Sunday Seven - Episode #305

Today is my uncle’s 80th birthday. He’s a character and acts like he did 30 years ago, with a mind still as sharp as a tack.

That got me thinking about some famous people who are 80 or over. Here’s a list that you can filter by profession. Can you name seven that you’d like to spend an afternoon with? That’s the challenge for this week! As always, thanks for stopping by!

• Be sure to check back this week and click on the links of bloggers who play along in the comments below! It’s a great way to find blogs you may not have visited and to keep the conversation going!

Here is this week’s “Sunday Seven” question. Either answer in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your blog (with a link here), and then comment here with a link back to your blog so that everyone else can visit! Permission is not granted to copy the questions to message boards for the purpose of having members answer and play along there. Enjoy!

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

Name seven notable people age 80 or up that you’d like to spend an afternoon with to get to know them and how they’ve made a success for so long.

Oooooh, what a fun list this will be!

1. Carl Reiner, age 86 - he would be a wonderful person to talk to especially with the people has worked with, such as Mel Brooks, who would be person number 2.

2. Mel Brooks, age 82 - I'd want to talk to both Carl and Mel at the same time, since they worked together on the 2000 Year Old Man and the 2001 Year Old Man. They have been a great team.

3. Andy Rooney - He is 92 years old now. He started out doing his correspondence during World War II, wrote many books and is as witty and funny as ever. He is a curmudgeon by admittance, but he would still be a fascinating person to speak to, with the length, depth and scope of his personal experience.

4. Cloris Leachman, age 82 - are you surprised after I've selected Mel Brooks?

5. Stan Lee, age 85 - the creator of so many huge characters that gets a cameo in his character's movies is a man worth talking to - if only to get what he thinks of the many movies coming out and already out and what he thinks of them.

6. Hugh Hefner, age 82 - one question, which he has probably answered already: will all that sex prolong your health and life? I think so! (I'm sure I could fill up an afternoon with the man, as he is an icon, a self-made man.)

7. Leonard Nimoy, age 80 - Who wouldn't want to speak with the man who personified the best of aliens and the human race, Mr. Spock? I would wonder if he ever heard discriminatory remarks - people have a tough time separating the actor from the character often enough that I'd bet he has.

I asked Luis if he could think of seven people he would like spend an afternoon speaking with under the same parameter. At first, he didn't think he knew anyone that age but then he thought of the first person: George H. W. Bush. As stupid as his son is, Luis found the senior former President Bush scary for the opposite reason: he was scary-smart and a total right wing nut. (Oops, that sounds rather judgmental, doesn't it? His words, although I would agree.)

His second choice was Andy Rooney. I agree. He also wants to talk to Stan Lee. We have similar taste in famous people.

I think I could come up with seven more people age 80 and up to spend an afternoon with and what a great two weeks that would make. The question did not specify the living only, although that seemed logical to me. However, if you broaden the horizons to include historical figures, just imagine how long my list would be!