June Squibb Goes Viral: How the 94-Year-Old Oscar Nominee Just Became Hollywood’s Newest Icon

Veteran actress June Squibb is proving that age is a headline, not a hindrance, as she lines up three high-profile projects that keep her firmly in the pop-culture conversation. Fresh off her breakout leading turn in the indie hit “Eleanor the Great,” directed by longtime friend Scarlett Johansson, the 95-year-old Oscar nominee is headed back to Broadway this fall to star opposite Cynthia Nixon in Jordan Harrison’s futuristic drama “Marjorie Prime.” Previews begin Nov. 20—just two weeks after Squibb celebrates her 96th birthday—and the role sees her playing a woman confronting memory loss with the help of an A.I. hologram of her late husband, a setup the actress says is “perfectly suited to doing eight shows a week because I’m in a chair talking the whole time.” Squibb’s stage return caps a whirlwind year that already includes the theatrical release of “Eleanor the Great,” a comedy-drama that casts her as a feisty nonagenarian reckoning with grief while refusing to slow down. The film has won praise for depicting older women with agency and humor—something Squibb actively seeks in her late-career scripts—and extends the late-life hot streak that began with her Academy Award–nominated performance in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska.” Television audiences will soon see another side of the star when she steps into the true-crime arena as host of Oxygen’s upcoming docu-series “Killer Grannies.” The program, slated to premiere later this year, dives into shocking cases where the least-suspected family matriarch turns murderous, blending archival footage with cinematic recreations. Squibb serves as the narrative guide through each episode’s twists, adding her unmistakable wit to a genre that rarely features talent her age. The triple punch of a Broadway run, a buzzy film and a primetime TV gig cements Squibb as an evergreen search favorite. Fans Googling “June Squibb Broadway,” “June Squibb new movie,” or “June Squibb TV show” will find a performer rewriting retirement rules while inspiring multiple generations. Industry watchers note that since her 2013 Oscar nod, more than half of her 100-plus screen credits have arrived in the last decade—a statistic that underscores both Hollywood’s growing appetite for diverse age representation and Squibb’s relentless work ethic. As she prepares to juggle rehearsals, red carpets and true-crime voice-overs, Squibb keeps her birthday plans refreshingly simple: dinner with friends at her longtime Theater District haunt, Joe Allen. “Being offered a Broadway show is hard to turn down,” she says, “and at my age, you just gird your loins and go.” Whether commanding the stage, the screen or the small screen, June Squibb’s late-career renaissance is the feel-good entertainment story audiences are eager to click—proving once again that the spotlight has no age limit.