Fred MacMurray was 53 when the show started yet it seemed that the character was supposed to be 10 years or so younger. Beverly Garland was 22 younger than MacMurray meaning she was young enough to be his daughter. Also the two Williams were in their 70s yet the characters seemed to be in their 60s Was there ever any reference to the ages of these characters?

The answers to your questions are generally not known, however scrutiny of the earlier black and white seasons may give us an answer:

In a 1961 episode there is a flashback to Steve's teenage days and he is supposed to be 17 in 1931 meaning he would have been born in 1914. In a color episode, Steve returns to his old home town and it is indicated that he left there 25 years earlier when he was 20. The reality is of course that MacMurray was born in 1908.

William Frawley as Bub has his age given as 64 in a second season episode. When Frawley left the series in 1965 he was in fact 78 years old.

William Demarest's character's age was never given on the show, although if you believe he retired from the merchant marines at 65 when he came to live with the family, he would have been about 72 when the show ended. Again, the reality is that he was already 80 when the show ceased in 1972.

Good info, Geoff. About the only ones whose ages were clearly spelled out were the sons, Dodie, the triplets and the boys' wives.

What ever happened to the triplets. Where are they now and any pictures?

From my website at TV. Com (formerly TV Tome)...

The Todd Triplets - Michael, Daniel and Joseph (b. August 5, 1967): After being contacted by the boys' mother Lynn and their stepfather David in late 2002, I can let you know that Joseph, his wife and two kids are living in Colorado Springs at an army base. Joe has one year left before retiring from active service. He is a 'E7' in the medical unit. Mike is also in the army, and is based in Washington. He is also an 'E7' and will retire in a year. He is now divorced and has two daughters in Hawaii where he spent four years on active duty before going to Washington. Danny is married and lives in Houston. He spent five years in the Army and settled in Houston where he is the owner of a company that installs yard water and lighting systems. The boys have spent many years overseas and all speak several languages. They are happy and haven't done any TV work since they were 16 years old.

Unfortunately, I don't have any current photos of the boys but I do have one in my collection from their late teens which shows thay all grew into having a darker blond hairstyle, actually more brown than blond.

I imagine they're able to talk now. In the show, no matter how old they got they only seemed to be able to babble nonsense. I hope they finally learned to talk.