All living celebrities who are currently 100 years of age or older

Do you want to live to be 100 years old? It’s not as far-fetched as it seems. Although only a small percentage of people currently reach the centenary stage,… Pew Research Reports indicate that four times that number will celebrate their 100th birthday by 2054.

Of course, reaching 100 is not guaranteed. However, it may be a combination of genetics and a health-focused lifestyle, according to a study cited by The New York Times New York Post. The study revealed that centenarians appear to carry a unique type of molecules. Specifically, they aged slightly slower than their peers. As one of the study’s researchers noted, “The answer is pretty clear: centenarians have much lower levels of antioxidant proteins than the average elderly population.”

But genetics is only half the solution to getting 100 candles on your cake. The other half involves taking care of yourself. As of 2026, many living celebrities who have turned 100 have shared their longevity secrets or left hints on how they’re keeping it up.

Famous comedian Dick Van Dyke celebrated his 100th birthday in 2025 by publishing a book containing tips on how to live this long. One of his rules is to exercise regularly, he said New York Times Includes yoga. “Doctors don’t believe it when I touch my toes,” Van Dijk explained.

During an interview with Al Roker, Van Dyke added another long-standing suggestion to his list: Pack some old tunes. “Singing is the best thing you can do for yourself,” he told Today (via YouTube).

Of all the film critics of the last century, only Gene Shalit had a bushy mustache and wild eyebrows. Today, Shalit is 100 years old and is still out of the limelight. Thus, he did not offer any direct advice on how to simulate aging.

However, former colleague Al Roker reported that when he last saw Shalit, “he was buying cat food” (trans Charlotte Observer). This observation may serve as evidence of Shalit’s longevity. That’s why: a 2023 study in Frontiers in veterinary science She revealed that owning a cat can reduce a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease, which is one of these diseases 10 leading causes of death in America.

Forget 100. Actress Eva Maria Saint is 102 years old and credits decades of keeping her physically and socially active. In a the people “I continue to get outdoors, like watching baseball – especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, and enjoying time with my family and friends,” she said exclusively. (By the way, Saint is currently the oldest living Academy Award winner.)

Saint is definitely on to something, especially when it comes to her socializing. 2010 review in PLOS Medicine It examined 148 studies and found that having strong social networks can reduce a person’s risk of death by 50%.

How did director and narrator David Attenborough manage to age gracefully for 100 years? He’s said before that it’s mostly luck, according to today. However, he also follows a mostly flexitarian diet, and told Good Housekeeping a few years ago, “I’ve become a lot more vegan over the last few years than I thought I’d ever be” (via Yahoo! life).

Could eating more vegetables help keep Christmas coming? Science isn’t so sure, as evidenced by a 2025 article in maturity Who questioned the long-held belief in the superiority of plants over carnivores. However, eating too much red meat seems to increase your chances of developing cardiovascular disease, so cutting down on meat may have given Attenborough a good turnaround. and The truth about flexible dieting Is that it has also been shown to reduce the risk of death.

Actress Lee Grant turns 100 and is staying refreshingly honest about all the efforts she’s made to stay visibly young, including undergoing multiple plastic surgeries starting in her 20s (via New York Post). But it wasn’t plastic surgeons who kept Grant alive for 10 decades. Instead, Grant’s long life may have been linked to her ability to admit her mistakes and even laugh at them, as she did at a traditional Chinese medicine festival in 2017, according to Hollywood Reporterwhen she talked about a life that included a lot of SMH moments.

Is having a sense of humor really anti-aging? Maybe, especially if you’re already incorporating laughter into your life. In fact, a 2020 study in Journal of Epidemiology found that laughing daily seems to reduce a person’s risk of death.

Actress, singer and dancer Bambi Lynne sparked musicals like “Oklahoma” and “Carousel” in the 1950s. Now 100 years old, she is once again gaining popularity with new generations due to her longevity.

In an interview with Rogers and HammersteinLynn revealed one of her habits that may have led to her reaching the goal of the century. “I was happy working at what I did,” she recalled when asked about her career. In other words, she loved her job. This is interesting, considering a 2021 study conducted in SSM – Population Health It showed that women in “routine jobs” live fewer years than those in more leadership positions.

You may not be familiar with Jacqueline White, the actress who captured the spotlight in the 1940s. However, she also cemented her membership in the centenary club by turning 103 years old.

White has been out of the celebrity scene for decades. like IMDb She notes that White stopped acting after her marriage to devote herself to being a wife and mother. But her dedication to her family could be a clue to why she overcame the odds and crossed the 100-year-old mark. Why? Study cited time showed an association between strong family ties and a 6% lower probability of death over the following five years.