Have you ever noticed that people from generations back seemed to look older even in their youth? Well, New York Yankees baseball player Brandon McCarthy set out to find proof of this theory by asking the lovely people over on Twitter to provide examples of this phenomenon. From the numerous examples provided on the thread, we dare say that this experiment might have proved successful. The answers might even shock you. If you want to see what we mean, check out the images below.
Maude (Beatrice Arthur)
In order to prove just how this whole theory works, one lady posted a photo of herself beside the photo of Beatrice Arthur as Maude from the American Sitcom of the same name.
In the show, she looks at least 60 years of age, but she's actually 44 years old. Maybe the pressure of being on TV did her in. Either way, this is a pretty good example of the theory coming into play.
John Carroll O'Conner
Speaking of Maude, Carroll O'Conner from "All in the Family" (in which Maude first appeared) is a great example of the theory that older generations look older than they actually were.
You can see here that he is being compared to Woody Harrelson who played the same character in the remake, but he was about ten years older at the time. While they definitely look older, O'Conner certainly seems older than he really is in comparison to Harrelson.
Ray Nitschke
This is Raymond Nitschke, a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. His fifteen-year football run started in 1958. He was inducted into the hall of fame in 1978 after winning five NFL titles.
Here he's displayed at the age of 29 in a perfectly candid shot. It's not often you see a 29 year old man with this type and level of baldness, so we think that's what makes him look so old despite his age.
Nigel Farage
Maybe it's not the same for everyone, as this post seems to point out, but it does go to show that there are plenty of people out there that are comparable to today's "older" generation looking completely too old for their age.
Though maybe this is actually a bad example as the all-powerful Keanu Reeves lives outside of time restraints and will forever be young and beautiful. The same can't be said for Nigel Farage, however.
Ted Cruz
Sometimes you just get the luck of the draw. Similarly to the last example with Keanu Reeves and Nigel Farage, we can see just how two people of the same age can end up so drastically different.
Here we can see that Justin Trudeau has had a far better time with his aging self than Senator Ted Cruz has (at least, without his beard he has). Maybe being the prime minister of Canada has done it for him. They do say that Canada is just better.
Sir Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton was a soccer player for Manchester United (yes, you might call it football, but we're mostly American's here). Back in 1969, he was only 32 years of age, but he sure didn't look like it.
Here we can see that Bobby is similar to Ray Nitschke in his looks. The thing that makes him look so old is his receding grey hairline. Though not quite as bald as Ray, he almost looks like he's two decades older than you'd think.
Cast Of Mary Tyler Moore
What is it about old TV shows that make us think that those who acted in them were much older than they are? Could it be the quality of the camera? Maybe their clothes? It's still unclear.
If you look at the cast of Mary Tyler Moore, you'd think that they're all well into their forties with some maybe in their fifties. But as we can see, they all range from the ages of 30-46. It's hard to believe everyone here is so young.
Larry Bird
Larry Bird was a basketball player playing for the Boston Celtics. He started in 1979 and has since retired after his 13-year run. Though he was only 23 when he started, he certainly didn't look like it.
He looked a whole lot like he had been through some stuff in his life. All those wrinkles on his face make him seem like he has already had and raised at least one child.
George Wendt And John Ratzenberger
These two actors are from one of the most well-received American sitcoms of all time, "Cheers". You might not have heard of it, though, since it primarily played during the 1980s.
The pair of actors here were fairly young during their first season, though they looked like they had been playing their roles for decades already! Some people just don't age well apparently.
Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is famous for many things from his WWE career to his life as an actor. Pretty much everyone knows who he is now, young or old, due to his professional history.
Though he looks pretty young now, we have to agree that he looks older in this photo than what he does currently. It's like he was always meant to be this big, burly man that he is today.
Ron Karkovice
Ron Karkovice was a player for the Chicago White Sox baseball team who was drafted in 1982. Back in the day he was a catcher for the team. You'd think since he was young he'd look that way, too.
Unfortunately for him, such was not the case. If you look really close you can make out his moustache that makes him look like a 40-year-old dad. We don't know if he was, but we'd believe him if he said so.
Florence Owens Thompson
This iconic photo depicts Florence Owens Thompson, a migrant farmworker who was alive during The Great Depression. She and her three children are seen here huddling together visibly distraught by their situation.
It wasn't an easy life for anyone back then. The number of financial losses was so great that many people who were once wealthy found themselves starving on the street. It's no wonder that she looks aged a whole decade.
Babi Guling's Father
Though we don't actually know who this is since they were simply responding to the post, Babi Guling was kind enough to share a picture of their father when he was about 45.
As they mentioned in their post, people thought this man was their grandfather. We're not surprised, and we agree that he looks much much older than he is. Them's the breaks we guess.
These Guys
These two men are people who lived in Queensland back in the 1980s. All we know about them is their age and the person who took their photograph, Rennie Ellis, who took their picture as a part of a collection.
Back then those mustaches and long hair were all the craze, so it's no surprise to see these men strapping them on. The thing is, at the age of 17 we think it makes them look a bit old for their age. They could easily pass as in their mid-thirties.
Jarred The Entrepreneur's Dad
Yet another random person, but we appreciate it nonetheless. After all, some of the best proof for this theory is the proof that comes from the masses themselves. And as you'll see, this one is no exception.
The man here could easily pass as a married man, father of 2. And while it's certainly possible that he married early and had 2 kids by thn, you'd be shocked to find out that he's actually 21 years old.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor started her acting career as a child. She eventually came to be one of the most well-regarded actresses of Hollywood in the 1950's. She also had eyes of a deep blue that were remembered as shining a special shade of violet in certain lighting.
It was pretty common for actresses like her to dress to impress. That's why we believe that she looks so much older here than she is. The way her hair is done and her posture just screams fully grown adult.
Keahi's Mom
Keahi is yet another person who provided Twitter with a picture of their own parent to help prove this theory. While this might not necessarily be the most obvious example, we definitely think it helps.
It's something about the hair that really tells us she's older. Someone who's only 19 wouldn't typically be seen nowadays with this classic 70s sitcom hairdo. Though to be fair, this was taken around then and that hairstyle was pretty popular.
Ritchie Valens
We spoke about Ritchie Valens in a recent article. While doing some of the research, we couldn't help but notice just how old he looked. We honestly thought he was 40 upon first glance.
It doesn't show it so much in this photo, but if you look it up you'll understand what we mean. The thing is, he died when he was only 17 years old, so there's no way he could have been so old.
Andy's Grandparents
When you think of someone's grandparents you probably picture them pretty old like they're in their 80's. Andy provided a picture of their family which gave us a pretty similar thought.
If you take a look you might think that they are somewhere in their early to mid-70s. Andy says that their grandmother was only in her mid-50s at the time and their father was 26. We would have never guessed.
Sparky Anderson
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson was a Major League Baseball player for many teams and eventually became the manager for the Cincinnati Reds. He was eventually named manager of the year in 84 and 87 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.
We don't really know a whole lot about sports and if we're being honest we can't actually tell which one of these men is Sparky Anderson. That being said, they all look pretty old and 42 seems farfetched.
Debbie White's Parents
Debbie White was also kind enough to share a picture of their parents when they were ready to have their child. Just a nice and bright morning before color photography was a thing.
Would you believe it if someone told you these two were around the age of 23? Because we sure didn't. No offence, but they seem like they're in their mid-50s at this point. Maybe it's the slacks.
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana was a Mexican-American guitarist who rose to fame with his band Santana in the late 60s.He was a pioneer for his fusion of rock 'n' roll and Latin American jazz.
Although he could easily pass here for a thirty-something-year-old, he was actually at the tender age of twenty-two. We're not sure how it got to be that way, but he certainly looks his age now. Maybe even younger.
Willie Stargell And Terry Bradshaw
We're seeing a lot of sports players on this list and we're starting to think that that might have been a factor in making these people seem so much older than they are. Aren't sports supposed to keep you young?
Willie Stargell and Terry Bradshaw of the Pittsburgh Steelers are pictured here in their early thirties. They've barely passed the thirty mark and they already look like they've made it to their later years.
Susan Sarandon And Jessica Lange
This one is perhaps an example of the reverse being true. Here we see that Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange look nearly identical to the people they are trying to portray.
The thing is, we can't tell if they look older to match their characters, or if their characters look younger because of the actresses playing them. So this is either the reverse or exactly what we're trying to prove.
Toby Kimball and Jeff Mullins
These two are yet another addition to the sports players who look much older than they are. Maybe the secret really does lie somewhere in the sports world. Nevertheless, let's take a look at what we've got.
They honestly look so much older than 30. For Toby, it's because of his baldness, and for Jeff, it must be his face. They just look so aged at this point that we find it hard to believe they weren't at least 40.
Mike Schmidt
If you were looking for some more baseball players, look no further than Mike Schmidt. He was the third baseman for the Major League Baseball team the Philidelphia Phillies.
If you take a good look you might actually think he looks similar to Will Ferrel in his early years. Today, Will Ferrel is 57 years old. Maybe he looks similar to his younger self, but here Schmidt looks more like he's forty-something.
Alex Murphy and Harry Maguire
These two men were sentenced to prison for the murder of two British Army corporals. Alex Murphy and Harry Maguire were part of the Irish Republican Army and the attack was part of the conflict of Northern Ireland.
In this photograph, the two men are only aged 23 and 24, but they look much, much older. Maybe the one on the left could pass as no more than 30, but the one on the right certainly looks like he's in his mid-50s.
Judy Garland
Honestly, we never thought we would see Judy Garland on this list. Every image we've seen of her has been of her in her younger years. We thought she died looking the same she did all those years ago.
As it turns out, we were wrong. This is what she looked like at the age of 45, though she looks a lot more like a 70-year-old. People would argue that it's due to her heavy use of drugs, and we wouldn't disagree.
Otis Redding
Otis Redding was one of America's best singers in its almost 250-year history. As an artist for soul, rhythm, and blues, he touched the hearts of thousands of Americans. He passed away in a flight accident at the age of 26.
With that knowledge, it becomes hard to believe that the picture here is him since he was so young at the time. This photo makes him look much older, like he's already had a long life full of love and happiness.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
While most of the people on this list are from older generations, we did happen upon some relatively younger examples on the Twitter thread. Here we see that not everyone ages poorly, but Sarah here is not one of those people.
While it might be due in part to her role in politics, which can be a very stressful position relative to being an actress, Sarah seems to have lost her youth in her short time on this planet. Though it might be because "evil ages you" as one commenter mentioned.
David Rachline
As we just mentioned, evil seems to age people disproportionately to the rest of the population. So, if he's as fascist as this man claims he is, then this theory of evil would probably apply to him as well.
We don't claim to know anything about French politics, but one thing is for sure: this guy does not look like a 32-year-old. If we were going by look alone we would definitely assume he was at least in his mid-forties.
Roberto Rivellino And Gérson de Oliveira Nunes
Speaking of fifty-year-old men, you would probably think that at least one of the men in this next picture is about that age. But when you think about it, how many fifty-year-olds do you see playing professional soccer?
While we could definitely buy Rivellino being around thirty-something, it's hard for us to look past the fact that Gérson is only twenty-nine in this image. Both of these men look like quintessential grown-ups in our opinion.
Don Mossi
It almost seems like the further back you go in sports the older people start to look. Don Mossi is no exception to this rule, as he looks like he was already quite old during his baseball career.
He was only in his mid-thirties here, as it turns out, but if you look at his earlier pictures he looks about the same. He actually looks like the quintessential image of an older adult male from the 50s.
Wilford Brimley
Some of the last several entries on this list have been about people who are young but look much older. Well, how would you like to see someone older looking even older than that?
Wilford Brimley was an American actor who played as an extra in a variety of western films and starred in the film Cocoon about a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens. All of these roles seem to make sense when we see his pictures.
Whitman Mayo
Whitman Mayo is perhaps best known for his role as Grady Wilson in the show "Sanford and Son". At the time of filming, he was somewhere in his 40s which would make him pretty young.
That being said, he doesn't look like he's forty-anything from his picture. He seems like he could be anyone's grandpa at that age. In order for that to be true, though, his whole family would have to be having kids young.
Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison was an American singer-songwriter and musician during the 50s and 60s and a brief revival in the 80s before his untimely death. He was known for the vulnerability he put in his songs whereas most male rock and roll artists would choose to protect their "masculinity".
Though he does seem to be quite young in this photo, we are all ready to guess his age as thirty-five. Though we have to keep telling ourselves not everyone ages at quite the same pace.
Paul Muni
You probably wouldn't have heard of this man who was born in 1895. Regardless, this man was an American actor who started his career in Yiddish theatee and received many awards in his lifetime.
We're not sure what Voros means by "counterexample" as we seem to also think that he is much older than he looks. We wouldn't have guessed him to be thirty-six, we probably would have said forty-two which, while not much older, is still older.
Assorted Dodgers Players
It's probably no surprise at this point that we would end up showing off more sports players on this list. One man from the Twitter thread even gave wuite a few players to take a look at.
While most of these players seem relatively young, we would have to agree that they seem older than anyone would have you believe. At this point, we just have to accept that sports players look older than they really are.
Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison was the lead vocalist for the rock band The Doors. He struggled heavily with alcoholism, causing him to completely change his look and style by the late 60s, making him look much older.
He dies by the age of 27 as a result of an accidental heroin overdose, so there's no way he was actually the age he looked at the time. After donning a beard and gaining some weight, he seemed to look like he was 38 by the time of his death.
Veeve Detmer's Parents
This is our final post from someone wanting to show off their family. They certainly proved the theory here as their parents look like they are in their 60s by the time this photo was taken.
Not that that's a bad thing, they just look very much like any 60-year-old from those old American sitcoms. Also, if you look up Al Franken you'll definitely understand what this Doug Smith was talking about. We've never seen a more canny resemblance.
Super Macho Man
It's not just the people over on Twitter who seem to think that people looked old at younger ages. As it turns out, the creators of the Punch-Out!! series had the same theory in mind when creating their characters.
As you can see, the fighter that Little Mac is going to be up against is only 27 years old, but he looks like he should be at least 50 with that large scowl and dark grey hair.
Mark Twain
While the majority of posters to this thread answered with real photos of young people who look old, there were also a few jokesters out there that we thought should get a little recognition in this list.
First up is Mark Twain's high school photo. While he obviously didn't look this old when he was in high school, we looked up some photos of when he was younger and as it turns out he's still got that big ol' mustache that ages him a couple of decades.
Brandon McCarthy
Sorry sports fans, but this is going to be our last player for the night. Brandon McCarthy (the poser of this question) started his career for the Chicago White Sox before being shuffled around different teams and finally landing himself in the New York Yankees.
Obviously, someone wanted to play a little prank on him, and this one is pretty funny. While this man is not actually Brandon, we did take a look and think that someone was being serious for a minute.
Estelle Getty
Similar to Wilford Brimley, Estelle Getty seems an entire generation older than her birth certificate would have you believe. At the age of 62, she already seems to look like our 80-year-old grandparents.
To be fair, what this person seems to miss is that Estelle wore a wig during her time on The Golden Grils. While they didn't mean it as a joke so much, we nonetheless decided to put her in this section.
Benjamin Button
If you're not the most observant, you might not realize that this one is from a movie. If you look closely, though, you'll notice it seems like there's a cinematic filter on it. Also, a photo from 1962 would never have this good quality.
That's exactly why this person was able to say that this man was 25 in 1962. This is actually Brad Pitt in the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". This is Benjamin at 25 and Brad Pitt at 43.
Captain America
And lastly, we have a photograph that proves the exact opposite: a centuries-old man looking as young as ever contrary to the theory that older generations looked older at younger ages.
Okay, yes, this is actually Chris Evans as Captain America. They're not wrong, though. He didn't exactly time travel, so his body is technically at least a century old at this point. He's still got them looks, though.