NEW YORK (WPIX) – Lenny Landau was born during the Roaring 20s, and he’s still kicking it in the 2020s.
“I feel great,” the WWII veteran told WPIX on his 101st birthday. “Life can be beautiful. Take one day at a time.”
In 1920, Prohibition began and women earned the right to vote — and Landau entered the world.
“It was a rough time to be born,” he said. “It was a crazy time.”
Landau exercises every day in his New Jersey home, and he even works at a container company because work “keeps you young,” he said.
He also stressed that “you’ve got to have a positive attitude.”
“You have to have a smile on your face and enjoy everything that you’re doing,” he said.
He told WPIX that he hasn’t been sick since he served in World War II. He credits a flu shot he received back then to his continued health — but other factors, including his wife, have helped as well.
Landau’s wife Sydelle is 25 years his junior.
“Being married to someone 25 years younger does help,” she said, “but he is a happy man. And he enjoys every day.”
Landau celebrated his big day with friends and family. He said living as long as he has is a feat, and he shared his secrets to staying young and living long: “I have a young wife, I have young friends and I have a motto [that] says that ‘you should do a good, anonymous deed every day of your life.'”
Correction: A previous version of this story had an incorrect spelling of Lenny Landau’s name. The story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling.