Some of the most enduring stars got their starts more than six decades ago, and they are still going strong today. Stars like Harrison Ford, Dame Judi Dench, Jeff Bridges, and even Jodie Foster have been acting their whole lives, and their amazing careers will live on forever. Here is our list of amazing actors who started in the 1960s and are still working today.
Robert Duvall
After cutting his teeth with some television appearances starting in 1959, Robert Duvall made one of the most memorable film debuts of all time as Boo Radley in 1962’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Duvall hasn’t stopped stealing scenes in the 60+ years since. He’s starred in some of the greatest movies ever, like The Godfather, and won an Oscar for Tender Mercies. His most recent credit is The Pale Blue Eye from 2022.
Forrest Gump, and Fried Green Tomatoes, Field has proven she can handle any role she takes on.
Clint Eastwood. Not much has been said here. His career started in earnest with Spaghetti Westerns, and he’s been directing and starring in movies ever since.
Jane Fonda is Hollywood royalty as the daughter of Henry Fonda, so it’s no surprise that she started her career at a young age. Her first credit goes all the way back to 16960’s Tall Story, and she’s still starring in movies today, like 2023’s 80 for Brady.
Morgan Freeman’s career really didn’t take off on screen until the 1980s (though he had plenty of credits in the ’70s, too). He started mostly on stage in the 1960s and kept his focus there until landing a TV gig in 1971 on PBS’s The Electric Company. Today, he remains one of America’s most beloved stars.
Downton Abbey and the live-action The Little Mermaid in 2018.
Dustin Hoffman did in 1967, it’s pretty much a guarantee you’re going to be a star. In the 60 years since that seminal movie, Hoffman has won countless awards and starred in everything from comedies like Tootsie to dramas like Rain Man, getting nominated for Oscars for both (and winning his second for the latter).
when the note was written. Still, for the better part of seven decades, Kurt Russell has been a Hollywood superstar.
Sopranos cast member Nancy Marchand. He has been widely considered one of the best actors of his generation ever since.
great directors of his time.
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn first became a household name in 1968 when she starred in Laugh-In. She’s been a star ever since, including starring in a slew of box office hits in the ’70s and ’80s. There is no question she is one of the funniest actors of her generation, and now she’s also the mother to some big stars, too, in Wyatt Russell and Kate Hudson. Not a bad legacy to leave.
Patrick Stewart
Like others on this list, Patrick Stewart will be best known for roles that came in the second half of his career, like Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in The X-Men series. Of course, his career is much more than those two roles. It’s a career that started in TV in the ’60s on British shows like Coronation Street and Civilisation.