Ralph Tarrant, Britain’s Oldest Living Man At 110, Smoked Until 70 [Report]
Ralph Tarrant, Britain’s oldest living man, celebrated his 110th birthday on Sunday in Sheffield. He was born on July 7, 1903.
The previous title holder, Reg Dean, passed away in January at the age of 110 and 63 days.
In addition to being the current Britain’s oldest living man, Ralph Tarrant was the former half of Britain’s oldest living married couple. According to a report in The Telegraph, he met his future wife in 1922, waited 11 years to marry her — and they were still married a stunning 79 years to set the record.
Phyllis passed away in 2012, but you can see a video of the two of them together that I posted down below.
Multiple British media sources like Daybreak TV and the Daily Mail wanted to know Tarrant’s secret for long life, especially since he seemed to share it with his wife. Unfortunately, I don’t think a lot of you are going to like the answer.
Tarrant seemed to be saying that it’s pretty much random. He told the Daily Mail as part of their extensive coverage of his birthday party on Sunday:
“There’s no secret to getting old. There’s no need to live too carefully, I smoked until I was 70 and I still enjoy a drink.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ll keep going as long as I can.”
He wasn’t kidding about the drink. They ran a photo of the 110-year-old birthday boy lifting a glass of whiskey.
Here’s a video with Ralph and Phyllis Tarrant while his wife was still alive. After 77 years together, they were officially named Britain’s oldest-married couple:
Like any old married couple, they had their differences, and she commented that the talkative Ralph Tarrant could get on your nerves.
Ralph Tarrant is Britain's oldest living man at 110. His advice for the health conscious, "Smoke til your 70 and drink til your 110." #yolo
— Dan Vincenzo (@BigVanD) July 8, 2013
Congratulations to Ralph Tarrant, Britain’s oldest man, on the occasion of his 110th birthday!
[cake photo by Hannahmaria via Shutterstock]
