 1930s with her first job at just eight years old in the radio program Empire Builders, White racked up an impressive resume since. She was best known for her roles as Sue Ann on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rose on The Golden Girls, and Elka in Hot in Cleveland. Sadly, Betty White, who had some great quotes, passed away on December 31, 2021, but was mere weeks from turning 100.
She was the only surviving Golden Girl and had been acting consistently, most recently voicing the character of Bitey White in Toy Story 4 in 2019 and starring in Fireside Chat with Esther from 2015-2018. It's clear that White, a hilarious comedic talent, truly loved what she did.
Both an actor and a singer/songwriter as well as an activist, Belafonte has had a busy life in the business with breakthrough albums, including his recording of "The Banana Boat Song," but also movie roles like Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun, and Odds Against Tomorrow.
Most recently, he had a small role in the Emmy-winning Spike Lee biographical black comedy crime movie BlacKkKlansman where he played an elderly civil rights pioneer. While he doesn't have any upcoming projects, Belafonte might very well pop back up in another small role.
Fans instantly recognize Jones' booming voice, which was used as the voice of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars film trilogy. James Earl Jones brought some unforgettable things to Darth Vader such as his memorable vocal delivery, which made the popular Star Wars villain simultaneously intimidating and vulnerable. He is also known for roles in Conan the Barbarian, Coming to America, The Hunt for Red October, The Sandlot, and The Lion King.
Jones continues to reprise some of his most memorable roles, including in Star Wars Rogue One, the 2019 The Lion King remake, and the 2021 Coming 2 America sequel series. He also voiced Darth Vader for the Star Wars: Rebels series from 2014-2016.
The former host of The Dick Van Dyke Show from the '60s has been acting up until recently, with his latest being a role in the 2018 film Mary Poppins Returns and voicing the character of Hopscotch the Sasquatch in several episodes of the series Kidding in 2020. He also appeared in both Night at the Museum in 2006 and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb in 2014.
The comedian, writer, singer, dancer, and actor has been working for seven decades, including movies, TV, and theater. He is currently working on a comedy about elderly Vets called Capture the Flag, which is in its pre-production stages.
There's something both youthful and menacing about Clint Eastwood, which might be why fans don't realize that the iconic actor, director, and producer entered his 90s in 2020. While he works more so behind the scenes nowadays than in front, he is still very active in the business.
He starred in the movie Cry Macho in 2021, which he also directed and produced. In front of the camera, some of his most memorable roles include Dirty Harry, The Enforcer, In The Line of Fire, The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino. Many of these rank among Clint Eastwood's coolest movie roles. As a director, he is behind movies like American Sniper, Sully: The Miracle on the Hudson, and Jersey Boys.
Mel Brooks has been going strong since he started as a comic and writer for the variety show Your Show of Shows in the '50s. Since then, he has become one of the greatest comedic talents of this generation. But he's also known for writing and directing, including Get Smart, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights – the list goes on.
He hasn't slowed down much since entering his 90s, voicing the character of Melephant Brooks in Toy Story 4 in 2019, and voicing the character of Ernie Blanders in the podcast series Grandma for President in 2020. He has several other projects in various stages of production as well, mostly voice roles, including voicing Shogun in Blazing Samurai, set for release in 2022.
Younger fans know Squibb for playing Sheldon Cooper's elderly Meemaw in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, who clashes with Amy prior to their wedding. Like many others, she got her start in musical theater before pivoting to acting on screen. She worked in film and television later than others, however, snagging roles in the 1990s. She earned her first Academy Award nomination in 2013 for her role in Nebraska.
Squibb continues to be active in the business, with roles in Toy Story 4, Palm Springs, Hubie Halloween, Soul, Godmothered, Palmer, The Humans, Shoot the Rooster, Solar Opposites, Little Voice, The Fungies!, and Little Ellen all from 2020 and 2021. She will next appear in The Trial of Andrew McHale.
Best known for her role as Shang Su Yi, one of the best characters in Crazy Rich Asians, Lisa Lu has been working as an actor and singer in China for decades. Crazy Rich Asians was her first major movie acting role in a North American film, but it put her on the Hollywood radar even though she is already in her 90s. She did appear as Mrs. Yi in several episodes of General Hospital in the mid-2000s.
She has been working steadily since, appearing as Lily Wu in The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu in 2021 and the short Penzai. She recently completed a project called A Dream of Red Mansions.
Lois Smith has been in some of the most known and popular movies over the last few decades, from Fatal Attraction to Fried Green Tomatoes, Twister, Minority Report, and Lady Bird as recent as 2017. She also had TV roles, including on Ray Donovan, True Blood, and The Americans.
The hard-working woman continues to act consistently, with roles in Uncle Frank, Tesla, and the TV movie The Great Works Begins, Scenes from Angels in America in 2020, and The French Dispatch in 2021. For 2022, she is working on a movie called Mack & Rita.
Having just entered the new decade in 2020, Marla Gibbs rose to fame as the maid Florence Johnston in the '70s and '80s hit sitcom The Jeffersons. She went on to star in 227 and get tons of supporting roles in movies like The Meteor Man, Madea's Witness Protection, and Lemon.
In 2018, she appeared in the TV series Station 19, and in 2021, took on a role in the long-running NBC daytime soap opera Days Of Our Lives.
Another recent inductee into the 90 club, Robert Duvall has been acting in the theater since the '50s and turned heads when he played Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962. Since then, his career has had an upward trajectory with roles in M*A*S*H, THX 1138, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and more. Not surprisingly, The Godfather ranks as Robert Duvall's best movie, according to IMDb.
His last on-screen performance was in 12 Mighty Orphans in 2021 but he has many projects in the works, including Hustle, The Ploughman, and The Pale Blue Eye.
Celebrating her 90th birthday in December 2021, Rita Moreno made a name for herself with roles in Singin' in the Rain, The King and I, and West Side Story. And she has been going strong ever since.
The EGOT recipient, one of only a few in Hollywood, most recently starred in the remake of the 1975 sitcom One Day at a Time and was a large part of the show's success that led to its revival on Pop after being canceled on Netflix. She voices the character of Ah Puch in Maya and the Three and returned to West Side Story to play a new role as Doc's wife in the 2021 Steven Spielberg adaptation.
