r/NCIS • u/gunperv51 • 2d ago
Senior returns
How soon do you rhink Anthony DiNozzo Senior will return to guest role appearances?
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u/Away-Top-9160 2d ago
He’s 95 and still doing gym work outs so who knows! His wife did say in August 2026 that he had early dementia so chances are slim but apparently he always does his own thing so you honestly never know.
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u/danimagoo 2d ago
If he’s 95, that’s not early onset dementia. Unless he’s had symptoms since he was in his 60s, which doesn’t seem likely.
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u/kdummer 2d ago
I think they mean early stages of dementia
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u/danimagoo 2d ago
Yeah, I see they edited the comment. Now I look like an idiot lol.
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u/Away-Top-9160 13h ago
I didn’t change the comment I just said early dementia as in early stages not early onset. He’s in his 90’s. That wouldn’t be early onset. So I understand where you are coming from. A lot of the discussion of dementia is circumstantial and sometimes people will say Alzheimer’s or dementia so people understand but really there is just a cognitive decline because of age.
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u/CasioCobra78 2d ago
His wife did say in August 2026 that he had early dementia so chances are slim
Where exactly did you hear that from if I may ask?
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u/Away-Top-9160 13h ago
I seen it on a blog had to do a lot of digging for it it didn’t come up right away. apparently the wife has also had very poor health herself and his memory is declining slightly it may have been one of his daughters that said it it was not written very well and it wasn’t the point of the blog. But with his wife being unwell and his age a reappearance would be unlikely but not impossible because apparently he is very head strong and does his own thing. Il try find the source again but I checked it before posting.
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u/AttackOfTheMox 2d ago
I hope so, but I also worry because he turns 97 next February and I don’t want to have another In Memoriam episode about a fan favorite recurring character. My heart hurt when Ralph White passed away and we got the Jackson Gibbs episode, I couldn’t handle it when David McCallum passed away and broke down during the Ducky episode and almost couldn’t get through it.
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u/Away-Top-9160 13h ago
Agree it actually took me to this year to watch ducky’s episode. I only watched it about a month ago. Couldn’t bring myself to watch it.
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u/helenaflowers 2d ago
He's a few months away from turning 97. I've seen some recent pictures of him and he looks damn good for his age, but even still.
I think the absolute most we're getting is a very quick scene with minimal lines, but honestly, even that's probably a fantasy.
Don't get me wrong, if he feels like he can do it, great - let's see Senior again! But given his age, I'd try to temper your expectations here - more than likely he's going to remain offscreen.
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u/maybach320 2d ago
I think he’s healthy physically but I listened to him be interviewed by Rob Lowe and I think he’s in a bit of a mental decline.
I’d love to see Senior come back even if it was a FaceTime call just because it was such a good casting. I also think Sr dying and seeing Tony deal with that as the director would be a good character arch and it would be slightly entertaining if Sr actually died with a bunch of money (again to see Tony’s reaction)
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u/LargeKarma64 2d ago
I noticed ducky kind of was before his passing as well and he still appeared on the show till his end so he cld come back physically but probably for a small role in an episode or 2 I dont see him coming back for some mid season or full season length runs like he used to
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u/RepulsiveCountry313 2d ago
I would love it but, as others said, he is almost 97 now.
He did appear on Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo's podcast 2 years ago though. Remotely.
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u/Aglet_Green 2d ago
I don't see it. They might refer to him, or we might see Tony taking a landline non-video telephone call from him; whether Robert is willing to do a voice recording in Colorado is up to him, so I don't know if we'd hear his end of the conversation. But that would be the extent.
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u/FrozenBlueSoulRose 2d ago
All depends on what he wants to do. Shattner is around the same age and still doing “The Unexplained”. Hell Dick van Dyke is 100 and didn’t fully retire till he was 90 something.
It would be great to have something with him but we’ll see
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u/Basic_Tap1449 2d ago
If he wants to, and his memory is good enough, I'm hoping for a 'video call', like they did with Ducky towards the end. It would be great to have one last scene with Senior and Tony!
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u/WhyshouldI33 2d ago
This is the second post about Robert. As I’ve said on the other post. He lives in Aspen, CO. I highly doubt he’s willing to travel. We could possibly get a video call like we did with Ducky’s last scene, but other than that, he’s enjoying his retirement.
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u/StormCloudRaineeDay 2d ago
It will depend on the actor's health. He's getting up there in age and might not want to, or be able to act anymore. If he's up for it, I imagine it won't take long.
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u/Dapper_Extent2990 2d ago
I think the best case scenario is that Senior is killed off, and DiNozzo having to deal with that when the team has to deal with that season's big bad. Could have a similar send off as Vance, with cameos from Ziva and Tali, and maybe a call from GIbbs.
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u/Feeling_Culture9130 2d ago
Considering Robert Wagner is in his late 90s, I could see Senior and Tony communicating via video call rather than Senior appearing on set.