Bang the Drum Slowly poster

Movie · 1973

Bang the Drum Slowly

“Nothing is more important than friendship. Not fame, not money, not death.”

Released 26 August 1973 96 min Drama More from 1973 → Letterboxd ↗ · TMDB ↗

The story of a New York pro baseball team and two of its players. Henry Wiggen is the star pitcher and Bruce Pearson is the normal, everyday catcher who is far from the star player on the team and friend to all of his teammates. During the off-season, Bruce learns that he is terminally ill, and Henry, his only true friend, is determined to be the one person there for him during his last season with the club. Throughout the course of the season, Henry and his teammates attempt to deal with Bruce's impending illness, all the while attempting to make his last year a memorable one.

FR·01

How old were they?

Oldest first
Patrick McVey
as Bruce's Father
Died aged 63, before release
Phil Foster
as Joe
60
Alan Manson
as Doc Loftus
55
Vincent Gardenia
as Dutch Schnell
53
Selma Diamond
as Tootsie
53
Beatrice Manley
as Joe's Wife (as Bea Blau)
52
Ann Wedgeworth
as Katie
39
Barbara Babcock
as Team Owner
36
Barton Heyman
as Red
36
Marshall Efron
as Bradley
35
Michael Moriarty
as Henry Wiggen
32
Tom Ligon
as Piney
32
Hector Elias
as Diego
31
Robert De Niro
as Bruce Pearson
30
Nicolas Surovy
as Aleck Olson
29
Heather MacRae
as Holly
26
Maurice Rosenfield
as Team Owner
Unknown
Andy Jarrell
as Ugly
Unknown
Donny Burks
as Perry
Unknown
FR·02

The numbers

Computed from the cast above
37years between the oldest and youngest billed
63Patrick McVey — oldest on the call sheet
26Heather MacRae — youngest billed
41average age of the credited cast
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