Where Does Helen Mirren Rank Among Saturday Night Live's Oldest Hosts?

5. Charlton Heston (70)

Charlton Heston's 1993 appearance (his second and last time as host) features one of the most elaborate openings in Saturday Night Live's history. In the cold open, Heston falls asleep; upon awaking, the cast is now made up entirely of apes. What makes this really special is that the opening SNL credits were re-shot, scene for scene, with each cast member wearing an ape mask and introduces each as a Planet of the Apes character. When Heston appears onstage for his monologue, it's as a prisoner of the apes. Even the members of the SNL band are wearing ape masks.

6. Robert De Niro (67)

De Niro's entry was during this current season -- his third time as host overall. De Niro's never been known as a particularly great SNL host but, this time, there seemed to be a little more spring in his step. Say what you will about De Niro's performance, but any criticism can't be for lack of effort.

7. Howard Cosell (67)

When Saturday Night Live first aired, it was referred to as just NBC's Saturday Night. This was because there was already a prime time show on ABC called Saturday Night Live, hosted by Howard Cosell. And the original SNL cast were called the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" because Cosell's show featured three comedians referred to on the show as "The Prime Time Players" -- Bill Murray, Christopher Guest and Brian Doyle-Murray, all future NBC SNL cast members. So it was quite a coup when Cosell, who had to suck up his pride a bit (not a man known to do such a thing), appeared as host on the show that took away his title. "This is Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell," Cosell said in his 1985 monologue. "I would trust there are some of you that recall a weekly prime time television variety program that premiered on A... B... C... TV. It was a decade ahead of its time."

8. John McCain (66)

McCain is the eighth oldest host in the history of SNL -- and this was from his appearance in 2002. McCain famously appeared again as a presidential candidate in 2008, starring in the Tina Fey-as-Sarah Palin "I'm going rogue" QVC commercial. And that was a week before the election! Regardless, McCain actually received high praise for his 2002 hosting duties. The clip below, with McCain singing the hits of Barbara Streisand, demonstrates how he wa
s game for just about anything.

9. Bob Newhart (65)

Seriously, where's the online petition to get Bob Newhart back on SNL as host one more time? If Betty White is a national treasure, then what's Bob Newhart? After originally hosting in 1980, Newhart returned in 1995 to find a very crowded SNL cast and a show overrun with O.J. Simpson trial sketches and jokes. Newhart, as always, was fantastic, but it's a shame what could be his last appearance as host was during one of the worst seasons in the history of SNL. Plus, if Newhart hosted again at his current age of 81, he could jump up to second place on this list. Let's make it happen!

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