Laird Cregar and David Janssen also looked older than their ages. Bogart too. As I recall in the 1940s Cregar played middle aged villains while he was in his late twenties. 1930s actor Guy Kibbee also tended to play characters 10-15 years oldr than his chronological age. An older looking actress was Valerie Hobsen, who always seemed to essay characters about ten years beyond her chronological age.
As for JB, as I understand the character was supposed to be permanently frozen at thirty-five, but to me in those early Bond films Connery always looks about forty-ish, even though he was in his early/mid thirties. His smooth baritone voice, perhaps, or the ever present hint of five o’clock shadow, or the sophisticated manner and suave wardrobe?
Somewhat related, and echoing earlier comments: athletic heroes from earlier generations, especially the 50s and 60s, to me still look older than their chronological age at the time.
As has been mentioned also, today people look (and act) younger because of various factors: better nutrition, not as many of us smoke or drink, etc. Maybe there’s something to the vanity of the boomers and the search for perpetual youth. Along with this the fact that, for many of us, life simply hasn’t been as tough, or stressful, as it was for prior generations, thus we don’t age as fast.
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