The Watcher

According to Wiki Jean Heywood is still alive! (98)

Time that John Woodcock (born 1926) is added to this forum. He was cricket correspondent of The Times from 1954 to 1987 and has written for the paper every year since. He has outlived at least one successor (Christopher Martin-Jenkins) & amazingly his father was 70 when he was born. Not many alive today had a father born in 1856!!! Even more astonishing is the fact that his paternal grandfather was born before the Battle of Waterloo in 1815!!! Research online so far has only found the 2 living grandsons of the US President from 1841-45 to have a grandfather born earlier.

Michael Medwin is 96 and surely fits into this thread. He is a contemporary of the ageless Nicholas Parosns and like him appeared on stage & screen in the 1950's. Medwin may be best remembered as the genial boss of Eddie Shoestring in the series that starred Trevor Eve. When Eve decided to move onto other ventures after 2 series, Robert Banks Stewart was asked to come up with another series. He came up with Bergerac which was based in Jersey & ran for 9 series and even used plots that had been intended for further series of Shoestring!

Two British character actors who seem to remain under the radar are James Garbutt (born 1925) & Jean Heywood (born 1921). They played a married couple, (the Seatons) in the James Bolam drama When the Boat Comes In. Jean Heywood also played the housekeeper in All Creatures Great and Small. She replaced Mary Hignett (1916-1980) who played Mrs Hall the first housekeeper who was in the first three series but died after a risky double hip operation when initially she had gone into hospital for only a single hip operation but according to Wiki was persuaded by medical staff to have a more complicated procedure. Jean Heywood has outlived her predecessor in the role of housekeeper by almost 40 years.

Jon Pertwee's first wife is also still alive. She is the actress Jean Marsh & the co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs. She made her return to the series when it was brought back over 30 years later but due to the success of Downton Abbey it disappeared without trace! Her co-creator Dame Eileen Atkins must also be a similar age.

Joan le Mesurier (b 1931) is the widow of John le Mesurier & former wife of Mark Eden. (ex Coronation Street) She was an actress & possibly best known for an affair with Tony Hancock. Eileen Derbyshire (b 1931) is best known for playing Emily Bishop in Coronation Street from 1961 to 2016 when she took a 6 month break which has now extended to 36 months. She will appear in a a recorded cameo next month to celebrate the 80th birthday of the only actor to appear longer in the soap - Ken Barlow played by William Roache. She is also the mother of the sports journalist Oliver Holt.

John Manners who was 105 yesterday & is the oldest ever first class cricketer having played county cricket in 1936. Gilbert Melville Grosvenor (b 1931) who was for many years the editor of the National Geographic Magazine which began in 1888 & has always had an iconic yellow border on its front cover. He is also the great grandson of Alexander Graham Bell.

I think a few are fed up with Paul Merton & his antics which he hones to perfection as he appears in every show. A few months ago Sheila Hancock got snappy with him by saying something about him appearing in every show so it was no wonder that he did so well. Merton tried to diffuse the situation with humour by saying that he played it at home but Wendy Richard famously stopped appearing due to the way he performed & many feel that Nicholas Parsons is rather generous towards Merton. A couple of weeks ago when it was a 2 horse race in the last round between Merton & someone who had only appeared once before, Fred McCauley (?) gave a challenge with nothing to say which gave the speaker who was the one in contention with Merton an extra point which proved decisive. Merton moaned about the ethics of the game.

An astonishing political link with history. The 10th USA President John Tyler who was born in 1790 & was President from 1841-45 still has two grandsons alive! They are Lyon Tyler (born 1924) & Harrison Tyler (born 1928) There can be very few other people alive who had a grandparent born in the 1700's?

Roberta McCain was 107 this February & looks a good bet to reach 108. She outlived her famous son John the Senator who forbid Trump to attend his funeral. Her husband was an admiral who died in 1981 & her twin sister lived to the age of 99.

Helen Shingler a retired actress was 100 3 days ago. She is the mother of Anthony Head (actor) & Murray Head (musician). Her husband lived to the age of 90 & died in 2009. Anthony Head is probably best known for playing Giles the librarian in Buffy & starring in the coffee ads with Sharon Maughan about 35 years ago.

Also 100 today is Marge Champion. She was the model for the dance moves that Snow White performed in the 1937 Disney animation Snow White when she was only 18.

Dame Frances Campbell-Preston is 101 today. She was Woman of the Bedchamber (lady-in-waiting) to the Queen Mother from 1965 to 2002. She was widowed in 1960 & her late husband was a famous Colditz prisoner. The Dame is sister-in-law to Joyce Grenfell (1910-1979) & obviously has the same health plan as the Royal Family - presumably Princess Margaret & possibly Prince Andrew are/were not subscribers?

Three famous actors all over 100. Who will depart the stage first? Kirk Douglas, Olivia de Havilland (the only adult actor still with us from Gone with the Wind) or Norman Lloyd?

Norman Lloyd reputedly the world's oldest actor will be 105 on November 8th 2019.

How will his favourite Paul Merton manage on Just A Minute when Nicholas Parsons is no longer able to chair the show?

Although Herman Zapf (1918-2015) a famous German type designer and calligrapher died 4 years ago, his widow who was also born in 1918 is still alive. Zapf created fonts such as Palatino (favoured by the writer Dean Koontz), Optima & Zaphifo (!); his widow Gudrun Zapf von Hesse (born on January 2nd 1918) is an equally famous typographer & calligrapher.

Amazingly there are currently 4 ex-cricketers alive who are over 100. The oldest is John Manners (born 24 September 1914) who is the only living cricketer who played first class cricket before WW2. He played for Hampshire & Combined Services. No other first class cricketer ever lived to 104 & he is closing in on his 105th run! Incredibly he played first class cricket way back in 1936 not in the summer of 1939. Archie Scott is 101 & was born on 26 January 1918. Eileen Whelan is a former women's English Test player and was born on 30 October 1911 so will be 108 later this year. Thelma McKenzie is a former ladies Test player for Australia and was born on 6 April 1915.

Which means his age on the list is now twice as wrong as it was... (btw, having spent part of my childhood on holiday near Maryport, I can only agree with your sig. Silloth, on the other hand, rocked.) Corporal Jones is now as old as the the part he played in Dad's Army. Good one Clive - there's only you, Pikey, Warden Hodges, Mrs Fox & the Vicar left!

I think I pick Gerry. He must have some sense of irony, releasing an album "life goes on" in 2009. Prince Philip (aka Phil the Greek) must be worth a pop as he is almost 90 & there are 2 Royal Weddings coming up & his 65th wedding anniversary and his wife's Diamond Jubilee - surely all the excitement will not be good for the old ticker?

Betty White is aqbout 88 & her demise would mean a Golden Girl departing for the Pearly Gates for the 4th consecutive year. Dora Saint is most conspicuous by her absence.

Surely Dora Saint (aka Miss Read who writes rather twee but very popular nostalgia books about rural schooldays) should be on the 2011 list as she is 98 this year.

I think Id rather stick knitting needles into my eyes. I do like old Frank, a dirty old sod in the best traditions of dirty old sods. Unlike todays "stars" who spit roast 19 year olds with their mates and get found out double quick, Frankie must have been indulging in all sorts of naughtiness for eons before he got found out. I suppose now, he can barely get it up enough not to piss on his feet while standing at the bog. Poor Frankie. BBC presenters seem to go for ever - apart from Frank Bough, there's David Coleman & a host of former radio presenters such as Roddie Forsythe & Stuart Hall.

Graham Crowden (from Waiting for God), John Horsley (Doc Morrisey from Reginald Perrin), Sir Bernard Lovell & Ruby Mohammad (aged 112) must all be considered possibles for 2011.