I know of not one, but two, old/young discrepancies on the show Family Matters.

1. Eddie Winslow was Laura's older brother, but Kellie Shanygne Williams was born 3/22/1976, just more than a month before Darius McCrary was 5/1/1976. (FWIW, Jaleel White, aka Steve Urkel, was born later that year, November 27 to be exact.)

2. Rachel Crawford is Harriette Winslow's younger sister, but Telma Hopkins, born 10/28/1948, is older than Jo Marie Payton, born 8/3/1950.

Are there any other such mismatches (for lack of a better term)?

:confused:

I don't know of any others, but just found that out a few weeks ago... thought it was interesting.

In Cosby Show, Sabrina LeBeauf was 21 years older than Rudy, and was old enough to be her mother.:eek:

Bea Arthur (Dorothy) is a few months older than Estelle Getty (Sophia), her mother on "The Golden Girls."

In "Malcolm in the Middle" Justin Berfield, who plays Malcolm's older brother Resse, is a year younger than Frankie Muniz(Malcolm).

Older:
Amy Davidson is older than her character of Kerry on 8SR.
Just about everyone on The OC is older than their teen characters.

Younger:
Matthew Perry is a year younger than his character of Chandler Bing on Friends.

Same Age:
Kaley "Bridget on 8SR" Cuoco is around the same age as America's favorite TV slut.
Mischa Barton is like the only person on The OC who's around the same age as their character (Technically Mischa is 17 while her character of Marissa is 16 but I'm counting it anyway LOL!).

Originally posted by Brent88
I don't know of any others, but just found that out a few weeks ago... thought it was interesting.

In Cosby Show, Sabrina LeBeauf was 21 years older than Rudy, and was old enough to be her mother.:eek:

My oldest brother is 17 years older than my youngest brother.:)I am 15 years older than he is! :eek:

Isabel Sanford is several years older than Sherman Hemsley.(10 years I think?):D

Originally posted by Penny Lane
Isabel Sanford is several years older than Sherman Hemsley.(10 years I think?):D

The difference is actually 20, almost 21. Sherman was born 2/1/1938, while Isabel was born 8/29/1917.

On 7th Heaven, "Lucy," Beverly Mitchell (born 01-22-81) is actually more than a year older than "Mary," Jessica Biel (born 03-03-82). -- THis according to www.imdb.com.

I can't believe both of those girls are so young.

And on Home Improvement, "Randy," Jonathan Taylor Thomas (born 09-08-81) is actually barely older than "Brad," Zachery Ty Bryan (born 10-09-81).

On That 70's Show, "Hyde," Danny Masterson was born 03-17-76;
"Eric," Topher Grace, was born 07-19-78;
"Donna," Laura Pepron, was born 03-07-80;
"Fez," Wilmer Valderrama, was born 01-30-80;
"Kelso," Ashton Kutcher, was born 02-07-78;
And "Jackie," Mila Kunis, was born 08-14-83. (Who, btw, was born in the Ukraine)

This said, that puts 5 years between kids who are supposed to be pretty much the same age, & puts "Kelso" & "Hyde" at being about 7 years too old for their "age."

Tracey Gold is two years older than Kirk Cameron, but played his younger sister on "Growing Pains".

Vivian Vance was over 20 years younger than William Frawley.

"Eight is Enough": Laurie Walters, who played daughter Joannie, is in real life six months older than Betty Buckley, who played stepmother Abby.

Originally posted by hawaii five-o
Tracey Gold is two years older than Kirk Cameron, but played his younger sister on "Growing Pains".

Vivian Vance was over 20 years younger than William Frawley.

Vivian Vance was 1 year younger than Lucy although she was supposed to have been much older.:D

I think Penny Marshall was older than Laverne DeFazio, her character on "Laverne & Shirley".

Ron Palilo, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Robert Hegyes, & John Travolta-Horseshack, Whashinngton, Epstein & Barbarino on "Welcome Back Kotter"-were older than their characters (they were all in their 30s!!!)

Originally posted by TV Guy
"Eight is Enough": Laurie Walters, who played daughter Joannie, is in real life six months older than Betty Buckley, who played stepmother Abby.

Wow!! Although I'm more that old enough to have seen 8 is Enough when it originally aired, I never really watched it as a kid...but that's about the weirdest thing I've ever heard in terms of casting...

I wonder if any other actors have been, in real life, older than the actors who play their parent (or step parent)...that's just too weird :eek:

Originally posted by treky
... John Travolta-Horseshack ... were older than their characters (they were all in their 30s!!!)

Actually, John Travolta was born in 1954, so he would only have been in his twenties during WBK, which aired from 1975-79.

Originally posted by Tweety
Wow!! Although I'm more that old enough to have seen 8 is Enough when it originally aired, I never really watched it as a kid...but that's about the weirdest thing I've ever heard in terms of casting...

I wonder if any other actors have been, in real life, older than the actors who play their parent (or step parent)...that's just too weird :eek: like someone else said, Bea Arthur is really older than Estelle Getty, even though Bea Arthur was her daughter on "The Golden Girls".

On "Mama's Family", Vicki Lawrence played 65-year-old Thelma "Mama" Harper, when in reality, Vicki was born on March 26, 1949, making her only 33 years old when they started making "Mama's Family" episodes in 1982 ("Mama's Family" went on the air in January 1983 as a mid-season replacement), and she was nearly 41 by the time "Mama's Family" ended in early 1990.



Okay, now that we have established the fact that a 33-year-old lady was playing a 65-year-old grandma, let me tell you guys some more stuff.

-Rue McClanahan (you remember her as Blanche on "The Golden Girls") played Mama's younger sister, Frannie, on Mama's Family. Rue is actually older than Vicki in real life -- her birthday is February 21, 1934, making her 15 years older than Vicki.

-Betty White played one of Mama's daughters...In real life, Betty's birthday is January 17, 1922, making her a whooping 27 YEARS older than Vicki! :eek:

-Ken Berry played Mama's son. In real life, Ken's birthday is November 3, 1933, making him 15 years older than Vicki.

-Carol Burnett played another one of Mama's daughters...In real life, her birthday is April 26, 1933, making her ALMOST 16 years older than Vicki.

Courteney Cox plays Monica on FRIENDS. She was born in 1964 and Monica is approximately 31/32 years old making her born sometime in 1970/1971.

Originally posted by Nanny Fine
Courteney Cox plays Monica on FRIENDS. She was born in 1964 ...

So right after the show (finally) ends next year she will hit the big four-oh!

40!!!

Often, if an actor can get away with "looking the part" then they get that role. Regardless of their true life age, most actors play a character that is younger than themself. Every person looks different at different ages, so sometimes it may be the personality of that character they can portray that can land them the role. It is neat to be able to pick up on that though.

Phylicia Rashad was like 17 years younger than Bill Cosby, I don't remeber exactly how old they r, but i was comparing birthdays, and he was much older!

Originally posted by ~Teddybear~
Phylicia Rashad was like 17 years younger than Bill Cosby, I don't remeber exactly how old they r, but i was comparing birthdays, and he was much older!

There was almost an 11-year difference: Bill was born 7/12/1937, while Phylicia was born 6/19/1948*.

* - Some sources say she was born 6/17/48.

On 2 Broke Girls, the characters of Sophie and Oleg were married at the end of its fourth season. Jennifer Coolidge (who portrays Sophie) and Jonathan Kite (who portrays Oleg) have a real-life age difference of 18 years, Ms. Coolidge being born on August 28, 1961, and Mr. Kite being born on September 2, 1979.

On The Bernie Mac Show Camille Winbush (who played Vanessa) was the oldest sibling but in real life her and Jeremy Suarez (who played Jordan) are the same age.

On The Facts of Life, Jo and Blair are around the same age and same grade, but in real life Lisa Whelchel is 3 years older than Nancy Mckeon.

Isabel Sanford is several years older than Sherman Hemsley.(10 years I think?):D

Isabel Sanford was 20 years older than Sherman Hemsley but I always thought they looked good together. I preferred the Louise from when the show started, she seemed more down to earth.

Vivian Vance was 1 year younger than Lucy although she was supposed to have been much older.:D

Viv was actually 2 years older than Lucy, but she (or a publicist or agent) probably fibbed about her age in the past. Oddly enough, William Frawley, who died more than 10 years before the other principal cast members, lived longer than all of them because he was so much older.

I haven't looked this up, but was wondering how old Walter Brennan was in the Real McCoys. I know one episode, one of the funniest, ? Grampa goes down the Primose Path, I think it is mentioned Grampa is 65. Then his next show the ages there were odd, The Guns of Will Sonnett. Was Jeff around 20, the sometimes seen father 45 and Will 70? Dack was around 27 ?? Real life ages there I don't know. Will did well for age 70 to ride a horse.


One thing I find about tv shows, many have actors take parts that rarely would happen in real life. Wasn't there a episode, ? on in the MIDDLEe where Doris Roberts was a teacher. How many schools have age 65+ teachers on the staff.

When Doogie Howser M.D. was on the air, Neil Patrick Harris who played Doogie really was in his teens. But Max Casella who played his teenage best friend Vinnie was already in his early 20s!

Same thing on Gilmore Girls. Alexis Bledel who played Rory Gilmore as a teenager was already in her early 20s when the show began.

Ed.

When Diff'rent Strokes was on Gary Coleman was playing a couple years younger than his actual age. But he looked so young because of the physical trauma his body went through when he had his first kidney transplant operation. It ended up stunting his growth.

Ed.

On Just the Ten Of Us, Connie (played by JoAnn Willette) was the fourth oldest but in real life was older than all of them having been born in 1963.

Ron Palilo, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Robert Hegyes, & John Travolta-Horseshack, Whashinngton, Epstein & Barbarino on "Welcome Back Kotter"-were older than their characters (they were all in their 30s!!!)

No, they were all in their 20's while on Welcome Back, Kotter. Ron Palilo was the oldest of the four and he turned 30 right at the end of the last season.

There was a huge age gap between Ester Rolle and John Amos (James and Florida from Good Times). Ester was 19 years older than John was.

On Just the Ten Of Us, Connie (played by JoAnn Willette) was the fourth oldest but in real life was older than all of them having been born in 1963.

Whoa, that means that she was 25 and she was playing a 14 year old!