MovieChat Forums > Family (1976) Discussion > Ages of Actors vs. Characters

Ages of Actors vs. Characters

posted 17 years ago by mark_philly
7 replies | jump to latest

I am a huge fan of the show "Family" and of course purchased the DVD set of the 1st and 2nd seasons. However, one thing that always bothered me a bit about the casting was the actor's ages -- namely the disparity between their real ages and that of their characters.

For example, Nancy (as played by Meredith Baxter-Birney) is supposed to be 24 years old in the 2nd season. But she's obviously older than that -- my wife even remarked while watching an episode with me: "She is NOT 24!". In fact, I looked up her info and Meredith was 29 years old in 1976 (born June 21, 1947).

Wille is an even more extreme case. Willie is supposed to be 19 years old in the 2nd season (I remember he states this in "Lovers and Strangers"). However, Gary Frank was born in October 1950 and so was either 25 or 26 when that season was filmed in 1976! Yes, he looks young for his age, but not THAT young!

I know that it's common for actors to play younger than their real ages, but I think these discrepancies made "Family" less realistic than it should have been. After all, this was a show all about a "real" family and everything it goes through in life. The mere fact that my wife reacted as she did suggests that an element of realism was missing.

Mark

[–] ladysmith1039 17 years ago

HI MARK, YES I AGREE WITH YOU,IN THE SHOW I WAS WILLIE AGE BUT FOUND OUT HE IS FOUR YEARS OLDER THAN ME

[–] zephyr-123 17 years ago

When I started watching these on dvd (didn't really watch it when it was actually on) I thought Willie was a college drop-out when they said he dropped out of school. When they said high school, I was kinda surprised. He does look a little older. Oh, well. I don't know about MBB. I don't think it affects her character too much.
Grrrrrr!!Aaargh!!

[–] isisdawonder 17 years ago

I showed a couple of episodes to my 7th and 8th grade Social Studies classes...and that's one of the things they commented on...Willie looks too old to be a teenager...however they DO like the show in spite of this.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] kwalstedt-1 17 years ago

I think it is still pretty common for actors to play roles of much younger characters. I decided to look up Michael J. Fox and it turns out he was 21 when Family Ties first started and he was supposed to be in High School.

Kristin Bell was 24 when she started playing high schooler Veronica Mars.

Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson were both 21 when they started playing high school students on Dawson's Creek, and James Van Der Beek was 22. Kerr Smith was 26!

Alexis Bledel was 19 when Gilmore Girls started.

Amber Tamblyn was 20 when Joan of Arcadia started.

Etc. etc.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] justinaames 8 years ago

This was not uncommon for the time...there were disparities amongst all the chief characters except for Buddy, who was still a year or so younger than Kristy. I remember thinking how funny it was that Kate and Doug were supposed to be around 44, when both were nearly 50 when the show began. Try this one on...Isabel Sanford was 58 when The Jefferson's began in '75, some 18 years older than her co-star Sherman Hemsley. Esther Rolle was 54 when Good Times began in '74, some 19 years older than her co-star John Amos. Both men were aged somewhat to make their age disparity less noticeable...pretty sobering huh?