With the many personalities that are stepping into the spotlight nowadays, it’s easy to overlook a lot of great artists in the acting industry who have been around for the longest time. So right now, we want to give them back the limelight that they’ve once held long in the peak of their careers.

Celebrities each have their own big break, and they all need to begin somewhere, right? From roles on small-time TV shows to blockbuster full movies, get to see some of these classic actors and actresses in their very first character portrayals as well as the last ones they’ve ever stepped into in their career.

Sophia Loren – 84, Est. $75 Million

As an acting giant and an iconic model, Sophia Loren was seen by many as one of the most remarkable feminine symbols of her era. This Italian talent is someone who has come straight from Hollywood’s Golden Age, which means that she’s a seasoned artist.

The first time that this beauty graced the silver screens was in Tototarzan in 1950 in which she was uncredited. She’s come a long way since then. Loren had her last role as Angela in La Voce Umana in 2014. Although Sophia’s already retired, she still graces red carpet events every now and then.

Ann-Margret – 78, Est. $20 Million

Ann-Margret has made a name for herself for her ability to portray characters through her compelling acting skills. When she started out in the ’60s, the Swedish-American vixen got her very first acting gig in a movie called Pocketful of Miracles, where she got to act alongside Bette Davis.

The movie was a testament to her talent since she was able to bag the New Star of the Year Golden Globe Award by performing the part of Louise. A lot more accolades came after that, as well as roles. We’ll be seeing her most recent character, Margot, in an upcoming film called Never Too Late.

Kirk Douglas – 102, Est. $60 Million

When speaking of the Golden Age of America’s movie industry, Kirk Douglas cannot be overlooked since he’s literally one of the few living male stars from that time. This man already knew that he wanted to act as soon as he received applause for reciting a poem in front of his kindergarten class!

It was in 1946 when Kirk finally made his first film appearance on The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, playing the part of Walter O’Neil. That movie showcased his great potential. Fast-forward to nearly seven decades later, and he’s already down to his last character portrayal as Jim Kovalski on Empire State Building Murders in 2008.

Angela Lansbury – 93, Est. $70 Million

Angela Lansbury did study how to act after she relocated to the US with her mom and siblings, although it was not clear if she ever got to receiving any official degree in media. At least you now know why she’s the kind of legend who has many accolades under her belt.

Lansbury was primarily given a chance to showcase her talent in the 1944 mystery-thriller, Gaslight. There, a 17-year-old Angela transformed into a cunning chambermaid named Nancy Oliver. More recently, the 93-year-old has been working on a new movie titled The Adventures of Buddy Thunder where she will play the role of Mrs. Garrington.

Sam Elliott – 74, Est. $10 Million

When it comes to celebrity mustaches, Sam Elliott’s own facial hair is probably one of the most recognizable. Together with his deep baritone voice and macho image, he was able to earn many prominent roles in both Western TV shows and full-length movies. Even his first role, a Missouri townsman, was in a Western film called The Way West.

We don’t think he’ll be retiring anytime soon, especially not after he was cast as Bobby Maine in the blockbuster hit A Star Is Born just this 2018. We can all look forward to Sam’s part in The Gettysburg Address as Ward Hill Lamon.

Cher – 73, Est. $360 Million

Who doesn’t know Cher, the Goddess of Pop? She’s got to be one of the most iconic entertainers in the industry with how far she’s been able to expand her career. Cher initially gained fame as the other half of the musical duo that she formed with Sonny Bono, her husband.

The Dark Lady songstress made her onscreen debut in 1967 through a video short called Sonny & Cher: I Got You Babe where she got to play herself. As for her most recent one, she’s been announced to be part of Disco Fever 1977 also as herself. It’s set to be directed by Martin DeLuca.

Jack Nicholson – 82, Est. $400 Million

Jack Nicholson is known for playing unconventional and sometimes dark characters like the one on Terms of Endearment and the cult-classic horror, The Shining. That’s why it makes sense that his debut role was actually for a TV show titled Matinee Theatre where he plays a musician’s son in 1956.

Now, Nicholson’s successful career has spanned over six decades already, which makes for a good start when it comes to retirement planning. We’re not saying that we want him to retire, but the guy hasn’t been in another film since he starred as Charles Madison in the 2010 film, How Do You Know.

Ali MacGraw – 80, Est. $6 Million

When Goodbye, Columbus came out in 1969, Ali MacGraw shocked everyone in the movie industry because of her striking beauty and remarkable talent. After all, this practically seemed like her debut performance, and it already won her a Golden Globe. However, her first actual movie role was for a different project, which came out a year prior.

A Lovely Way to Die was her last movie, where she played a woman named Melody. We’re not entirely sure why her star dimmed, but the last time she acted was in 1997 as Lynn Travers on Glam. After that, the Wellesley College graduate just got herself involved with narrations and documentaries.

Loni Anderson – 80, Est. $6 Million

Loni Anderson’s most beloved acting role was as receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS show, WKRP in Cincinnati. The sitcom that got her three Golden Globes in her portfolio lasted from 1978 to 1982. But before this, Loni had a rough start in the Hollywood industry.

She started out in 1966 with a small part as a brunette saloon girl on Nevada and went out of acting jobs for almost a decade before her big break came. And although she didn’t really have bigger projects after WKRP in Cincinnati, she still gets projects every so often, like the web series called My Sister is So Gay.

Daryl Hannah – 58, Est. $20 Million

Daryl Hannah’s rise to fame followed after she appeared in her first movie, The Fury. It’s a supernatural horror where she played the role of a woman named Pam in 1978. Currently, she’s working on a new project called Undateable John where she will be portraying the role of Rose.

Hannah getting the main role of Angela Turing in the TV show Sense8 from 2015-2018 just means that she’s still a bankable talent to this day. The 58-year-old is married to musician Neil Young, who is a vegan and an environmental advocate, which is probably why she also has a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Dick Van Dyke – 93, Est. $30 Million

In 2004, at 78 years old, Dick Van Dyke finally got his well-deserved high school diploma. That alone says a lot about the will and dedication of this man who is known for his many great projects. He’s currently 93 years old and is still very active in his career.

The next time you’ll see Dick will be on Capture the Flag as James Archer. This man served time as a radio announcer in the U.S. Army Air Forces, before jumping into the role of The Phil Silvers Show‘s Private Hank Lumpkin in 1957. After that, the rest was history.

Cloris Leachman – 93, Est. $21 Million

Cloris Leachman is a distinguished artist who has about 278 acting jobs credited to her name, all of which she gave justice to. This incredible woman even signed up for Dancing with the Stars in 2008, when she was already 82, making her the oldest contestant to ever join the show. Imagine that!

Leachman, who has a bachelor’s degree in drama, actually started acting by landing the role of a dancing nightclub patron on Carnegie Hall in 1974. So, the Dancing with the Stars stint makes sense after all. We can all look forward to watching her on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Castle as Tommi One-Finger.

Kim Novak – 86, Est. $15 Million

Due to her mounting dislike for her line of work, Kim Novak chose to leave the acting world in the mid-’60s. But then, she still made a few appearances in movies until the early ’90s. The last project she ever made was Liebestraum where she gave life to the character of Lillian Anderson Munnsen.

Kim got her formal education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago by receiving two scholarships from them. Now, the award-winning star, who played a model in her first film called The French Line, is making use of her art degree to create poems and paintings.

Tippi Hedren – 89, Est. $20 Million

Tippi Hedren initially entered the realm of fashion as a model. In being discovered by Alfred Hitchcock, the iconic film director, she was able to fully transition into acting. She didn’t have a significant role in her first project, a 1950 musical called The Petty Girl, but she shone in the film that followed.

In 1963, The Birds, where Tippi gave life to the role of Melanie Daniels was released. She bagged a Golden Globe award along with international stardom right after. The last time this animal welfare advocate is coming out with another movie called Unforgettable where her role is not yet announced.

Ed Asner – 89, Est. $12 Million

Most people assume that film celebs never attend college. However, Ed Asner did go to the University of Chicago before he became known as a full-fledged award-winning film artist. His career kicked off as a juror on Studio One in Hollywood, a TV show in 1957.

This talented man, who has won a total of seven Emmy awards (the highest number ever won by an actor to date), has accumulated at least 390 acting credits throughout the years. That’s already with the 17 projects that he’s set to appear on. Catch him as Solomon in Mee and McGee.

Carl Weathers – 71, Est. $6 Million

Carl Weathers abandoned the B.C Lions to pursue his Hollywood acting career, and he didn’t make a mistake in doing so! The Louisiana-native celebrity saw the advancement of his chosen profession when he performed as Apollo Creed in the highly-acclaimed Rocky franchise.

Before his name blew up, Carl first kicked off his career in 1973’s Magnum Force. There he played a demonstrator which was uncredited to his name. Nowadays, at 71, Weathers is still in tip-top shape when it comes to his health and working hard. He has even depicted Greef Karga on The Mandalorian, a web-series to be released in November 2019.

 

Warren Beatty – 82, Est. $70 Million

Since the ‘50s, Warren Beatty has already been hardworking as an artist in films which has paid off through his many recognitions and awards. After having a taste of the spotlight in 1957 through playing Roy Nicholas in television’s Kraft Television Theater, he quit college to have acting classes under Stella Adler.

The Grass star is also talented when it comes to directing and has proven it by working on Dick Tracy and Heaven Can Wait, and a lot more. The last project he worked on was for the TV short Jimmy Returns, The 2018 Oscars where played himself.

Kris Kristofferson – 82, Est. $160 Million

As one of the world’s top country singer-songwriters, many people consider his self-titled album as the finest one he’s ever released. The Me and Bobby McGee crooner is also very successful in terms of acting and has even gotten a Golden Globe award for his performance on A Star Is Born in 1976. 

The now 82-year-old star, who suffers from Lyme disease has recently appeared in a movie titled Blaze as Edwin Fuller. However, we’d also like to note how funny it is that the very first film he’s ever worked on is called The Last Movie. Here, his small character was named Minstrel Wrangler.

Sidney Poitier – 92, Est. $25 Million

Sidney Poitier won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his artistry in the 1963 movie Lilies of the Field, thus being the first Bahamian-American and the first black film artist to garner the esteemed awards. The feat is even more impressive once you also consider that he started out just as an extra in Sepia Cinderella of 1947.

This man has also been ranked 22nd by the American Film Institute when it comes to their Greatest Male Stars list. The institute is not a film school, but an association that pays tribute and preserves feats in film. Sidney was recently in a TV film titled The Last Brickmaker in America as Henry Cobb.

Dolores Hart – 80, Est. $1.9 Million

Who would ever leave their rising success and stardom in Hollywood just to be a nun?! Well, someone once did, and her name was Dolores Hart. What she did became big celebrity news back in the day. She even chronicled all her experiences in a documentary short called God Is the Bigger Elvis in 2012.

The first time Hart caught everyone’s attention was as a child in 1947’s Forever Amber. And after making at least ten movies, she appeared one last time in 1963’s The Virginian as a character named Cathy Maywood. She then entered Connecticut’s Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery, where she still attends to her austere community.

Valentina Cortese – 96, Net Worth Undisclosed

To American spectators, Valentina Cortese is known as the star who received an Oscar nomination for delivering an immaculate act in the French/Italian picture, Day for Night. And even though she never attended any course in acting, the Italian star had a lengthy run in the movie-making domain.

Orizzonte dipinto in 1941 was her very first project, in which her role is unknown. Her work both in the cinemas of Italy and America is deeply recognized and highly lauded. So after her last role as Mother Superior in 1993’s Sparrow, many people in the industry missed their chance to work with such a brilliant artist.

Norman Lloyd – 104, Est. $5 Million

He did it! Starting 2018, the now 104-year-old Norman Lloyd is officially the oldest living film artist in America who is still working. During his teenage years, the Great Depression forced him to leave his NYU law degree due to hard-hitting economic conditions. That got him on his acting journey.

Norman’s first film project was a movie titled The Streets of New York, where her role was unknown. As a man who directed as well acted, he was able to make a mark in the world of entertainment. At 100 years old, he was able to make his last acting project, a comedy film titled Trainwreck.

Glynis Johns – 95, Net Worth Undisclosed

It’s astonishing for someone’s career to begin at the culmination of the ’30s and end at the welcome of a millennium. This is just what happened to Glynis Johns and her chosen profession. So it’s not surprising that this woman became a Tony winner and an Oscar nominee in the span of her extensive career.

Johns didn’t even need a career coach to know that she wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry. She was already a dancer before she transitioned into the acting world. The lady, whose first role was playing Midge Carne in 1938’s South Riding, finally sealed her career as Grandma in the 1999 movie, Superstar.

Victoria Vetri – 74, Est. $6 Million

Victoria Vetri was just a teen when she got into modeling and acting. It was in 1962 when she got a chance to have an uncredited role in her first film project, The Pigeon That Took Rome. After working for over a decade, she then got her final role as Connie in a TV-series called Lucas Tanner.

In 1986, Vetri married rock artist Bruce Rathgeb. The vixen allegedly shot Rathgeb in 2010 after an argument transpired in their Hollywood apartment. Despite the “no contest” plea of her and her lawyer, Victoria was still sentenced to nine-year imprisonment for attempted voluntary manslaughter but was released from prison in April 2018.

Barbara Bouchet – 75, Est. $9 Million

Through the years, Barbara Bouchet was able to earn her money not just by being a film artist, but also by being an entrepreneur. She’s been at work and residing in Italy since 1970. That was where she made a fortune out of making fitness materials through a production company that she built herself.

The German-American star is a famous face among the older generations, mostly because she was the Bond girl Miss Moneypenny on Casino Royale. However, her first project was as a supporting character in 1964’s A Global Affair. As for her latest film,  Tolo Tolo, it is set to come out in 2020. However, her role is not yet announced.

Mylène Demongeot – 83, Est. $245  Million

Mylène Demongeot sure was a stunning French doll in her youth. And now that she’s 83, whatever anti-aging products she’s using is obviously effective as she’s still a beauty. For Demongeot’s latest project, Le Chausse Pieds, there’s still no news of what her role will be and when it will be released.

The French/East German flick from 1957 that propelled her to stardom was titled The Crucible. This movie got her nominated for a BAFTA award. But out of the 70 films she’s worked on so far, her main entry to the industry has to be 1953’s Children of Love. In the film, she portrayed a character named Nicole.

Nancy Kovack – 84, Est. $300K

At just 19 years old, Nancy Kovack had already become a graduate of the University of Michigan. After turning 20, she was crowned as the title holder of eight beauty pageants, too. Her curiosity towards acting emanated from a New York City trip, where she went as a guest for a wedding.

Kovack had appeared on widespread TV shows like Batman, Star Trek, and Perry Mason, but her intro to film was as a prizefighter’s girl in 1958’s The Verdict Is Yours. As for her final role before her retirement in 1976, it was as Charlotte Frawley of Cannon. On that year, she wedded an Indian music conductor named Zubin Mehta.

Charlotte Rampling – 72, Est. $15 Million

Admirers of Charlotte Rampling, the English acting, singing, and modeling dame, are used to seeing her in European arthouse projects in English, Italian, and French. Fashion designers just loved working with this legendary beauty in the ‘60s, since she was like the perfect muse back in those days.

A casting agent discovered Charlotte on the streets of London and booked her on her first film job. She had an unaccredited role in 1964 as a girl at the disco on the flick A Hard Day’s Night, but her stardom quickly took off after that. Her latest work is on Dune where she’s been cast as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam.

Ursula Andress – 83, Est. $25 Million

The iconic Bond girl, Honey Ryder from Dr. No was played by Ursula Andress, but she got her first taste at filming when she played Astrid Sjöström in an Italian movie called An American in Rome in 1954. From then on, she has managed to cultivate a net worth amounting to $25M!

This Swiss maiden immediately became a feminine symbol during her heydays and booked numerous acting jobs right after her James Bond stint made her a big name. For the final role she’s stepped into so far, she played Madonna in a 2005 Swiss feature titled Die Vogelpredigt oder Das Schreien der Mönche or The Bird Preachers.

William Shatner – 88, Est. $25 Million

William Shatner is the guy who played the iconic Star Trek character of Captain James T. Kirk during the TV show’s airing in the ‘60s. And he’ll always be remembered for it because after the series wrapped up, he didn’t really get any other noteworthy roles. That was also why he came close to bankruptcy.

But nowadays, he’s finally recovered from his previous financial struggles and is already working on projects such as his most recent one, Devil’s Revenge where his role is not yet known. If you didn’t know it, this man started portraying a common crook in 1951’s The Butler’s Night Off.

Judd Hirsch – 84, Est. $12 Million

In portraying Alex Rieger on the beloved TV series Taxi, Judd Hirsch immediately became a well-known personality. However, his introduction to the world of acting actually happened through a movie called Jump, where he wasn’t even credited for. Who would’ve known that Judd would then become a big name in the industry with a high-paying salary?

In 2016, he also played a part on The Big Bang Theory just like Shatner. After that, he got to play a lead character named Arthur Przybyszewski in Superior Donuts which ended in 2018. Burning at Both Ends is the title of his next film. We’ll have to look forward to how he will play the role of Bertrand in this movie.

Julie Andrews – 83, Est. $45 Million

Dame Julie Andrews was everybody’s cherished nanny in the 1964 Mary Poppins. Just a year later, The Sound of Music came out and made her even more of a runaway sensation. But before all this, she was first a voice actress for the role of Princess Zeila in 1949’s The Singing Princess.

Along with her numerous Broadway shows and motion picture musicals, she’s also voice-acted for various animated characters like those in the Shrek and Despicable Me movies. For the 2018 Aquaman film, she was the one behind the voice of Karathen. Now at 83, Julie has $45M in her account.

Sean Connery – 88, Est. $120 Million

Sean Connery has been adored by the masses as the first person to give life to James Bond, acting in seven of its movies. But before that, his debut acting role came in a feature flick called Let’s Make Up which came out in 1954.

As a man who was just starting out in showbiz then, Sean portrayed a role in that movie which wasn’t really credited to him. As for his last role, he voiced the title-character of Sir Billi in a 2012 film which is also called Guardian of the Highlands,  a British animated comedy.