Can you name someone who became successful late in life?

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

Someone who was unknown and not successful until they reached their fifties, or maybe even later, and then became very successful or maybe even famous. Can you name someone?

I need to provide examples for a friend of mine who is feeling depressed.

[Nickster]

1. Dubya? Kinda.....I guess..... n/t

[Zomby Woof]

2. Harland Sanders

Grandma Moses

[underpants]

36. The Colonel opened his first restaurant with his first Soc.Sec. check

Paul Harvey told me so

[jarab]

61. The Colonel was my first thought on this query. eom

...O...

[begin_within]

3. Clara Peller (the "Where's the beef?" lady)

[Generic Brad]

4. George Bernard Shaw

He accomplished nothing of note until he was 40. And by the time he died in his 90's he had been one of Great Britian's premier playwrights for at least 50 years.

I believe he also got married for the first time later in life.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. Robert Altman was 45 when he directed MASH.

Is that close enough?

Also, Morgan Freeman didn't achieve his current fame until he was in his 60s.

[Javaman]

43. He was directing TV long before that.

he directed some of my favorite episodes of Combat.

but as far as fame, I guess you are right, people really didn't know who he was until M.A.S.H.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

52. Yep, in terms of fame.

[dysfunctional press]

6. rodney dangerfield.

nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. How about Grandma Moses?

Good luck to your friend! :hi:

[Az]

8. Wiki knows everything

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_bloomer

[kwassa]

35. Many artists finally find success late in life

Both Jean Dubuffet and Paul Gaugain had completely separate careers before they became artists.

[caty]

9. Grandma Moses

She started painting in her 70's.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses

[Richardo]

12. This was my answer

:thumbsup:

[Richard Steele]

10. Georgia O'Keeffe

[JackBeck]

11. How old was Joe Pesci when he hit the big time?

He was about to quit acting and them got that movie that made him famous. And then he became huge.

[BlueIris]

16. Pesci was 37 when DeNiro allegedly tracked him down to be in "Raging Bull."

Supposedly, he and Scorcese saw him in one of the last projects he'd done to that point, a small, not too successful film from 1976, knew he would be perfect for a key role in "RB," and ran around the country looking for him to secure his participation in that movie.

[bertha katzenengel]

53. And then Pesci got the Oscar he deserved for "RB" for his role in "Goodfellas."

I hate it when they do that consolation-prize crap in the Oscars. They did it for Cher (in "Moonstruck," when she deserved it more for "Silkwood"), and that meant that Glenn Close didn't get hers for "Fatal Attraction." I honestly thought they were gonna nominate Glenn for "101 Dalmatians" so they could give her a consolation Oscar.

But I'm not that big a movie fan. And I'm not bitter. :evilfrown:

[Redstone]

13. Not quite, but there was me at 38. Started a new company with $700 in the bank

and a Sears credit card, and 14 years later it's still going strong.

Redstone

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

15. Great to hear

What kind of company?

[Redstone]

26. Business-to-business advertising agency.

Redstone

[crim son]

14. Me?

Hope springs eternal.

[leftofthedial]

17. Scrooge

although he was rich before 50.

many of the suggestions are people who did important work before 50 but didn't really get recognition for it until later.

[Poll_Blind]

18. Thomas Paine was 37 before coming to the Colonies.

While he did get some patents in Europe, if you look at his life he was not very successful or happy until he was able to sink his teeth into the political environment of the Colonies. At, IIRC, 39 he wrote Common Sense and the rest is history. Among the major ups and (mostly) downs in his life up to that point was the fact that he almost didn't surive the trip to the Colonies. The water on the ship he was travelling on was so bad that five people died of Typhus. Took him six weeks to recover.

More at his Wiki.

PB

[murielm99]

19. Annie Proulx

started writing fiction in her fifties.

She was not an unsuccessful person before that, but she did not become a noticed or award-winning writer until later in life.

[Writer]

20. Really? She is one of my favorite authors.

I am happy to know that. :)

[BlueIris]

58. Huh. I didn't know that about her.

Curious. E. Annie Proulx is one of my favorite writers.

[EFerrari]

21. My mom. In her fifties, she took off like a rocket.

She's not famous but very well off now -- pretty good for a woman whom no commercial real estate firm would hire because of her age and her accent. She started her own company and eventually out produced all the guys that wouldn't give her the time of day. She's happy, too.

Sweet.

:)

[Mythsaje]

22. I was nearly forty before I sold my first book...

I'm not "successful" yet, but I will be. :)

[file83]

25. Now that is cool.

Way to go on that! :thumbsup:

I'm 35 and have been "thinking about" a book idea I can't shake. Hopefully I'm like you one of these days!

[Mythsaje]

29. We can't all be the kid who wrote Eragon...

I'm slightly envious of his success before he hit his majority...but only slightly. There's a lot of real world experience that comes with age that can add a lot to your writing.

Good luck with your own efforts in that direction.

[SKKY]

44. What have you written? And more importantly, where could I buy it?

I'm looking for a book to read on my trip back state-side in Jan.

[Mythsaje]

51. Well, the truth is that it's expensive and takes too long to

ship things overseas--assuming that's where you are... If you have a PDA, and e-book reader, or even a laptop, you can pick up an e-book version of any of my books through my links on my website http://www.sajewilliams.com (click through any of the covers to go to my page on my publisher's site) for the trip. You could also order paperbacks of the second and third books, but I'm afraid they might not reach you in time.

My first three novels are futuristic urban fantasy, set on an alternate Earth. My next book, due out on the 9th of next month, if more of a futuristic Epic fantasy--try to wrap your mind around THAT concept for a second.

:)

Just check out my website to see if it's something you'd be interested in and go from there.

[Bullwinkle925]

23. I seriously doubt that GWB will make this list.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[philosophie_en_rose]

24. Dave Thomas

He was a foster kid and then fast food worker at KFC. He eventually created Wendys.

[skygazer]

27. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Who was in her 60's when she wrote her first book.

[RedStateShame]

28. Bob Pollard, GBV frontman, didn't get recognition until he was 34, a good 8 years into his band.

And, unlike the Embarrassment-in-Chief, he didn't quit drinking!!

[Phillycat]

30. Susan Sarandon was 35 before she started acting.

Ancient, by acting standards.

[deadmessengers]

34. Not according to her IMDB page

She had appeared in about 30 movies by then, according to her IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000215/

[Phillycat]

40. Well, I suppose I mean she was 35 when she really hit it big

with Bull Durham. Before that she starred in some cult films, like RHPS and The Hunger, but she wasn't a big-time actress until well into her 30's. That is very unusual.

[xmas74]

45. She couldn't have been very old when she was

in Rocky Horror.

[Mythsaje]

56. Early twenties, I always guessed...

Helped launch her career, though she probably hates admitting it now. Same with Tim Curry, who actually had a fairly promising career as a singer too, though it takes an act of God to find one of his albums today.

[xmas74]

62. I heard an interview w/ her a couple of years

ago where she giggled when RH was mentioned. I'm betting she's fine w/ any and all mention of RHPS as her launchpad.

And Tim Curry-he should get more recognition as a singer. He's very good but I guess he knows what career pays his bills.

[sarge43]

60. She was 29 when she did Rocky Horror.

I'd nominate Olympia Dukakis as the late bloomer. She did a lot of bit work in the 60's and 70's, but she was 56 when she hit the big time in Moonstruck.

[xmas74]

63. She did a great job in Moonstruck.

Thanks-I'll have to watch it again.

[sarge43]

65. She was wonderful

"Your life's going down the toilet!" The cri di cour of every mother since the beginning of time.

[xmas74]

66. I know I've heard something quite

similiar from my own mother.

[sarge43]

67. So say we all

:evilgrin:

[Samurai_Writer]

31. Piers Anthony

He didn't write his first book until he was 42 or so.

[China_cat]

33. And he should have stopped there.

[Samurai_Writer]

37. Yeah, but you have to admit, he IS successful

And started later in life.

[China_cat]

46. I kinda liked his xanth books

because I'm a big fan of puns. But then I read his 'Letters to Jenny' and I wanted to puke. Not just because of his crowing about the money that would go to that child (which ended up being about 7 cents per copy sold) but the letters themselves were VERY creepy...verging on pornographic. Not the type of thing an adult man should be writing to a young teenager, let alone a severely handicapped one.

[Samurai_Writer]

50. I never read that one

I got tired of the Xanth books after about the fifth one. I LOVE the Incarnations of Immortality series, though. I'll take your word for it about Letters to Jenny... doesn't sound like anything I'd want to read. Ick.

[av8rdave]

32. Norman MacLean and Frank McCourt come to mind

[billyskank]

38. Winston Churchill?

[Javaman]

42. Abe Vagota...

From Barny Miller and the Godfather fame. Started acting when he was 57.

[HughBeaumont]

39. Samuel L Jackson didn't take off until he was in his early 40s.

Mostly bit parts and stuff before School Daze and Jungle Fever.

[Kutjara]

48. Self delete.

Wrong place.

[Burma Jones]

41. Noah. Eubie Blake, I dunno

Does your friend want to be very successful or famous? Or will they settle for wise and happy? I know a lot of wise and happy folks over 50.......

[ooga booga]

47. J.C. Penney

I believe he was in his fifties when he opened the first store of his successful chain.

[Kutjara]

49. God.

If you look at him on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he's ancient, yet he'd only started creating the Universe five-and-a-half days before the scene depicted. Before that? He spent eons hanging around the Void eating nachos and reading FHM, I guess.

[UrbScotty]

54. John Edwards: Elected to the Senate at 45 (nt)

[Rosco T.]

55. R. Lee Ermy

[wickerwoman]

57. Anthony Burgess...

author of "A Clockwork Orange" et al.

He never wrote a book until he was in his mid-forties and diagnosed with cancer. He thought he only had one year to live so he said, "What the hell, I'll write a novel." It turned out to be successful, the cancer went into remission and then he went on to write about a dozen more books.

[sarge43]

59. Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman n/t

[soleft]

64. Olympia Dukakis

Thank you for answering my question.

[Blue_In_AK]

68. Grandma Moses, the painter.

ed. Oh, I see she's been mentioned. I really should read through these threads before I post.