CVJJ

I can only say that the Wikipedia article I created for him back in 2020, with the express purpose of getting him noticed (not just for his longevity but career also) seems to have done the trick. There were only bits and bobs about him online and in print, and nothing at all since he turned 100, so I wanted to put them all in one place as a reference point and indeed to get him on the radar. If indeed Mr Spencer did reach 110 last week then we can only summarise that the lack of official publicity is due to him and his family wishing to keep a low profile.

Now that I think about it - I remember Ray Bolger's death being on the breakfast news back in Jan' of '87. I had seen the Wizard of Oz the previous Christmas Eve on BBC, so I knew exactly who he was at this point... (I was 7 btw).

I thought it was worth pointing out that Yvonne Furneaux was was actually born in 1926... Or so it appears.

Dustin Gee. This was Jan '86 and I was 6 at the time. I used to watch the show he and Les Dennis did on BBC one on Saturday nights (their parody of David Bowie and Mick Jagger is etched into my memory) and I clearly remember hearing he had just dropped dead. This was right at the start of the broadcasts of the shows third season. I'll bet no-one younger than early 40s has a clue who he was now, but at the time he was a major prime-time TV star. I also remember clearly Pat Phoenix later that year, and all the news coverage of her illness leading up to her death. And I distictly remember Fred Astaire's death being on the news the following year. I had no idea who he was but from the importance of how his death was being covered I felt compelled to tell my mum about it, assuming she would know who he was (which she did).

I've been thinking about the Hammer horrors - the only one I can think of (off the top of my head) that definitely has an entirely dead cast (as of last year when Barbara Shelley died) is Dracula Prince of Darkness. Although I think Brides of Dracula may be a contender too. T

Glynis was also nominated for an Academy Award - for her role in Fred Zinnemann's 1960 film "The Sundowners". In fact, she is now the oldest living actor or actress to be so nominated.

Pretty astonished that he is still going as the last thing I saw him in was in a celebrities remembering VE Day thing the BBC did in 2015; he looked and sounded like he was not too good to put it mildly. But 6 years on... It reminds me of watching Kirk Douglas receive his honorary Oscar in 1996, just after his stroke, and thinking "well, he wont be around much longer.". The guy went on to live another 24 years.

I see Sean Connery is no longer with us which means he'll more than likely be getting all the death glory at the Oscars next year (assuming it goes ahead as planned), this I fear will see Olivia (and Morricone) being side lined in his favour. Though I really do hope not.

Sadly Rhonda Fleming wont be making next year's list: https://variety.com/2020/film/people-news/rhonda-fleming-dead-spellbound-out-of-the-past-1234808175/

How spookily spot on was this prediction? Assuming it wasn't edited after 2018...

Indeed it was - not only was she the last iconic figure from many a classic film (most notably GWTW) but she was the last living iconic figure from the 1930s. This is something I've not really seen anyone pick up on in articles on her passing.

Vivienne Johnson is the widow of the late (and apparently formidable) barrister Brian Higgs QC (1930 - 2016), who's most notorious case was defending Robert Thompson, one of the two ten year olds found guilty of the James Bulger murder in 1993, at his appeal hearing in 2001. It looks like Johnson gave up acting not long after marrying him.