Hollywood’s Golden Age might feel impossibly far away now, yet some of its most recognizable leading ladies are still here, and some of them are still working.
A debut beside Brando
Making your first proper movie is hard enough. Now imagine doing it opposite a movie great like Marlon Brando. Eva Marie Saint had to do exactly that in On the Waterfront in 1954, and her performance ended up getting her an Oscar.
She didn’t stop there, though. No, Saint went on to appear in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest as the mysterious Eve Kendall, playing opposite Cary Grant. She was born July 4, 1924, meaning that Saint turned 102 in 2026.
From Italy to Hollywood
Sophia Loren didn’t need Hollywood to become famous. Turns out, though, that Hollywood certainly wanted her once she arrived, and the Italian actress worked with Cary Grant in Houseboat. She appeared with Charlton Heston in El Cid, and Frank Sinatra in The Pride and the Passion.
That wasn’t her biggest win, though. Her greatest success came from an Italian film called Two Women, which got her the 1962 Oscar for best actress. Loren was born September 20, 1934, and at the age of 91, she’s one of the most familiar faces of postwar European cinema.
Hitchcock’s double role
There was no rest for Kim Novak in her earlier career. She appeared in movies like Picnic and The Man with the Golden Arm during the mid-‘50s before Hitchcock gave her what would be her most iconic role. She plays both Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton in Vertigo.
That’s not all, though, as Novak also starred in Pal Joey, Bell, Book and Candle, and Middle of the Night. After starring in so many films, it makes sense that she eventually decided to step away from acting. She focuses heavily now on painting at the age of 93.
Universal’s platinum star
You might not know it, but Mamie Van Doren wasn’t always Mamie Van Doren. She was actually born Joan Lucille Olander on February 6, 1931, and she first got Hollywood’s attention after entering beauty contests.
Universal gave her a contract and a new name, along with lots of roles aimed specifically at the growing teenage audience. She appeared in Untamed Youth, High School Confidential!, Teacher’s Pet, and Girls Town. She also performed for American troops in Vietnam and is currently 95 years old.
Gene Kelly’s discovery
It’s all thanks to Gene Kelly that Leslie Caron became famous. She was a ballet dancer in France when Kelly spotted her and decided she should be in An American in Paris. The 1951 musical turned her into an international star.
She followed it with films like Lili and Daddy Long Legs, along with movies like The L-Shaped Room that proved she could handle much darker material too, earning another Oscar nomination for it. She hasn’t quit acting entirely, though, as she appeared as the Ghost of Christmas Past’s voice in a 2020 adaptation of A Christmas Carol. She’s 95.
Anita and an Oscar
Rita Moreno has been working for a pretty long time. To put her career in perspective, think about it this way. Her credits stretch from Singin’ in the Rain all the way to Steven Spielberg’s 2021 version of West Side Story. That’s right, the original Anita in the 1961 West Side Story also appeared in the newest version of it.
She did a lot in between those films, however, including becoming an EGOT by winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Moreno appeared in The King and I and Carnal Knowledge. At 94 years old, she hasn’t quit acting, and most recently appeared in Fast X.
Seven decades on screen
Having your first movie be directed by Alfred Hitchcock is quite a strong start. That’s exactly what happened to Shirley MacLaine, who played Jennifer Rogers in The Trouble with Harry in 1955. She then moved into bigger films including Some Came Running and The Apartment.
MacLaine’s career kept going through several generations of Hollywood, and she even won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1984 for Terms of Endearment. She’s 92 years old now, and appeared in two episodes of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
An early Oscar win
It didn’t take Joanne Woodward long to win an Oscar, she was just that good. Woodward won Best Actress for 1957’s The Three Faces of Eve after playing a woman with three distinct personalities. It was quite a challenging role. But that’s not all, as Woodward later starred in The Long, Hot Summer and Rachel, Rachel.
Her personal life became almost as famous as the films she starred in, and that’s because she was married to Paul Newman until he died in 2008. Yes, that Paul Newman, with the blue eyes. The pair worked together quite a few times, and Woodward herself turned 96 in 2026.
Working with Ford and Hitchcock
Being in a film by John Ford is incredible enough, but also being in one by Alfred Hitchcock is quite the achievement. Vera Miles managed to do that. Ford cast her in The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, while Hitchcock put her in The Wrong Man.
Her most famous role, however, was as Lila Crane in Psycho, and she returned for the film’s sequel over 20 years later. Miles retired from acting in 1995 and turned 97 in August 2026.
From westerns to crime films
The 1959 film Rio Bravo completely changed Angie Dickinson’s career. She’d previously done a lot of television work, but now, she was sharing the screen with John Wayne and Dean Martin. Surprise, surprise, a lot of bigger movie roles followed shortly after.
Dickinson played Frank Sinatra’s wife in Ocean’s 11 and appeared in The Killers. She starred in Dressed to Kill before going back to television to appear as Sgt. Pepper Anderson in Police Woman. She will turn 95 at the end of September 2026.
Two major films in 1956
1956 was a great year for Carroll Baker because that was the year she managed to land in two major films. The first was Giant, where she appeared alongside other greats like Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean. She then took the lead in Baby Doll, winning an Oscar nomination for best actress for her role.
Her career showed no signs of stopping after that, and she appeared in all sorts of different films. She did westerns and dramas, like The Big Country and How the West Was Won, as well as European films. Baker was born May 28, 1931, and turned 95 in 2026.
Acting alongside Elvis and Heston
It’s hard to imagine a time before Elvis Presley had figured out movie acting. But there was, and it was during that time that Debra Paget figured out what to do. She appeared in Broken Arrow and Demetrius and the Gladiators, along with the huge 1956 production of The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston.
That was the same year that she starred opposite Mr. Presley himself in Love Me Tender, where she played Cathy Reno. You probably know her most for her famous snake dance scene from The Indian Tomb, however. She is currently 93 years old.
Betty Schaefer and Disney
Nancy Olson’s career in Hollywood is full of contrasts, in all the best ways. She was Betty Schaefer in Billy Wilder’s very dark film, Sunset Boulevard. That role got her an Oscar nomination.
But later on, she became known for being a very different kind of star after appearing in Disney films like Pollyanna and The Absent-Minded Professor. Let’s not forget Son of Flubber. She was born on July 14, 1928, and turned 98 in 2026.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
13 unsettling facts from Hollywood’s history
Hollywood may be built on make-believe, but these unsettling stories from its past are very real.
