Special Report

50 Most Famous Actors Over 70

Steven Peters, Charles Stockdale

Published: September 12, 2017 6:22 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 8:16 am

For many actors, a couple of roles in Hollywood movies and an interview on late night television are a sign of professional success. Yet for a select few superstars, success is nothing less than a lifetime of fame and fortune and a permanent position in the public eye.

24/7 Wall St. has identified the most famous actors over 70. These actors have spent nearly their entire lives working in the Hollywood system, earning millions of dollars and building some of the most globally recognizable brands around themselves. However, while celebrity and financial success are clearly desirable to these highly public stars, their work appears to be a huge motivation in their lives as well.

This is illustrated by the scope of their work – 34 of the 50 most famous actors over 70 have over 100 acting credits. Seventy-seven year old Martin Sheen has 254 credits to his name. Voice actor Frank Welker, known for his work on “Scooby Doo” and other animated shows, has a staggering 805 credits.

Click here to see the most famous actors over 70.
Click here to see our methodology.

The majority of the actors on this list also continue to work despite being of an age when the average person has since retired. Kirk Douglas – who is now 100 years old – worked into his 90s. Betty White is 95 and still active, working mostly in television.

Surprisingly, many of the actors found on our list – such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, and Sylvester Stallone – became famous through highly physical roles in action and adventure movies. Their ability to adapt in their later years is a mark of these stars’ true talent.

50. Helen Mirren
> Age: 72
> Known for: The Queen (2006)
> Acting credits: 125
> Birthplace: Chiswick, London, England, UK

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49. Frank Oz
> Age: 73
> Known for: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
> Acting credits: 129
> Birthplace: Hereford, England, UK

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48. John Rhys-Davies
> Age: 73
> Known for: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
> Acting credits: 251
> Birthplace: Ammanford, Wales, UK

47. Gene Hackman
> Age: 87
> Known for: Unforgiven (1992)
> Acting credits: 100
> Birthplace: San Bernardino, California, USA

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46. John Cleese
> Age: 77
> Known for: A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
> Acting credits: 152
> Birthplace: Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK

45. Robert Redford
> Age: 81
> Known for: The Sting (1973)
> Acting credits: 78
> Birthplace: Santa Monica, California, USA

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44. James Cromwell
> Age: 77
> Known for: The Green Mile (1999)
> Acting credits: 177
> Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA

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43. John Lithgow
> Age: 71
> Known for: Interstellar (2014)
> Acting credits: 110
> Birthplace: Rochester, New York, USA

42. Susan Sarandon
> Age: 70
> Known for: Thelma & Louise (1991)
> Acting credits: 147
> Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA

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41. R. Lee Ermey
> Age: 73
> Known for: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
> Acting credits: 125
> Birthplace: Emporia, Kansas, USA

40. Harry Dean Stanton
> Age: 91
> Known for: Alien (1979)
> Acting credits: 199
> Birthplace: West Irvine, Kentucky, USA

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39. James Caan
> Age: 77
> Known for: The Godfather (1972)
> Acting credits: 129
> Birthplace: The Bronx, New York, USA

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38. Maggie Smith
> Age: 82
> Known for: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
> Acting credits: 82
> Birthplace: Ilford, Essex, England, UK

37. Sally Field
> Age: 70
> Known for: Forrest Gump (1994)
> Acting credits: 63
> Birthplace: Pasadena, California, USA

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36. Joe Pesci
> Age: 74
> Known for: Goodfellas (1990)
> Acting credits: 41
> Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey, USA

35. Diane Keaton
> Age: 71
> Known for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
> Acting credits: 67
> Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA

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34. Michael Douglas
> Age: 73
> Known for: The Game (1997)
> Acting credits: 59
> Birthplace: New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

33. Michael Gambon
> Age: 76
> Known for: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
> Acting credits: 161
> Birthplace: Cabra, Dublin, Ireland

32. Donald Sutherland
> Age: 82
> Known for: The Italian Job (2003)
> Acting credits: 188
> Birthplace: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

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31. Christopher Lloyd
> Age: 78
> Known for: Back to the Future (1985)
> Acting credits: 221
> Birthplace: Stamford, Connecticut, USA

30. Max von Sydow
> Age: 88
> Known for: Shutter Island (2010)
> Acting credits: 161
> Birthplace: Lund, Skåne, Sweden

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29. Jon Voight
> Age: 78
> Known for: Mission: Impossible (1996)
> Acting credits: 94
> Birthplace: Yonkers, New York, USA

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28. Brian Cox
> Age: 71
> Known for: Troy (2004)
> Acting credits: 214
> Birthplace: Dundee, Scotland, UK

27. Ian Holm
> Age: 86
> Known for: Ratatouille (2007)
> Acting credits: 141
> Birthplace: Goodmayes, Essex, England, UK

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26. Martin Sheen
> Age: 77
> Known for: Apocalypse Now (1979)
> Acting credits: 254
> Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio, USA

25. Judi Dench
> Age: 82
> Known for: Skyfall (2012)
> Acting credits: 120
> Birthplace: York, North Yorkshire, England, UK

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24. Danny DeVito
> Age: 72
> Known for: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006-2019)
> Acting credits: 127
> Birthplace: Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

23. Dustin Hoffman
> Age: 80
> Known for: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
> Acting credits: 84
> Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA

22. James Earl Jones
> Age: 86
> Known for: The Lion King (1994)
> Acting credits: 191
> Birthplace: Arkabutla, Mississippi, USA

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21. Christopher Plummer
> Age: 87
> Known for: Up (2009)
> Acting credits: 211
> Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

20. Harvey Keitel
> Age: 78
> Known for: Reservoir Dogs (1992)
> Acting credits: 152
> Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA

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19. Robert Duvall
> Age: 86
> Known for: The Godfather: Part II (1974)
> Acting credits: 143
> Birthplace: San Diego, California, USA

18. John Ratzenberger
> Age: 70
> Known for: Cheers (1982-1993)
> Acting credits: 151
> Birthplace: Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

17. Tommy Lee Jones
> Age: 71
> Known for: No Country for Old Men (2007)
> Acting credits: 81
> Birthplace: San Saba, Texas, USA

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16. Ben Kingsley
> Age: 73
> Known for: Schindler’s List (1993)
> Acting credits: 136
> Birthplace: Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, UK

15. Sean Connery
> Age: 87
> Known for: Dr. No (1962)
> Acting credits: 93
> Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

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14. Christopher Walken
> Age: 74
> Known for: Catch Me If You Can (2002)
> Acting credits: 132
> Birthplace: Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

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13. Patrick Stewart
> Age: 77
> Known for: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
> Acting credits: 147
> Birthplace: Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, UK

12. Jack Nicholson
> Age: 80
> Known for: The Shining (1980)
> Acting credits: 75
> Birthplace: Neptune, New Jersey, USA

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11. Anthony Hopkins
> Age: 79
> Known for: Hannibal (2001)
> Acting credits: 132
> Birthplace: Margam, Port Talbot, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK

10. Frank Welker
> Age: 71
> Known for: The Lion King (1994)
> Acting credits: 805
> Birthplace: Denver, Colorado, USA

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9. Clint Eastwood
> Age: 87
> Known for: Million Dollar Baby (2004)
> Acting credits: 70
> Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA

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8. Ian McKellen
> Age: 78
> Known for: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
> Acting credits: 111
> Birthplace: Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK

7. Al Pacino
> Age: 77
> Known for: The Godfather (1972)
> Acting credits: 56
> Birthplace: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

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6. Sylvester Stallone
> Age: 71
> Known for: Rocky (1976)
> Acting credits: 78
> Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA

5. Michael Caine
> Age: 84
> Known for: The Dark Knight (2008)
> Acting credits: 164
> Birthplace: Rotherhithe, London, England, UK

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4. Arnold Schwarzenegger
> Age: 70
> Known for: The Terminator (1984)
> Acting credits: 61
> Birthplace: Thal, Styria, Austria

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3. Harrison Ford
> Age: 75
> Known for: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
> Acting credits: 74
> Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA

2. Robert De Niro
> Age: 74
> Known for: Goodfellas (1990)
> Acting credits: 115
> Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA

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1. Morgan Freeman
> Age: 80
> Known for: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
> Acting credits: 120
> Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Methodology:

To identify the most famous actors over 70, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed actors 70 years and over who are ranked within the top 6,000 stars on IMDb’s STARmeter™. This ranking is a weekly measure of popularity based on user behavior on IMDb.com.

We created an index based on two metrics of fame: the popularity of the films and television shows each actor has appeared in, as well as the popularity of the actor’s Wikipedia page. The number of user votes a film or television episode received on IMDb.com was used as a proxy for a given actor’s popularity. An actor’s total popularity was determined by the sum of the votes received for all the films and television programs for which the actor is credited. Actors were only given credit for episodes of television series in which they appeared. IMDb vote counts for actors in starring roles were given full weight in the index; IMDb vote counts for actors in non-starring roles were given half weight in the index. We combined this with the number of page views the actor’s wikipedia page received over the past two years. Total acting credits, birthplace, and the film a given actor is known for came from IMDb.