It’s not unusual… okay, it’s a little unusual.
When actors get older, sometimes they just fade away. Other times they stick around. The ones who stick around have a lot of options for dealing with their aging.
The best ones do just that – they deal. George Burns tells the story of a hot young vaudeville singer who used to cap off her act with her rendition of “Wherever Mama Goes, Papa Follows.” As she got older and her looks started to fade, she continued to close her act with the number – only now she performed it with a six-gun in each hand.
Sean Connery fully recognizes the elder-statesman quality that his aging has lent him and uses it to his advantage. Clint Eastwood has always depended on his chiseled appearance, and wrinkles just add to the effect. There is a double standard when it comes to age, however – for every 500 “elder statesmen,” there’s only one Dame Judi Dench.
For those who can’t deal with aging, however, there’s plastic surgery. A few minutes under the knife and you’re good to go. Of course, if you do it too much you can wind up looking like a freak. As one surgeon apparently tried to tell Tom Jones recently. (link via pesky’)
The 65-year-old says: “I went to see a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills and he said: ‘You’ve got to be careful with your lower eyes.’
“He told me: ‘Your eyes will be bloody popping,’ he said I should try to look as natural as I can.
“I’ve had some nips and tucks. I don’t know, it depends on what I think needs doing.”
April 5th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Roger Ebert is a total horror show.
April 5th, 2006 at 9:24 am
Really? I don’t think he’s had any pastic surgery done. I think he’s lost a great deal of weight in recent years. He also had surgery not to long ago—throat surgery, I think. That might account for it.
It’s a double-edged sword. When they have work done, we call them vain and shallow—or even crazy. When they don’t, we call them old and ugly and stop going to see them. (Jones maybe less so, but then he’s not a Hollywood actress. And there’s no limit to what the little old ladies at his shows will throw their panties at.)
April 5th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Ah, maybe Ebert’s just had universally bad TV makeup.