R.I.P. Chuck Yeager

[dws1982]

It seemed odd that he would still be alive but I was just going off of Wikipedia clicks.

I believe this makes 94 year-old Queen Elizabeth the oldest living person who is an Oscar nominated character. Of course, it was Yeager until a few days ago.

[Greg]

Joey LaMotta supposedly died in 1991.

[dws1982]

I decided to go through and see what real-life people turned Oscar-nominated characters are still alive. I'm still updating, I know I'm missing a few.

A little criteria: Some films are inspired by real-life events (e.g., Six Degrees of Separation) but it's not really appropriate to say that Inger McCabe Elliott was turned into an Oscar-nominated character in Ouisa Kittredge, since the play took that situation and ran with it. Jessica Chastain definitely played a real-life person in Zero Dark Thirty, but since she has never been identified, it's hard to include her. Others borderline cases are included, with explanation.

Actor:
Pope Francis
Dick Cheney
Jordan Belfort
Billy Beane
Aaron Ralston
Mark Zuckerberg
Chris Gardner
Paul Rusesabagina
Charlie Kaufman (if Anna Koreff/Anderson counts, I guess he does)
Jeffrey Wigand
Larry Flynt
David Helfgott
Ron Kovic
Frank Serpico (the earliest Oscar-nominated character who is still alive)


Actress:
Megyn Kelly
Tonya Harding
Joy Mangano
Cheryl Strayed
Jane Hawking
Philomena Lee
Maria Belon
Jenny Mellor/Lynn Barber (An Education the book was a memoir by Lynn Barber; I believe it was the film that changed her name)
Lee Ann Tuohy
Queen Elizabeth II
Erin Brockovich
Roberta Guaspari
Helen Prejean
Tina Turner
Lindy Chamberlin
Joyce/Beth Horman (named Beth Horman in the film, at Joyce's request)
Loretta Lynn (the oldest Oscar-nominated character who is still alive)


Supporting Actor:
Pope Benedict XVI
George W. Bush
Saroo Brierley
Michael Rezendes
Michael Burry
Abduwali Muse (the youngest Oscar-nominated character who is still alive, and the only one whose true age is not known; he is somewhere between 27 and 30)
Dicky Eklund
Francois Pienaar
John Laroche (included on the sliding scale that includes Charlie Kaufman)
Gene Kranz

Supporting Actress:
Bobbi Jewell
Lynne Cheney
Sue Brierley
Sacha Pfeiffer
Joanna Hoffman
Charlene Fleming
Cheryl Cohen-Greene
Tatiana Rusesabagina
Susan Orlean (see Charlie Kaufman)
Lana Tisdel
Hilary du Pre
Marilyn Lovell)
Gareth Pierce
Karen Hill
Judy Hoback

[Big Magilla]

As one person pointed out on Twitter, Chuck Yeager is one of the few people who became an Oscar-nominated character and then outlived the actor who was nominated for playing him. Others are Alvin York, Anna Koreff, Dith Pran, Han Suyin, Ben Bradlee, Adrian Cronauer, and Jane Froman and Lillian Roth who both outlived Susan Hayward and died within three weeks of each other.

Alvin York was played by Gary Cooper, Dith Pran by Haing S. Ngor, Han Suyin by Jennifer Jones, Ben Bradly by Jason Robards, and Adrian Cronauer by Robin Williams.

Unfortunately they're all dead now. Can anyone think of any real-life persons still alive whose Oscar nominated portrayer has pre-deceased them?

[dws1982]

As one person pointed out on Twitter, Chuck Yeager is one of the few people who became an Oscar-nominated character and then outlived the actor who was nominated for playing him. Others are Alvin York, Anna Koreff, Dith Pran, Han Suyin, Ben Bradlee, Adrian Cronauer, and Jane Froman and Lillian Roth who both outlived Susan Hayward and died within three weeks of each other.

[dws1982]

I can't believe the Disney+ miniseries of The Right Stuff omitted him completely.

[Big Magilla]

Not an actor, although he did appear briefly as himself in The Right Stuff for which Sam Shepard received an Oscar nomination for playing him in his prime.

The legendary test pilot who broke the sound barrier was 97.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/us/c ... e=Homepage