Living Legends of the Golden Age of Hollywood

It’s difficult to pinpoint the actual year that the Golden Age of Hollywood ended.  Nonetheless, most astute observers today would agree that there are but a few remaining signs of the halcyon days of this uniquely American institution, other than perhaps the Hollywood sign itself.  At one time there were hundreds and hundreds of stars of the stage and screen, each a unique personality with their own special talents.  Sadly, the movie industry in Los Angeles today has been reduced to a second-rate summer stock theatrical team of about twenty mediocre players who seem to be recycled through every movie that is being cranked out.

In recent years it has been painful to see who has been dubbed as the greatest actor or actress (we still prefer to make this gender distinction) or the most beautiful woman or the best looking man (Julia Roberts and George Clooney?  Give me a break!).  The new players suffer greatly when being compared to those from the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Who is the Bette Davis of today?  Or the Jimmy Stewart or the Ethel Merman, Red Skelton or Donald Meek of today?  We could go on and on!

Thankfully, there are yet a few of the greats still living and we are privileged to share the air with these towering icons of entertainment.  With the help of our readers, we are compiling a list of these stars to which we will add as more are brought to our attention.  For the purposes of this listing we will use a loose interpretation of ‘Hollywood star’ to include all entertainers of the stage, movies and television.

Please help us add to this list by submitting the names of living stars directly as a comment on this posting.  Sadly, we lost one of the great entertainers of the 40’s and 50’s, Jane Russell, as we were preparing this initial list.  Now there was a real beauty!  Her performance as Calamity Jane with Bob Hope in Paleface will live on as a classic forever.  We salute the following Living Stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood (golden stars of Hollywood indicated accordingly) and thank them for the years of great entertainment they have provided us.  They are truly part of What Makes US Great!

Ursula Andress

Julie Andrews

Patty Andrews (1918-2013)

James Arness (1923-2011)

Ann-Margret

Edward Asner

Lauren Bacall (1924-2014)

Max Baer, Jr.

Barbara Bain

Conrad Bain (1923-2013)

Carroll Baker

Kaye Ballard

Brigitte Bardot

Polly Bergen (1930-2014)

Ken Berry

Claire Bloom

Ann Blythe

Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012)

Mel Brooks

Carol Burnett

Michael Caine

Harry Carey, Jr.

Mary Carlisle

Leslie Caron

Jack Carter

Sid Caesar (1922-2014)

Carol Channing

George Chakiris

Barrie Chase

Julie Christie

Dick Clark (1929-2012)

Sean Connery

Mike Connors

Robert Conrad

Tim Conway

Bill Cosby

Johnny Crawford

Arlene Dahl

Bill Daily

Vic Damone

Doris Day

Gloria DeHaven (1925-2016)

Olivia de Havilland

Bruce Dern

William Devane

Angie Dickinson

Phyllis Diller (1917-2012)

Donna Douglas (1933-2015)

Kirk Douglas

James Drury

Deanna Durbin (1921-2013)

Charles Durning (1923-2012)

Robert Duvall

Clint Eastwood

Anita Ekberg (1931-2015)

Chad Everett (1936-2012)

Nanette Fabray

Barbara Feldon

Albert Finney

Fannie Flagg

Rhonda Fleming

Joan Fontaine (1917-2013)

Steve Forrest (1925-2013)

Connie Francis

Robert Fuller

James Garner (1928-2014)

John Gavin

Mitzi Gaynor

Ben Gazzara (1930-2012)

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Farley Granger (1925-2011)

Larry Hagman (1931-2012)

Barbara Hale

Tippi Hedren

Sherman Hemsley (1938-2012)

Hal Holbrook

Earl Holliman

Celeste Holm (1919-2012)

Robert Horton (1924-2016)

Marsha Hunt

Anne Jeffreys

Dickie Jones (1927-2014)

James Earl Jones

Shirley Jones

Louis Jourdan (1921-2015)

Jane Kean (1923-2013)

George Kennedy (1925-2016)

Jack Klugman (1922-2012)

Martin Landau

Angela Lansbury

Piper Laurie

Carol Lawrence

Cloris Leachman

Joan Leslie (1925-2015)

Jerry Lewis

Norman Lloyd

June Lockhart

Gina Lollobrigida

Herbert Lom (1917-2012)

Marjorie Lord (1918-2015)

Sophia Loren

Tina Louise

Vera Lynn

Dorothy Malone

Tony Martin (1913-2012)

David McCallum

Shirley McClain

Jayne Meadows (1919-2015)

Lee Meriwether

Dina Merrill

Vera Miles

Dickie Moore

Juanita Moore (1914-2014)

Mary Tyler Moore

Roger Moore

Rita Moreno

Harry Morgan (1915-2011)

Don Murray

Jim Nabors

Bob Newhart

Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)

Kim Novak

Margaret O’Brien

Maureen O’Hara (1920-2015)

Peter O’Toole (1932-2013)

Patti Page

Irene Papas

Eleanor Parker (1922-2013)

Nehemiah Persoff

Christopher Plummer

Sidney Poitier

Jane Powell

Stefanie Powers

Anthony Quinn

Charlotte Rae

Luise Rainer (1910-2014)

Joyce Randolph

Nancy Reagan (1921-2016)

Carl Reiner

Debbie Reynolds

Doris Roberts (1925-2016)

Cliff Robertson (1925-2011)

Dale Robertson (1923-2013)

Mickey Rooney (1920-2014)

Rose Marie

Marion Ross

Barbara Rush

Jane Russell (1921-2011)

Ann Rutherford (1917-2012)

Eva Marie Saint

Lizabeth Scott (1922-2015)

Omar Sharif (1932-2015)

George Beverly Shea (1909-2013)

Henry Silva

Jean Stapleton (1923-2013)

Connie Stevens

Jerry Stiller

Dean Stockwell

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

Rod Taylor (1930-2015)

Shirley Temple (Black) (1928-2014)

Phyllis Thaxter (1921-2012)

Frank Thornton (1921-2013)

Rip Torn

Cicely Tyson

Leslie Uggams

Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Patten (1928-2015)

Robert Vaughn

Elena Verdugo

Abe Vigoda (1921-2016)

Robert Wagner

Bea Wain

Clint Walker

Eli Wallach (1915-2014)

Tuesday Weld

Adam West

Betty White

Stuart Whitman

Esther Williams (1921-2013)

William Windom (1923-2012)

Jonathan Winters (1925-2013)

Jane Withers

Joanne Woodward

Alan Young

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (1918-2014)