Late-Blooming Actors Who Found Fame After 50
by Jenna GuillaumeBuzzFeed Contributor
So many careers seem centred around youth, and none more so than Hollywood. Still, there have been some incredible stars who have achieved fame later in life, after turning 50 (and sometimes even older)...
1.
Christoph Waltz was pretty unknown until he got his big international break in 2009's Inglourious Basterds, at the age of 52. He won a number of awards for the role, including an Oscar.
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2.
It feels like Morgan Freeman has always been old, and that could partly be because he was already 50 by the time he became famous. His breakthrough role came in 1987's Street Smart, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.
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3.
Australian actor Murray Bartlett has been acting steadily for decades, but was pretty much unknown when he stole the show on The White Lotus at the age of 50, earning himself an Emmy.
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4.
Bea Arthur was primarily a stage actor before achieving widespread recognition on TV in her role as Maude Findlay on All in the Family and then her own spin-off Maude — which premiered the year she turned 50. Her fame went to a whole new level in The Golden Girls, which she began working on when she was 63.
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5.
John Mahoney was an "up-and-coming" actor in his 40s, with parts in movies like Moonstruck and Say Anything... His fame exploded when he was cast as Frasier's father Martin in Frasier when he was 53 years old.
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6.
Anthony Hopkins was an established actor in the UK but not particularly well known in the US when he played iconic villain Hannibal Lecter at the age of 53 in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs — a role that won him his first Oscar.
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7.
UK actor Hannah Waddingham had worked mainly on stage (with some notable screen appearances — like the Shame Nun on Game of Thrones) when she became a breakout star on Ted Lasso just as she turned 50. She won an Emmy for her performance as Rebecca Welton on the show.
Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images / Apple TV+
8.
Frances Bay was a radio actor when she was young, but didn't act again until she was in her 50s, achieving success playing a series of iconic older women in shows like Happy Days and Seinfeld and movies like Happy Gilmore and Blue Velvet.
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9.
Abe Vigoda was primarily a theatre actor when he rose to fame in his role as Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather when he was 51 years old, followed by his role as Phil Fish in Barney Miller and spin-off Fish.
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10.
John Houseman had a well-established career as a producer when he started focusing more on acting in his 70s, winning an Oscar for his first major role in 1973's The Paper Chase.
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11.
Kathryn Joosten became an actor in her 50s, becoming best known for her role as Mrs Landingham on The West Wing and her Emmy-winning performance as Karen McCluskey on Desperate Housewives.
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12.
Michael Emerson didn't start acting until he was in his 30s, and his breakthrough performance came when he was in his 50s and turned his three-episode guest role on Lost into a permanent cast spot.
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13.
Zelda Rubinstein didn't start acting until she was in her 40s and became known in her early 50s playing Tangina Barrons in the Poltergeist series. She also had a memorable role as Ginny in Picket Fences.
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images / MGM
14.
Danny Aiello moved into acting in his 40s, and after a small but memorable role in The Godfather Part II, he achieved wider fame in his 50s in movies like Moonstruck and Do the Right Thing, with the latter earning him an Oscar nomination.
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15.
Ruth Gordon was a writer and stage actor before she achieved more widespread recognition — and an Oscar nomination — for her role in 1966's Inside Daisy Clover, when she was 70 years old. She went on to have notable roles in movies like Rosemary's Baby and Harold and Maude.
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16.
Danny Trejo began acting in his 40s and achieved widespread notice in his 50s with roles in 1995's Desperado and Heat and then 1996's From Dusk till Dawn.
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17.
Jack Albertson was primarily a stage performer for much of his career, but achieved breakthrough success on the screen at age 61 with his Oscar-winning performance as John Cleary in The Subject of Roses, a role he'd also played on stage (and won a Tony for). He's perhaps best-known know for playing Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factor.
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18.
Estelle Harris's breakthrough role happened when she was 64 and played George Constanza's mother Estelle on Seinfe