This is an offshoot of the thread (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=240060) about older actors who in real life, outlived their younger co-stars.


Linda Lavin outliving Phillip McKeon - Alice

Marion Ross outliving Erin Moran; Linda Purl outliving Heather O'Rourke - Happy Days

Shirley Jones outliving Suzanne Crough and David Cassidy - The Partridge Family

John Hoyt outliving Dolph Sweet - Gimme a Break!

Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton outliving Sawyer Sweeten - Everybody Loves Raymond

Stephen Collins and Catherine Hicks outliving Lorenzo Brino - 7th Heaven

Mariann Aalda outliving Naya Rivera - The Royal Family

Dick Van Patten outliving Lani O'Grady - Eight Is Enough

Ruth Buzzi outliving Dustin Diamond - Saved by the Bell

Don DeFore and Whitney Blake outliving Bobby Buntrock - Hazel

Josh Taylor outliving Luke Perry - Beverly Hills, 90210

John Astin outliving Ken Weatherwax - The Addams Family

William Schallert outliving Patty Duke - The Patty Duke Show

Conrad Bain outliving Dana Plato - Diff'rent Strokes

Gladys Knight outliving Kristoff St. John - Charlie & Co.

Brett Butler outliving Jon Paul Steuer - Grace Under Fire

Telma Hopkins outliving Merlin Santana - Getting By

Diana Canova outliving Paul Walker - Throb

Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp outliving Lisa Robin Kelly - That '70s Show

Susan Kellermann outliving Andy Kaufman - Taxi

Sherman Hemsley outliving Mike Evans - The Jeffersons

Doris Day outlived Todd Starke (The Doris Day Show)

Danny Thomas outlived Rusty Hamer (Make Room For Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show)

Ann Dusenberry and Larry Anderson have outlived Philip Amelio, Jr. (Life With Lucy)

Monte Markham has outlived Arthur O'Connell (The Second Hundred Years)- of course Markham's (older) character was physically younger than O'Connell's due to being frozen

Loretta Young outlived both Dack and Dirk Rambo (The New Loretta Young Show)

Vicki Lawrence has outlived Ken Berry (Mama's Family)- of course Vicki was much younger than her character

Richard Crenna and Kathy Nolan outlived Michael Winkelman (The Real McCoys)

Both actresses who played George and Deirdre's mother on Hazel (Harriet MacGibbon and Louise Lorimer) outlived Cathy Lewis who played Dierdre

A pair better known for their movies rather than this one rather forgotten TV series- Fay Wray outlived Natalie Wood (Pride Of The Family)

Robert F. Simon outlived Dick York (Bewitched)

On non-sitcoms, Lorne Greene outlived Dan Blocker (Bonanza) and Barbara Stanwyck outlived Richard Long (The Big Valley)

i29 said:

"Richard Crenna and Kathy Nolan outlived Michael Winkelman (The Real McCoys)"

Michael Winkelman played Little Luke on the series, Little Luke was Luke's (Richard Crenna) younger brother not his son.

Didn't Conrad Bain outlive Dana Plato? (oops - on the OP's list)

Raising Dad - Jerry Adler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Adler) outliving Bob Saget.

Full House - Alice Hirson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Hirson) outliving Bob Saget. Alice Hirson also outlived her replacement as Danny Tanner's mom, Doris Roberts.

Priscilla Pointer at 97, has outlived Ken Kercheval, who played her son Cliff Barnes on Dallas.

John Cullum who played (Grandpa Big Mike on the middle).

Outlived Norm McDonald (Uncle Rusty on the middle).

Starting from Scratch (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094555/) - Bill Daly outliving Heidi Helmer (https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/heidi-castino-obituary?id=2782965).

Night Court - John Astin (https://nightcourt.fandom.com/wiki/Buddy_Ryan) outliving Harry Anderson.

My Three Sons: Doris Singleton (died 2012) as Mrs. Morrison outlived her daughter Sally Ann played by Meredith MacRae (died 2000).

Please Don't Eat The Daisies - Mark Miller and Pat Crowley outlived Kim Tyler.

Kathleen Widdoes (Emma Snyder) has outlived two actors who portrayed her children on As the World Turns:

Michael Morrison/Caleb Snyder (1960-1993)
Lisa Brown/Iva Snyder (1954-2021)

Also from ATWT, actress Marie Masters (Susan Stewart) survived Marnie Schulenburg (1984-2022), who played her daughter Alison Stewart.

Actress Kathleen Nolan has outlived Brandon deWilde, who played her orphaned nephew who she adopted in the series Jamie.

On the original One Day at a Time, Nanette Fabray outlived Bonnie Franklin.

I was NOT happy about that one, especially since Ms. Fabray had been retired from acting for several years prior to Ms. Franklin's death. And Ms. Franklin's real-life mother outlived Bonnie by a year.

Didn't Conrad Bain outlive Dana Plato? (oops - on the OP's list)

He also outlived Gary Coleman.

John Astin (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/lisa-loring-wednesday-actress-addams-family-dead-at-64-1235312488/) has now (https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/lisa-loring-dead-wednesday-addams-family-1235506117/) outlived his TV daughter on The Addams Family, Lisa Loring (https://deadline.com/2023/01/lisa-loring-dead-actor-original-wednesday-addams-1235243958/).

Robin Williams and Pam Dawber both outlived Jonathan Winters from Mork and Mindy. :D

On Ryan's Hope (a daytime soap), Helen Gallagher (Maeve Ryan) outlived Nicollette Goulet, the fourth and final actress to play Mary Ryan.

I don't know if this exactly counts since this involves the feature films, but on Star Trek: The Original Series, William Shatner (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=429419) outliving Merritt Butrick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merritt_Butrick), who played his son (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/David_Marcus) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

This is an offshoot of the thread (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=240060) about older actors who in real life, outlived their younger co-stars.


John Astin outliving Ken Weatherwax - The Addams Family





So sad we must add Lisa Loring to this list...

Also, actress Anne Sward has outlived Lisa Loring, who played her daughter Cricket Montgomery on the soap opera As the World Turns in the early-80s.

Another Alice (https://www.looper.com/795995/alice-actors-you-may-not-know-passed-away/) example, Martha Raye (who passed (https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/20/obituaries/martha-raye-78-singer-and-comic-actress-dies.html) in 1994 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOAAqw6Jtas)) outliving Vic Tayback (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1990/05/26/vic-tayback-who-played-mel-in-alice-tv-series-dies/3442beac-3a41-48a0-bc5b-5728cd3ee684/), who died (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-26-mn-299-story.html) in 1990 (https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/26/obituaries/vic-tayback-dies-actor-60-was-mel-in-the-alice-series.html).

Harriet Nelson (https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/04/obituaries/harriet-nelson-85-matriarch-of-ozzie-and-harriet-show.html), who also died (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-04-mn-46403-story.html) in 1994 (https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-10-04-1994277162-story.html), outlived both her fictional and real life son on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Ricky Nelson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEOZ0ZQg2Wo), who (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HugdpKdD_4) died (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpO9disExVI) in 1985 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpO9disExVI).

Doris Day outlived Todd Starke (The Doris Day Show)

Danny Thomas outlived Rusty Hamer (Make Room For Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show)

Ann Dusenberry and Larry Anderson have outlived Philip Amelio, Jr. (Life With Lucy)

Monte Markham has outlived Arthur O'Connell (The Second Hundred Years)- of course Markham's (older) character was physically younger than O'Connell's due to being frozen

Loretta Young outlived both Dack and Dirk Rambo (The New Loretta Young Show)

Vicki Lawrence has outlived Ken Berry (Mama's Family)- of course Vicki was much younger than her character

Richard Crenna and Kathy Nolan outlived Michael Winkelman (The Real McCoys)

Both actresses who played George and Deirdre's mother on Hazel (Harriet MacGibbon and Louise Lorimer) outlived Cathy Lewis who played Dierdre

A pair better known for their movies rather than this one rather forgotten TV series- Fay Wray outlived Natalie Wood (Pride Of The Family)

Robert F. Simon outlived Dick York (Bewitched)

On non-sitcoms, Lorne Greene outlived Dan Blocker (Bonanza) and Barbara Stanwyck outlived Richard Long (The Big Valley)

Incidentally, both Robert F. Simon and David White (who was Larry Tate on Bewitched) later played J. Jonah Jameson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Jonah_Jameson) in the live-action Spider-Man TV series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Spider-Man_(TV_series)) with Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker. White (https://spiderman-films.fandom.com/wiki/J._Jonah_Jameson_(David_White)) only played Jameson in the pilot while Simon (https://spiderman-films.fandom.com/wiki/J._Jonah_Jameson_(Robert_F._Simon)) played him for the remainder of the series.

John Astin (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/lisa-loring-wednesday-actress-addams-family-dead-at-64-1235312488/) has now (https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/lisa-loring-dead-wednesday-addams-family-1235506117/) outlived his TV daughter on The Addams Family, Lisa Loring (https://deadline.com/2023/01/lisa-loring-dead-actor-original-wednesday-addams-1235243958/).

He has also outlived Ken Weatherwax, and is probably the only living cast member left, by now. I think Felix Silla died a few yers ago.

I also don't recall anyone mentioning Marion Ross outliving Erin Moran.

I'll try two relatively obscure ones:

Ethel Owen played Ralph's mother-in-law (Alice's mother), she died in 1997 at the ripe old age of 103 outliving both Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows, and also her real life daughter Pamela Britton (Mrs. Brown, My Favorite Martian).

Ruth McDevitt played Effie Hanks mother of Henrietta Hanks (Ann Sheridan) in Pistols and Petticoats.

I also don't recall anyone mentioning Marion Ross outliving Erin Moran.

I already mentioned that (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=5981014&postcount=1) as the second example.

I already mentioned that (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=5981014&postcount=1) as the second example.

Oops! At least I got Ken Weatherwax.

Big Love: Bruce Dern (1936- ) and Grace Zabriskie (1941-) have outlived Bill Paxton (1955-2017).

Drexell’s Class: Dabney Coleman (1932- ) has outlived Brittany Murphy (1977-2009).

Eight Is Enough: Betty Buckley (1947- ) has outlived Adam Rich (1968-2023). Buckley and Dick Van Patten (1928-2015) also outlived Lani O’Grady (1954-2001).

Family Affair: Brian Keith (1921-1997) outlived Anissa Jones (1958-1976).

The Famous Jett Jackson: Gordon Greene and Melanie Nicholls-King have outlived Lee Thompson Young (1984-2013).

Growing Pains: Jane Powell (1929-2021) outlived Alan Thicke (1947-2016).

Huff: Hank Azaria (1964- ) and Paget Brewster (1969- ) have outlived Anton Yelchin (1989-2016).

Jessie: Charles Esten (1965 - ) and Christina Moore (1973- ) have outlived Cameron Boyce (1999-2019).

The Two of Us: Mimi Kennedy (1948- ) has outlived Dana Hill (1964-1996).

I also don't recall anyone mentioning Marion Ross outliving Erin Moran.

Marion Ross also outlived Gavan O'Herlihy (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/gavan-oherlihy-dead-happy-days-missing-big-brother-1235047063/), who portrayed the SECOND Chuck Cunningham (https://happydays.fandom.com/wiki/Chuck_Cunningham) (Ric Carrott was “Chuck” in the Love, American Style pilot for Happy Days).

On the original One Day at a Time, Nanette Fabray outlived Bonnie Franklin.

I was NOT happy about that one, especially since Ms. Fabray had been retired from acting for several years prior to Ms. Franklin's death. And Ms. Franklin's real-life mother outlived Bonnie by a year.

Bonnie Franklin, so I've been told, was a heavy smoker (https://web.archive.org/web/20230714202446/http://smokingsides.com/asfs/F/) and it likely contributed (https://www.datalounge.com/thread/12527130-bonnie-franklin-dead) to her death from pancreatic cancer (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pancreatic-cancer-bonnie-franklin_n_1911027) at the age of 69. In comparison, Nanette Fabray lived to be the "ripe old" age of 97.

James at 15 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_at_15) - Lynn Carlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Carlin) outlived Lance Kerwin (https://variety.com/2023/tv/people-news/lance-kerwin-james-at-15-1235502420/), who played her titular son James.

Friends - Morgan Fairchild (https://friends.fandom.com/wiki/Nora_Tyler_Bing) outlived Matthew Perry (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=449700).

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/05/15/29265974-8392321-image-a-2_1591366401894.jpg

Here We Go Again:
Diane Baker & Dick Gautier outlived Leslie Graves.

Second Chance AKA Boys Will Be Boys:

Randee Heller outlived Matthew Perry.

Diana Canova outliving Paul Walker - Throb



Diana Canova outlived Rori King, who played her daughter on I'm a Big Girl Now.

David Caruso outlived Evan Ellingson, who played his son on CSI: Miami. Keith Carradine, Evan's father on Complete Savages, also outlived him.

David Caruso outlived Evan Ellingson, who played his son on CSI: Miami. Keith Carradine, Evan's father on Complete Savages, also outlived him.

Speaking of David Caruso, there's Dennis Franz outliving Austin Majors (https://ew.com/tv/austin-majors-dead-nypd-blue-child-actor/), who played his son (https://nypost.com/2023/08/08/nypd-blue-child-actor-austin-majors-cause-of-death-revealed/) on NYPD Blue.

He has also outlived Ken Weatherwax, and is probably the only living cast member left, by now. I think Felix Silla died a few yers ago.

Yes, he is (https://www.slashfilm.com/1524957/only-major-actors-still-alive-1960s-addams-family-series/)! John Astin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Astin) turned 94 (https://twitter.com/realFETV/status/1774029108202098756) over a week or so ago (https://www.instagram.com/thebrokenplate_jules/p/C5I-h5WL1uR/).

Domestic Life

Martin Mull (Martin Crane) outlived Christian Brackett-Zika (Harold Crane), who sadly took his own life at age 48 in 2019.

ALF - Anne Schedeen outlived Benji Gregory (https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/07/10/benji-gregory-alf-cause-of-death/)

Our House - Deidre Hall Outlived Shannen Doherty.

Our House - Deidre Hall Outlived Shannen Doherty.

Beverly Hills, 90210 - James Eckhouse and Carol Potter outlived Shannen Doherty.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete - Iggy Pop outlived Michelle Trachtenberg.

https://people.com/thmb/3khW4pSZe-UgChiMVlAebYOv9r0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/michelle-trachtenberg-life-in-photos-8-022625-acfa7fdd545a4bacac40068eb730b82f.jpg

Las Vegas (https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/02/16/astin-cashes-in-with-las-vegas-role/) - June Lockhart outlived James Caan.

Lime Street (https://www.samanthasmith.info/lime-street) - Robert Wagner (https://www.robert-wagner.com/samantha-smith/) outlived Samantha Smith, who tragically died (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/08/26/The-death-of-13-year-old-Samantha-Smith-Monday-stunned-the/2588493876800/) along with her real father in a plane crash less than a month before the series was scheduled to premiere (https://forums.lostmediawiki.com/thread/4959/lime-street-tv-show-1985) on ABC.

Our House - Deidre Hall Outlived Shannen Doherty.

Charmed - Tony Denison (https://charmed.fandom.com/wiki/Anthony_Denison) and his replacement (https://www.reddit.com/r/charmed/comments/1hjyons/the_reason_why_the_character_victor_in_charmed/) James Read and Finola Hughes (https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64700625/) outlived Shannen Doherty.

The Cosby Show - Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad outlived Malcolm-Jamal Warner (https://www.npr.org/2025/07/21/nx-s1-5475181/malcolm-jamal-warner-dead). :(

Dawson's Creek - John Wesley Shipp (https://greginhollywood.com/james-van-der-beeks-dawsons-creek-dad-john-wesley-shipp-pays-tribute-to-his-tv-son-249633) and Mary-Margaret Humes (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiNtLSUvOCUAxWLNIYAHVyjCQcQFnoECCUQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fjames-van-der-beek-tv-mom-honors-dawsons-creek-actor-after-his-death-at-48-11905394&usg=AOvVaw2QOwoj5Xb06i0ej_Amejoj&opi=89978449) outlived James Van Der Beek.