Famous 99 Years Old

Mahathir Mohamad is a Malaysian statesman, doctor, and author. He twice served as the prime minister of Malaysia and is widely regarded as one of the most popular Malaysian prime ministers of all time. Under his premiership, Malaysia underwent a period of rapid economic growth and modernization. Mahathir Mohamad is also credited with establishing strong foreign relations with many countries.

June Lockhart is best known for playing screen mothers Ruth Martin in Lassie and Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space. She also won a Tony for her role in the Broadway play For Love or Money. The two-time Emmy nominee was also popular as Dr. Janet Craig in Petticoat Junction.

Jiro Ono, the star chef of Japan, is known as a sushi master. His exclusive Tokyo-based restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro has only 10 seats, leaving some people on the wait-list for 2 years before they can dine there. He inspired the Netflix documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

NFL coach Marv Levy had a successful 18-year coaching career, most of it with the Buffalo Bills. At 68, he became the oldest coach in the history of Super Bowl. He also served as the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and was later named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Born to actor Marlene Dietrich, Maria Riva started her career as a child actor, working in films such as The Scarlet Empress. The Emmy-nominated actor had also been part of CBS teleplays such as The Milton Berle Show. She had penned a bestselling memoir on her mother, too.

Ramon Magsaysay Award-winning geneticist M. S. Swaminathan is best known for his contribution to the Indian Green Revolution. Featured on Time, he introduced high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice seedlings to Indian farmers. He is also known for his administrative work as part of the Indian civil services.

Greek composer Míkis Theodorakis was the famed composer of the Mauthausen Trilogy, one of the finest works centered on the Holocaust. He had also composed for movies such as Zorba the Greek and Z. An active communist and a Lenin Peace Prize winner, he was also jailed once for a military coup.  

Nobel Prize-winning Japanese physicist Reona Esaki, also known as Leo Esaki, is remembered for his pioneering research on superconductivity. He devised the Esaki diode, or tunnel diode, too. Initially associated with IBM’s research laboratories in the US, he later moved back to Japan and headed scientific institutions.

Born to a Banque de France employee, Jacques Delors followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the bank later. Educated at the Sorbonne, he became a Socialist Party member. The former French finance minister has also served as president of the European Commission and supported the formation of the euro.

Madame Max Adolphe, or Rosalie Bosquet, started her career as the commandant of Fort-Dimanche/Fort La Mort and later became a prominent associate of Haitian president François Duvalier. She also became the mayor of Port-au-Prince, but later disappeared amid riots after the fall of the Duvalier dynasty.

Shoichiro Toyoda is a Japanese former business executive best known for his service as the chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation. He is also known for working as the chairman of Japan Business Federation. Shoichiro Toyoda is credited with approving the development of Toyota's Prius hybrid and the Lexus brand.

Martha Hildebrandt is a Peruvian Fujimorist politician and linguist. She is best known for her service as the President of the Congress from 1999 to 2000. She is only the second woman after Martha Chávez to serve as the president of the Congress of Peru. Martha Hildebrandt has also worked as a professor at the National University of San Marcos.

A self-taught artist, Paul Van Hoeydonck is best known for his aluminum sculpture Fallen Astronaut, which was installed on the Moon by the Apollo 15 crew in the 1970s. He also co-established the group G58 and was a fine painter, too. At times, he combined photography and drawing in his works.