Carol Burnett is about to celebrate her 90th birthday this year on April 26 and was recently celebrated by her famous friends, including Julie Andrews.
Andrews reunited with her long-time pal for the taping of NBC’s “Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter and Love,” a two-hour special celebrating the comedy icon.
The event reunited the legends after they did three specials together back in the 1960s and 70s, “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall,” “Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center” and “Julie & Carol: Together Again.”
Other stars in attendance included Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Bob Mackie, who designed the costumes for “The Carol Burnett Show,” Cher and many more.
Carol Burnett, left, and Julie Andrews reunite decades after their Emmy award-winning “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall” special in 1963. (Kevin Winter)
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Though the special serves as a retrospective of Burnett’s life and career, the soon-to-be 90-year-old has not slowed down her career once over the past seven decades.
She is not alone as a living legend still ruling Hollywood into her 90s either. Here is what other stars are up to as they enter their ninth, or in one case 10th, decade and why they continue to dominate Hollywood.
Carol Burnett
Born in 1933 in San Antonio, Burnett made a name for herself in comedy.
She became a breakout success in the 1959 production of “Once Upon A Mattress” before starring in her own sketch series, “The Carol Burnett Show” for 11 seasons.
“The Carol Burnett Show” was an incredible success, earning 25 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run, including three for Burnett herself.
In a scene from “The Carol Burnett Show,” American comedienne and actress Carol Burnett portrays character Nora Desmond Oct. 13, 1972. (CBS Photo Archive)
After the series ended in 1978, Burnett transitioned to more film roles, most memorably Miss Hannigan in 1982’s “Annie.”
She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1985, was a 2016 Kennedy Center Honoree, and in 2019, the Golden Globes created the Carol Burnett Award for outstanding contributions to television on or off-screen.
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The then 85-year-old was the first recipient of the award and in her speech reflected on her career and how things turned out as they were meant to be.
“I catch myself daydreaming about being young again and doing it all over, and then I bring myself up short when I realize how incredibly fortunate I was to be there at the right time,” she shared. “Because what we did then, it couldn’t be done today.”
Carol Burnett accepts the inaugural Carol Burnett TV Achievement Award during the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2019. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP)
Though she has earned lifetime achievements and accolades, Burnett has continued a steady stream of work including appearances on “Mad About You,” “Glee,” and most recently AMC’s “Better Call Saul.”
Burnett is also set to appear in the miniseries, “Mrs. American Pie” on Apple TV+, alongside Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney and Laura Dern.
Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke has always been a hard-working entertainer.
Born in West Plains, Missouri in 1925, Van Dyke first made a name for himself on television, playing Rob Petrie on the self-titled “Dick Van Dyke” show in the early 1960s. He also originated the role of Albert Peterson in “Bye Bye Birdie” on Broadway in 1961 and reprised the role on screen in 1963.
The “Dick Van Dyke Show” also starred fellow TV icon Mary Tyler Moore, right. (CBS)
He may be best loved for his role as Bert the Chimney Sweep in “Mary Poppins.”
Actress Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, left, in a scene from the movie “Mary Poppins.” (Photo by Donaldson Collection/Getty Images)
From there, he appeared in other films like “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Dick Tracy” and the “Night at the Museum” movies. He also starred in the long-running series “Diagnosis: Murder.”
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Over the course of his career, Van Dyke has earned four Emmys, a Tony, and a Grammy, and was an honoree at the 2020 Kennedy Center Honors.
In 2018, he wowed audiences when he appeared in “Mary Poppins Returns,” showcasing his still intact dancing skills as an elderly chairman of a bank. The actor was 93 at the time.
Van Dyke has continued to showcase his unstoppable energy.
Last month, he shocked audiences and the judges on FOX’s “The Masked Singer,” when he was unmasked during the premiere episode.
The now 97-year-old was performing as the Gnome, bringing the crowd to its feet and bringing a tear to the eye of many, including judge Nicole Scherzinger.
Dick Van Dyke, right, alongside Nick Cannon for his reveal on “The Masked Singer.” Van Dyke performed on the show at 97 years old. (Michael Becker/FOX )
Not long after the reveal, the icon spoke with Yahoo! Entertainment, and said “genes” play a role in his longevity, along with his wife, Arlene Silver.
“Having a beautiful young wife half my age to take care of me — that works,” he joked.
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Dick Van Dyke married in 2012. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
However, he did offer a practical secret to his vigor–exercise. “I advise everybody to do that, because that’s what ages people — it’s just a stiffening up and not exercising their muscles and their lungs,” he said. “Exercise is the answer.”
Van Dyke is not capping his career with the singing competition though. He is slated to appear in an upcoming film titled “Capture the Flag,” about a group of vets competing for the privilege of raising the flag in their neighborhood each morning.
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Rita Moreno
Born in Puerto Rico in 1931, Rita Moreno moved to New York with her mother in 1936 before eventually moving to Hollywood to begin her acting career.
After appearances in films like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The King and I,” the multi-talented Moreno scored her breakout role as Anita in the big screen adaptation of “West Side Story.”
Rita Moreno performs “America” in “West Side Story.” (Getty Images)
Her performance earned her an Oscar in the best supporting actress category and set her on the path to become one of the illustrious few to achieve EGOT status, which refers to performers and creators who earn an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Moreno was the third person to pick up all four awards, and the first Latina woman to do so.
Rita Moreno won her Academy Award in 1962. (Bettmann / Contributor)
She has also received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2015, a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004 and a Peabody Award in 2019.
Her life and career were chronicled in a 2021 documentary for Netflix, aptly titled, “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It.”
Speaking about the documentary to People in 2021, Moreno said, “I’m still active and still working. I worry and stress a lot less now because I’m so grateful,” adding, “I stop and smell the roses.”
She also told the outlet, “I love to be amused and I love to amuse. I love to make people laugh,” she says. “And you have to have a sense of humor about yourself or you’re f—ed!”
Rita Moreno broke barriers throughout her carrier and achieved EGOT status. (Steve Granitz)
That attitude seems to keep Moreno going beyond the awards and retrospectives, as her star continues to shine.
She appeared in the Oscar-nominated 2021 remake of “West Side Story,” directed by Steven Spielberg in a new role created specifically for her. She also served as an executive producer on the film, providing fresh input on the Puerto Rican characters in the story.
This year, at 91 she has proven herself to still be a box office draw. Along with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Sally Field, she starred in “80 for Brady,” a comedy about four older women who make a journey to see Tom Brady in the 2017 Super Bowl.
From left to right, Rita Moreno Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin showcase their friendship in “80 for Brady.” (Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures)
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Moreno said in an interview, “I think what it does that is most unusual is that it enlightens the audience about what it’s like to be an older person, an older woman. You just don’t usually see that.”
Later this year, Moreno is also joining the “Fast and the Furious” franchise in “Fast X,” playing grandmother to Vin Diesel, John Cena and Jordana Brewster’s characters.
She is also slated to be in a comedy for Netflix, “Family Leave,” alongside Jennifer Garner.
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William Shatner
Canadian-born William Shatner entered the halls of pop culture royalty with his role as Captain James T. Kirk on “Star Trek” in the 1960s, as well as the later film adaptations of the series.
William Shatner, right, starred alongside Leonard Nimoy in the seiminal “Star Trek” series. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
After “Star Trek,” Shatner starred in series like “T.J. Hooker” and hosted shows like “Rescue 911” and “The UnXplained.” He also made appearances in movies like “Miss Congeniality” and made multiple cameos in shows like “The Big Bang Theory” and “Futurama,” nodding to his sci-fi background.
His mid-career role on “The Practice” and its spin-off “Boston Legal” earned him two Emmy Awards.
In total, the actor has 250 credits to his name, along with hosting shows as himself and creating documentaries like “Get A Life!,” which look at the “Star Trek” fandom.
William Shatner has been a prolific actor and host, with 250 credits to his name. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
He has also released 11 albums and even appeared on “The Masked Singer” in 2022.
The actor, born in 1931, has also been awarded a Life Career Award from The Saturn Awards, put on by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, and a NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest honor NASA awards to anyone who was not a government employee when the service was performed.
The NASA honor came several years before his historic 2021 journey into space aboard the Blue Origin spacecraft. Shatner was 90 at the time and the oldest person to make the journey into sub-orbital flight.
William Shatner was invited by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to fly to space on Oct. 13, 2021. (Mario Tama)
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In 2021, Fox News Digital spoke with Shatner about his milestone birthday and what keeps him motivated to continue working.
“Everything is a discovery,” he said. “… What’s interesting is to discover not only [things] about yourself, but about the world around you, there’s always continuous discovery.”
The now 91-year-old also has at least three projects in the works this year alone, including a new series titled “The Elevator.”
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood has held his icon status for almost seven decades in Hollywood.
Born in 1930 in San Francisco, Eastwood became a staple of the Western genre first as Rowdy Yates on the TV series “Rawhide,” before cementing his status as an icon with the “Man with No Name” trilogy of films. He later took on the role of Harry Callahan in the “Dirty Harry” films.
Clint Eastwood became a star in films like “A Fistful of Dollars” and “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” (Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive)
Eastwood also made a name for himself as a director, with films like “Play Misty for Me,” “The Outlaw Josey Wales” and “Bronco Billy.”
The “Every Which Way but Loose” director has been almost constantly working throughout his lifetime, often directing two movies a year, like “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima” in 2006, “Changeling” and “Gran Torino” in 2008, “Jersey Boys” and “American Sniper” in 2014, and most recently 2018’s “The 15:17 to Paris” and “The Mule.”
Though his career never slowed, he did not earn his first Oscar nominations until 1992’s “Unforgiven,” at age 62, in which he starred, directed and produced. “Unforgiven” took home best picture and best director, a feat he would repeat 12 years later with “Million Dollar Baby.”
Clint Eastwood won best director and best picture for “Million Dollar Baby.” ( Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
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His latest project was 2021’s “Cry Macho,” which he again starred, directed and produced. The then 91-year-old became the oldest person ever to act in and direct a film.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2021, Eastwood admitted he sometimes wonders about still working at his age, now 92.
“What the hell am I still working for in my 90s?” he said. “Are people going to start throwing tomatoes at you? I’ve gotten to the point where I wondered if that was enough, but not to the point where I decided it was. If you roll out a few turkeys, they’ll tell you soon enough.”
Eastwood also said at the time he did not have any projects lined up, but said, “If something comes along where the story itself, the telling of it, is fun, I’m open to it.”
Clint Eastwood arrives at the AFI Awards on Jan. 3, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP, File)
Norman Lear
If you name a classic sitcom, there is a chance Norman Lear was behind it.
The prolific producer and writer dominated the 1970s and 80s on television with shows like “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son,” “The Jeffersons,” “Good Times” and “Maude.”
Television producer Norman Lear has created dozens of TV shows, including classics like “All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son” and “The Jeffersons.” (Getty Images)
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He has also produced classic movies like “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “The Princess Bride.”
Lear also oversaw the reboot of “One Day at a Time” on Netflix, which starred Moreno.
Over his career, Lear has earned six Emmys and has been inducted into the Emmy Hall of Fame in 1984.
Lear was also a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2017, won a lifetime achievement award from the Peabodys in 1977, and earned the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in 1999.
Even with an already-storied career lasting decades, Lear, who turned 100 last year, shows zero signs of stopping.
“I’ve never chosen anything to do that I didn’t wish to do,” he told People in 2022. “My awards and accolades mean a great deal to me, but they don’t mean as much as the drive to the studio today. I still explode with joy, excitement, interest and utter delight every time.”
Norman Lear won the Carol Burnett Award at the 78th Annual Golden Globes in 2021. (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
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Lear currently has 23 projects in development with Brent Miller, his business partner and president of his production company, Act III. They include a reboot of “Who’s the Boss?” and “Good Times,” among others.
“Bringing joy to people is what it’s all about,” Lear told the outlet. “Laughter and joy add time to one’s life.”
