Favorite late in life showbiz success stories

Susan Boyle. What a great story 🙂

Humphrey Bogart didn't become a leading man or a big star until after 40. And at 45 he married a gorgeous 19 year old.

Michael Jeter was a 40-year-old office temp when he was cast in GRAND HOTEL, which revitalized his career and brought him a Tony award.

Estelle Getty

Tim Chalamet. Made it big at 13.

Jacki Weaver was 62 when she got her first Oscar nomination and suddenly she was getting American gigs left and right (followed by a second Oscar nomination). Not bad for an Australian journeyman actress who was pretty much written off for years before Animal Kingdom, more famous for her multiple marriages than her acting.

Joan Rivers

Phyllis Diller was 37 when she made her standup debut in the 50’s, and became a household name in the 60’s.

Kathryn Joosen (Desperate Housewives and The West Wing). She was everywhere once her career took off in her elder years and got lots of critical acclaim for her work.

I’m not a fan of her type of music, but Susan Boyle’s story is pretty incredible.

r8...

Charles Durning.

Judith Lowry

Leslie Jordan

Bill Frawley

John Ingle. After retiring from teaching English and theater at Beverly Hills High he decided to act himself, at age 57. At Beverly Hills High he taught students including Nicolas Cage, Albert Brooks, Richard Dreyfuss, Joanna Gleason, Barbara Hershey, Swoosie Kurtz, Stefanie Powers, David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, and Julie Kavner.

He might never have become a major star but he spent 19 years on and off on General Hospital, three years on DAYS, and did numerous other appearances and voice work. I'm sure his golden years were fuller for it.

Rodney Dangerfield.

I discovered both Olympia Dukakis and Alison Janney watching the soaps. Olympia on Search For Tomorrow four years before Moonstruck and Allison on Guiding Light as the maid. I've seen Olympia in a few movies long before she won the Oscar so she'd been hanging in there with stage, teaching and the occasional film.

Miss Gulch was a kindergarten teacher who didn’t make a movie until she was over 30

I loved Peg Phillips on Northern Exposure. As a youth, I would dream of rising from obscurity, just for kicks, in my golden years.

John Mahoney was well into his 40s when his stage career took off with Steppenwolf.

Isabelle Sanford, Marla Gibbs, Sherman Hemsley, Franklin Cover, Roxie Roker

Rocco Steele

Michaela Watkins was 37 when she joined the cast of SNL, but was only there for one season. She has been on other shows and done movies, but she should have a bigger career. It's laughable how Lorne Michaels kept around that dumb ass shouter Leslie Jones for several years and it sucks that awful Jones is more well known than the very talented Watkins.

Michaela Watkins, yes! So good in The New Adventures of Old Christine, Trophy Wife, The Unicorn, etc.

R24 I don't understand why Leslie Jones was pushed so hard by SNL instead of Sasheer Zamata, since they were on the show at the same time. I felt Zamata was much more talented and a lot better looking.

Ann Dowd self-financed an Oscar campaign for Compliance at age 56. It went nowhere, and she had to wait five years for her breakout role in The Handmaid’s Tale. Now, she’s considered one of the great character actors working today, going from heavy dramas like Mass to doing a killer Edna Garrett.

Regina King and Jean Smart

My husband Pedro, of course.

Catherine Zeta Jones

Clifton Webb - not that he wasn't successful on stage, but becoming a big movie star in his 50s was unusual, and he was really popular.

Thelma Ritter - she caught on after a bit part in Miracle on 34th Street when she was about 45. Had a very successful movie career, was very popular.

Both of them were at 20th Century-Fox where Zanuck liked to take chances on this kind of casting.

R26 I have wondered about that too. Zamata has an improv background and is a better actress than Jones. Jones is basically got coddled to by the entertainment industry because of the drama she had with Milo Yiannopoulos. Emmy voters totally fucked up giving Jones Emmy nominations for shitty sketch comedy work, meanwhile good actresses like D'Arcy Carden and Jane Krakowski were snubbed for the terrific work they did on The Good Place and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Would we consider Tyler Perry? He was almost 40 when the Madea plays hit the big screen.

R30, ??????. That girl is only 39 and was 17 when she filmed Zorro.

R26, she's better looking sure but has horrible comedic timing. Leslie Jones is a riot.

Tiffany Haddish. She's not as young as people think, especially when you fathom she became a complete A-lister on the cusp of 40. She's 42 now.

Zelda Rubinstein,.Tangina in Poltergeist was her first acting role.

R36 A lister?? In what world.

Interesting thread. I would include working actors who were financially successful but didn't become A-listers or household names until after 40.

R38, I'm not about argue about semantics. It's always some stupid ass white elder cunt who likes to get petty. She's not apart of the elite A list like Cruise, Beyonce, Jennifer Anniston, etc. but she would be considered A list in today's Hollywood. She is one of the most popular comedic actresses in her peer group appearing in films that have made bank. Go away now cunt.

Does James Dean count?

[quote] Interesting thread. I would include working actors who were financially successful but didn't become A-listers or household names until after 40.

When to comes to this, I think of Bryan Cranston.

David Harbour

Julia Child. She was 49 when of "Mastering The Art of French Cooking" was first published in 1961. Her first television show "The French Chef", premiered two years later, when she was 51 years old.

Dr Ruth Westheimer (and yes I do think she is "showbiz").

Samuel L. Jackson

Marie Dressler: broke, homely, middle-aged working actress who was considering suicide when she got a big break in film in the late 1920s. She went on to win the Best Actress Oscar at 63 for [italic]Min and Bill[/italic] (1930) and played society grande dame/shade queen Carlotta Vance in [italic]Dinner at Eight[/italic] (1933).