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| Bacall of the wild |
When Carla Laemmle died at 104 this month, the fact that she was the last surviving cast member (albeit uncredited) of both The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and Dracula (1931) tweaked this obsession I have with checking to see who's still alive from any old movie I'm watching. But reading that Pauline Wagner, Fay Wray's King Kong (1933) stunt double (for four hours), just died last month at 103 really kicked the obsession into overdrive; how fascinating that any human beings are still living from these films, all of which are over 80 years old. (In the case of Phantom, had Carla lived one more year, she would have survived until its ninetieth anniversary.)
This interest dovetails nicely with my ongoing interest in tracking the last surviving handful of human beings—anywhere from 10 to 14 confirmed—known to have appeared in any way in a silent film.
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| She displays real Ann Blyth spirit! |
A short list of survivors from some films of note follows. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts; I know there are many examples of movies with only one big star still living (Maureen O'Hara from Miracle on 34th Street, etc.).
I would also like to figure out what living person is a veteran of the oldest film. Perhaps Lassie Lou, Fay or Baby Peggy could be candidates.
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| Ahern in the late '20s |
Call of the Wild
1923
This Hal Roach silent film has a still-living cast member some 91 years after its release—child actress Lassie Lou Ahern (b. June 25, 1920) played a baby in it.
Ahern, one of the last people to have worked in silents, acted until 1975, when she filmed an episode of Petrocelli before retiring from acting. According to a 2011 profile, she worked as a teacher until she was 85.
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