TO BOLDY GO...
looks at older achievers
1 Star Trek legend William Shatner, left, is going into space at the age of 90. He found fame as the captain of the Enterprise, but will be exploring space for real aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The launch is planned for October 12 and Shatner says: “I’ve heard about space for a long time now. I’m taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle.”
2 Astronaut John Glenn went back into space in 1998 at the age of 77 on shuttle Discovery. He was the first American to orbit the Earth back in 1962. He once said: “You should run your life not by the calendar, but how you feel and what your interests are and ambitions.”
3 US comedy star George Burns planned to put on a show and play the London Palladium when he turned 100. He did reach his centenary, but ill-health caused him to cancel the UK performances. He once joked: “Retirement at 65 is ridiculous. When I was 65 I still had pimples.”
4 Forces Sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn was 92 when her greatest hits album topped the UK album chart in 2009 and she was the first centenarian to have a top selling album in 2017 with 100. The White Cliffs Of Dover singer sadly passed away last year at the age of 103.
5 Second World War veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore raised more than £30 million for the NHS during lockdown. He was 99 when he began his fundraising efforts walking around his garden and also became the oldest person to have a number one single when he recorded You’ll Never Walk Alone with Michael Ball.
6 Hollywood star Clint Eastwood was nearly 75 when he won the Best Directing Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2004 and holds the record for the oldest Oscar winner in that category. “What you put into life is what you get out of it,” he says.
7 London-born actress Jessica Tandy was 80 when she made Oscar history by winning the Best Actress award for 1990 film Driving Miss Daisy. She was nominated again for Best Supporting Actress two years later for Fried Green Tomatoes.
8 Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison and was 77 when he become the first black president of South Africa in the fully democratic post-apartheid era. He said: “I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.”
9 Queen Elizabeth at 95 is the world’s longest reigning queen. Her coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953 was the first to be televised and was watched by 27 million people in the UK alone.
10 Sweden’s Oscar Swahn is the oldest ever Olympian. He was more than 72 when he competed in a shooting event at the 1920 Games in Belgium. He won six medals during his sporting career including three golds.