The Last Ones Standing: Classic Films With One Star Left
144 classic films · one top-billed star alive in each · as of October 27, 2026
We checked the top-billed cast of the 942 most popular English-language films made between 1930 and 1985. In 338 of them (36%) no top-billed star is still alive. In 144 (15%) exactly one is left, and those films are listed below. Another 210 have two or three survivors. When the last top-billed star of a film dies, it moves to this year’s deaths; the list is rebuilt from our data every day.
Last one standing more than once
- Angie Dickinson (95) is the last surviving top-billed star of Jessica, Rio Bravo, Ocean's Eleven, The Killers, Tension at Table Rock and Point Blank.
- Carroll Baker (95) is the last surviving top-billed star of Giant, How the West Was Won, Harlow and Station Six-Sahara.
- Debra Paget (93) is the last surviving top-billed star of The Ten Commandments, The River's Edge, Broken Arrow and Love Me Tender.
- Margaret O'Brien (89) is the last surviving top-billed star of Jane Eyre, Little Women, Meet Me in St. Louis and Tenth Avenue Angel.
- Clint Eastwood (96) is the last surviving top-billed star of Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes and Firefox.
- Kim Novak (93) is the last surviving top-billed star of Vertigo, The Man with the Golden Arm and Boys' Night Out.
- Vera Miles (96) is the last surviving top-billed star of Psycho, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
- Donna Corcoran (84) is the last surviving top-billed star of Angels in the Outfield and Scandal at Scourie.
- Elke Sommer (85) is the last surviving top-billed star of And Then There Were None and A Shot in the Dark.
- Geoffrey Horne (93) is the last surviving top-billed star of The Bridge on the River Kwai and Bonjour Tristesse.
- George Hamilton (87) is the last surviving top-billed star of Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! and Home from the Hill.
- Jacqueline Bisset (82) is the last surviving top-billed star of Airport and Cul-de-sac.
- Jane Fonda (88) is the last surviving top-billed star of Tall Story and Klute.
- Lee Grant (100) is the last surviving top-billed star of In the Heat of the Night and Lieutenant Schuster's Wife.
- Martin Stephens (77) is the last surviving top-billed star of Village of the Damned and Another Time, Another Place.
- Robert Wagner (96) is the last surviving top-billed star of Midway and The Pink Panther.
- Sandy Descher (80) is the last surviving top-billed star of The Last Time I Saw Paris and Them!
- Shirley MacLaine (92) is the last surviving top-billed star of Around the World in 80 Days and The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom.
All 144 films, most popular first
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)Most recent loss: James Earl Jones, Sep 9, 2024
How this list is built
“Top-billed” means the first ten credited cast members in billing order, as listed by TMDb. A film qualifies only if it has at least eight such credits and every one of them has a verified status: alive, or a death confirmed against Wikipedia, Wikidata and TMDb. If any top-billed actor’s status is unknown, we leave the film out rather than call someone the last survivor. Popularity is TMDb’s. Explore more on the statistics page or see the oldest living actors.
Citing this list? Please link to this page: “Source: StillCasting, Last Surviving Stars of Classic Films (https://stillcasting.app/last-survivors)”. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.