Stacey Dash was already 30 when she played a 16 year old on Clueless

Don Adams was 7 years older than his Maxwell Smart character (only 7 years younger than Edward Platt, who was supposed to be much older)

Ken Osmond and Frank Bank were already in their twenties when their characters graduated from high school on Leave It To Beaver

Henry Winkler was 29 when he played Fonzie, who was probably in his early twenties

Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Luke Perry, and Jason Preistley were way too old to be playing high school students on 90210. Shannon Doherty and Jennie Garth were almost 20 when the show started.

Will Smith was 22 playing a 17 year old on The Fresh Prince.

Emmanuel Lewis was about 11 or 12 playing 6-year old Webster in 1983! :lol:

And was 18, playing a 12-yr. old by the rime the show ended in 1989! :lol:



Jack Lord was 47 to 48 years old when he 1st started on Hawaii Five-O in 1968 and was very near 60 by the time Five-O ended in 1980.

richard crenna was 26 when he played teenager walter denton on our miss brooks and lisa robin kelly was 28 when she began playing 20 year old laurie forman on that 70s show

Micky Rooney was 35 playing 19 on "The Mickey Rooney Show" aka "Hey Mulligan" a very surreal show

Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright on Bonanza) was only 13 years older
than Pernell Roberts (his TV son, Adam Cartwright), and only about 14 years
older than Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright) -- but he was 21 years older than Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright).

John Amos was actually a little younger than his TV Wife, Esther Rolle on Good Times

Nicole Paggi was 25 playing a 14 year old on Hope & Faith.

John Amos was actually a little younger than his TV Wife, Esther Rolle on Good Times
And IIRC, he was only 7 or 9 years older then Jimmy Walker, who played his son.

Going the other way, Abe Vagoda was younger than Hal Linden, yet played a character (FISH) that was to be about 20 years older than Barney Miller.

Going the other way, Abe Vagoda was younger than Hal Linden, yet played a character (FISH) that was to be about 20 years older than Barney Miller.
Actually, Hal Linden is about 10 years younger than Abe Vigoda. Abe WAS younger than Jack Soo (Nick Yemana), by about 5 years.

On ONe Life To Live Clint Ritchie was acutally only 13 years younger than Phil Carey, and Carey was playing his father.

Amy Davidson was 23 when she started portraying 15 year old Kerry on 8 Simple Rules.

I also forgot...

Dwayne Hickman was 25 years old when he first started playing Dobie Gillis, who was supposed to be 17 (The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis)

Jimmie Walker was 27 years old when he started playing J.J. who was supposed to be 17 (Good Times)

Most of the 'high school students' on Welcome Back, Kotter were in their late 20s and early 30s when they were on the show.

Here's an interesting one:

Back in the early 2000's General Hospital needed to quickly get a replacement actor for John Ingle when Ingle left the show.

They replaced him with Jed Allan, who stayed with the show for a couple of years, I think.

Jed Allan played Edward Quartermaine, father of Alan Quartermaine, played by Stuart Damon.

Jed Allan was born on 3/1/1937.
Stuart Damon was born on 2/5/1937.

The "father" was about a month younger than the "son."

:lol:

The cast of High School Musical.

Most "teen" stars are actually in their 20s. Blame California child labor laws

When Dennis the Menace debuted, on Oct. 4, 1959, Jay North was 8
years old; and when the series ended, on Sept. 22, 1963, he was 12 years
old. The comic strip character Dennis Mitchell is only five years old, though.
(Coincidentally, the Dennis comic strip began on Mar. 12, 1951; and
Jay North was born on Aug. 3, 1951. So, depending on how you look at it,
Dennis the Menace is nearly five months older than Jay North--or Jay North was about three to seven years older than Dennis Mitchell.)

Welcome Back Kotter- The Sweathogs were in their mid to late 20's possibly 30's by the time the show ended, they were playing High School students.

And IIRC, he was only 7 or 9 years older then Jimmy Walker, who played his son.

Good call!

Here's another one:

Angie Dickinson was in her early '40s when she 1st started on "Police Woman" in 1974 and she looked better than most of the women half her age at the time! :lol:

James Garner was 46 when he starred on The Rockford Files.

Interesting part about Hawaii Five-O was that:

Jack Lord (b. 1920) was 17 years older than both James MacArthur (b. 1937), and original 1st-4 seasons cast member Zulu (b. 1937) while Kam Fong (b. 1918) was only 2 years older than Jack Lord.

And ironically, William Smith (b. 1933), James MacArthur's replacement in S12 was 4 years older than MacArthur and Moe Keale (b. 1939) was only 2 years younger than MacArthur and 6 years younger than Smith.

And Khiegh Diegh "Wo Fat" (b. 1910) was older than both Kam Fong and Jack Lord.

Another example on Happy Days: Richie, Potsie, and Ralph were supposed to be teenagers when the series started (16?). In real life, Ron Howard was almost 20, Anson Williams was 24, and Don Most was 20 when the show premiered in 1974.

The Golden Girls - Bea Arthur was actually two months older than Estelle Getty, who played her TV mother. Betty White was older than both of them.

The Jeffersons - Sherman Hemsley was only 11 years older than both his TV sons and daughter in law, Mike Evans, Damon Evans, and Berlinda Tolbert.

Good Times - John Amos was only 6 years older than Jimmie Walker, who played his TV son.

The Cosby Show - Phylicia Rashad was 10 years older than her oldest TV daugher, Sabrina LeBeauf. Ether Ayler (Claire's mother) was 14 years older than Phylicia Rashad. Earl Hyman (Cliff's father) was 11 years older than Bill Cosby and Clarice Taylor (Cliff's mother) was 10 years older than Bill Cosby.

Gimme A Break - Jane Dulo (Grandma Kanisky) was only 3 years older than Dolph Sweet and John Hoyt (Granpa Kanisky) was 15 years older than Dolph Sweet.

Comedienne Anne Meara played "single, swinging, 39-year-old stewardess (who was dreading turning 40)" Sally Gallager, a neighbor on RHODA in the 1976-77 season. Meara was actually 47 when she took the role.

on "THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES" Irene Ryan was younger than Granny was (I forget what her age was, but I think she was in her 40s when she was hired).

They originally wanted to cast someone who was closer to Grannys age but she said that if they did, there would be no guarantee that the person would show up every day!!:lol: :lol: :lol:

Linda Kaye Henning was 19 years old when she was hired to play a high school tomboy on "Petticoat Junction."

Lori Saunders was around 24 years old when she was hired to play Bobbi Jo a high school student on "Petticoat Junction."

The entire cast of Square Pegs were either in their early or late twenties when the show started.

on FRIENDS ..Lisa Kudrow had turned 31 in 1994 and was playing a girl who was in her early twenties. Courteney Cox was older than the actor who played her broither and also Matthew Perry was the baby of the group and he was supposed to be older than he actually was.

The entire cast of Square Pegs were either in their early or late twenties when the show started.


The above is COMPLETELY inaccurate:

Sarah Jessica Parker born 1965 - 17 when the show started.
Amy Linker born 1966 - 16 when the show started.
John Femia born 1966 - 16 when the show started.
Tracy Nelson born 1963 - 19 when the show started.
Jami Gertz born 1965 - 17 when the show started.

The only actors that were older in their 20s, of the main players, were Jon Caliri (born 1960 -22) and Merritt Butrick (born 1959 - 23).

The cast of High School Musical.

Most "teen" stars are actually in their 20s. Blame California child labor laws

Yep very true. But a lot of networks and production companies sort of save moeny by having teen character being played by people in their 20's. They are able to have production sped up because people past the age of 18 can work more hours.

Rachel McAdams was 26 when she played a teen character in The Hot Chick and she was 28 when she was in Mean Girls.

Skeet Ulrich was 27 when he starred in Scream.

Elisabeth Harnois is almost 30 and she played teens in several movies and tv shows for the past few years. She guest starred on 90210 sometime back. She guest starred on a few episodes of One Tree Hill two years ago and starred in the short live Fox drama Point Pleasant back in 2005.

Eric Hubbard is 28 and she currently plays a teen on the ABC Family Show Lincoln Heights. Also Robert Adamson who plays her love interest is 23 in real life.

The above is COMPLETELY inaccurate:

Sarah Jessica Parker born 1965 - 17 when the show started.
Amy Linker born 1966 - 16 when the show started.
John Femia born 1966 - 16 when the show started.
Tracy Nelson born 1963 - 19 when the show started.
Jami Gertz born 1965 - 17 when the show started.

The only actors that were older in their 20s, of the main players, were Jon Caliri (born 1960 -22) and Merritt Butrick (born 1959 - 23).

Sorry just a case of the old stigmata that all TV teenagers in the 70s/80s circa were all over 20 you know sweathogittis.

The cast of High School Musical.

Most "teen" stars are actually in their 20s. Blame California child labor laws

I think that only, Monique Coleman (who was about 25-26), Ashley Tisdale (20-21), Lucas Grabreal (21-22), and Kacey Stroh (21-22) were a few years older (or past being teenagers) than the characters that they potrayed in "HSM" (at least during filming).

I believe that Michael Chicklis was still in his 20s when he starred on "The Commish" (where his character was about 15-20 years older).

Ralph Macchio was already 22-23 when he did the first "Karate Kid" movie. He was 27 when the third movie came out, even though he was still playing a teenager (since chronologically, "Karate Kid III" takes place a year after the first one). As a matter of fact, the actor who portrayed Terry Silver in "Karate Kid III" was in real life, a year younger than Ralph Macchio, even though he was suppose to be a 40ish year old Vietnam War veteran.

Elisabeth Shue (Ralph Macchio's "Karate Kid" co-star) was 24 when she did "Adventures in Babysitting", even though her character was 17. And then in "Back to the Future II", which came out two years later, Elisabeth was still playing a teenager (she replaced Claudia Wells as Michael J. Fox's girlfriend, Jennifer).

Meanwhile, Alan Ruck was 29 when he played a high school senior in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".

Erica Hubbard is 28 and she currently plays a teen on the ABC Family Show Lincoln Heights. Also Robert Adamson who plays her love interest is 23 in real life.

fixed it for ya ;)

Speaking of Ms. Hubbard,her TV mother Nicki Micheaux is only 8 years older than Erica (Nicki was born in 1971,Erica was born in 1979 according to IMDB.)

Yep very true. But a lot of networks and production companies sort of save moeny by having teen character being played by people in their 20's. They are able to have production sped up because people past the age of 18 can work more hours.

Many teen actors also lack enough professional acting experience for producers.

On the current ABC drama "Lost", Kevin Tighe plays Anthony Cooper, who is father to John Locke, played by Terry O' Quinn. In real life, Tighe is 64 and O'Quinn is 56!