Rip Taylor, the owner of the beauty shop

I thought he would be dead by now as most of the people in this film. I would've sworn he would be pushing 100 years old if he was still alive, but he was actually born around 1934, so he's only 83. He looked to be about 50 in Chatterbox.

Do I drink because my dreams don't come true, or don't my dreams come true because I drink?