Hollywood has a funny way of making us believe our favorite stars are frozen in amber. We see them on late-night re-runs, youthful and vibrant, and it’s a shock to realize that the calendar has kept turning. Honestly, keeping track of the remaining movie cast from the 70s and 80s feels like a full-time job. It’s not just about who is still with us; it’s about how these legends are still shaping the industry decades after they first stepped onto a set.
You’ve probably seen those clickbait videos. "You won't believe who is still alive!" They’re usually wrong. Or at least, they miss the nuance. People think of the original Star Wars or The Godfather and assume the stage is empty. It isn't. Not by a long shot.
The Outsiders: Still Staying Gold in 2026
If you grew up in the 80s, The Outsiders wasn’t just a movie; it was a rite of passage. Francis Ford Coppola basically hand-picked the future of Hollywood for that 1983 classic. What’s wild is how much of that core group is still dominating the conversation today.
Take C. Thomas Howell, our Ponyboy. He’s 59 now. Kinda crazy, right? He’s been busy lately with things like 1923 and even a music career. Then you’ve got Rob Lowe (Sodapop) and Matt Dillon (Dally), both still working constantly. Lowe is basically the face of network TV with 9-1-1: Lone Star, and Dillon is still taking big swings in Wes Anderson movies like Asteroid City.
Ralph Macchio is the one everyone talks about because of the Cobra Kai phenomenon, but people forget he was Johnny Cade first. He's 64. And let’s not overlook Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise. Yes, Maverick himself was a Greaser. While we lost Patrick Swayze far too soon in 2009, the rest of the brothers are very much active. It’s rare for a "brat pack" ensemble to have this much staying power.
Why The Outsiders Cast Stuck Around
It wasn't just luck. Coppola put them through a "boot camp" where the Greasers and the Socs were actually separated and treated differently to build real-world tension. That kind of intensity creates bonds. It also taught them the craft in a way that modern green-screen acting just doesn't.
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The Godfather and the Longevity of the Corleones
When people talk about the remaining movie cast of The Godfather, they usually start and end with Al Pacino. And yeah, Pacino is still out there, being... well, Pacino. He’s 85 and still making headlines. But he isn't the only one left in the family business.
Robert Duvall is the real "elder statesman" here. He’s 95. Honestly, the man is a machine. He was still filming movies into his early 90s, and his performance as Tom Hagen remains the gold standard for "the quiet power" in cinema.
Then there’s Diane Keaton. She’s 80 and still the coolest person in every room she walks into. She recently joked about how she has no idea why Coppola cast her as Kay Adams, but we all know why—she provided the moral compass in a world of monsters.
- Talia Shire (Connie Corleone) is still active, recently appearing in Coppola’s massive 2024 project Megalopolis.
- Sofia Coppola was just a baby in the first film (she was the baby being baptized!), and she’s now one of the most respected directors in the world.
- Gian-Carlo and Roman Coppola also had cameos and have stayed deeply embedded in the film world.
The Jaws Survivors: The Trio is Down to One
This one hurts a bit. For years, the "Big Three" of Jaws—the guys on the boat—were the symbol of 70s blockbuster grit. With Roy Scheider passing in 2008 and Robert Shaw long before that, Richard Dreyfuss is the last man standing from the Orca.
Dreyfuss is 78. He’s outspoken, occasionally controversial, but undeniably a legend. He’s one of the few actors who can say they were the lead in the highest-grossing movie of all time (at the time) and then won an Oscar shortly after for something completely different (The Goodbye Girl).
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Lorraine Gary, who played Ellen Brody, is also still with us at 88. She mostly retired after the disaster that was Jaws: The Revenge, which, let’s be honest, we all try to forget. But her presence in the first film was vital. She gave the movie its heart before the blood hit the water.
Star Wars: The Original Trio and Beyond
It’s impossible to discuss the remaining movie cast of any major franchise without hitting the galaxy far, far away. The loss of Carrie Fisher in 2016 felt like a hole in the universe, and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) soon followed.
But Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford are still the kings of the mountain.
Hamill has basically become the internet’s favorite uncle, while Ford—at 83—is still doing his own stunts in Indiana Jones and joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Red Hulk. It’s almost a running gag at this point: Harrison Ford is indestructible.
Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) is still the only actor to appear in all the primary films, and Billy Dee Williams (Lando) is still as suave as ever at 88. Even some of the "background" pilots from the Death Star run, like Denis Lawson (Wedge Antilles), are still popping up in newer projects.
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The Sound of Music: The Von Trapp Kids Today
You might want to sit down for this one: the "children" from The Sound of Music are mostly in their 70s and 80s now. Julie Andrews is 90. She doesn't sing much anymore after a botched surgery years ago, but she’s the narrator of Bridgerton, so she’s still very much in our ears.
The surviving "children" are:
- Nicholas Hammond (Friedrich) - He actually went on to be the first live-action Spider-Man.
- Duane Chase (Kurt) - Left acting to become a geologist. Sorta cool, honestly.
- Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) - Became a photographer and artist.
- Debbie Turner (Marta) - Runs a floral design business.
- Kym Karath (Gretl) - Still makes occasional appearances at reunions.
They lost "Liesl" (Charmian Carr) and "Louisa" (Heather Menzies) in recent years, but the remaining five still get together. They call themselves a family for real, not just for the cameras.
Why We Care About the Remaining Movie Cast
There’s a reason we track these names. It’s not morbid curiosity. It’s because these actors represent a shift in how movies were made. Before the 70s, actors were "properties" of studios. The people we’re talking about now—the Pacinos, the Fords, the Keatons—were the ones who took the power back. They were the New Hollywood.
When we look at the remaining movie cast of a film like Grease, we’re looking at the last survivors of the "Movie Musical" era. With Olivia Newton-John gone, John Travolta (71) and Stockard Channing (81) are the pillars left. They carry the weight of that nostalgia.
Practical Steps for Film Buffs
If you want to support these legends or dive deeper into their history, don't just watch the movies. Look for their memoirs.
- Rob Lowe’s Stories I Only Tell My Friends is genuinely one of the best Hollywood books ever written.
- Mark Hamill’s voice work is a masterclass in a second career.
- Follow the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) film festival; it’s where many of these remaining cast members appear for Q&As that never make it to YouTube.
The best way to honor these actors isn't to mourn the ones we've lost, but to actually watch the work the survivors are still putting out. They aren't just "remaining." They're still here, still working, and still teaching us how it's done.