Carl Reiner’s phenomenal career spanned seven decades. The comedian, actor, director, screenwriter, and publisher was best known for his favorite project, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”.Reiner was great friends with comedian Mel Brooks and the two meet quite often on top of their joint professional projects.
Born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants, he grew up watching his favorite comedians in movies, such as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and the Marx Brothers. He got his entertainment training in the military while serving WWII by entertaining the troops. In 1943, Reiner married his sweetheart, Estelle Lebost. She was the love of his life until she died in 2008. In June 2020, he passed away as well.
Norman Lloyd (born 1914)
Meet the film industry’s oldest actor. More than a century old, Norman Lloyd has been in show business for more than nine decades! At 100 years old, he was filming the 2015 comedy "Trainwreck". Lloyd’s big break came in 1942 when he played a convincing Nazi spy in Hitchcock’s "Saboteur". Hitchcock would become good friends with Lloyd and help him become more established in the industry.
When things settled down in the 1970s and 1980s, he landed roles in TV shows "Quincy", "Murder, She Wrote" and "Kojak". With 75 years of marriage to Peggy Lloyd, he has one of the longest marriages in Hollywood. They met on stage co-starring in a play. In May of 2021 he passed away in his sleep, but Lloyd got to live to the age of 106, which is pretty impressive.
Bob Barker (born 1923)
Avid animal rights activist Bob Barker was one of the biggest names in showbusiness. He was best known for hosting "The Price is Right", a role which he did for 35 years and won 19 daytime Emmys for! Barker is the longest-running host of a network show in television history.
Barker retired as one of the nation’s most popular game show hosts ever in 2007, at the age of 83. Every show was closed with these words: “Help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered.” Barker also hosted the Miss Universe and Miss USA Beauty Pageant but resigned after the pageants refused to remove fur coats as awards. He famously had a pet bunny.
Richard Dreyfuss (born 1947)
Richard Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn to an attorney father and a peace activist mother. His father moved the family to Europe and then to LA. Dreyfuss found himself in the Hollywood area, attending Beverly Hills High School. He began acting at the Temple in Beverly Hills and soon picked up small acting parts.
Richard Dreyfuss has had an astounding film career. He debuted in "The Graduate," with a tiny role. Then came roles in blockbuster hits like "American Graffiti", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Jaws". Now, in his 70s, he is still working on new projects.
Debbie Harry (born 1945)
Straight out of the New York punk scene, Debbie Harry and all-girl band, the Stilettos, were rocking the stage in a downtown club in 1974 when Chris Stein discovered her. Together they formed Blondie. As lovers, bandmates, and friends, they created a unique musical style. Selling over 40 million albums, tunes like "Atomic", "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me" they topped charts globally.
Harry’s immense popularity ushered in many women in rock music. Blondie split up in 1981, got back together in 1997, and was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. They released their eleventh studio album in May of 2017.