Age Is Not Pretty

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 4:47pm

Just saw Jessica Lange on a recent panel re Tennessee Williams & she looks horrible. She looks like she aged 20 years overnight

[mikewood]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 4:50pm

Age happens.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 4:51pm

What a necessary thread!

[capnkidd]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 4:58pm

Well, she IS playing Amanda Wingfield, who is a faded beauty - sounds like she's right in character.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 5:25pm

She looked fine on some recent video I saw her on. I think it was the Easter Bonnet comp, or something like that. She looked good to me.
Updated On: 5/7/05 at 05:25 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 5:39pm

Ms. Lange just turned 56. When we saw Menagerie, we sat in the second row - and if that's looking 'bad' at 56 then I am royally screwed for the rest of my life.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 5:44pm

I thought she was older than 56, but not because of her looks. She looks fantastic, I think. When I saw MENAGERIE I was very close to the stage, and she looked not a day over 40.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 5:49pm

It's not her age, it's her frightening face lift!!!

[MissMommy]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 5:51pm

This thread cuts deep for those who are old enough to know they don't look as good as they used to, and wise enough to know it'll eventually happen to all the people who feel compelled to point it out!

[bwaybaby891]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 6:01pm

Why the hell do we care. She can act and she looks right for the part. It will happen to everyone at some point. Why am I even responding to this?

[ticenewyorkcity]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 6:20pm

well yes age does matter in the biz
i am turning 22 this year and i am telling everyone it is my 21st birthday....

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 9:37pm

This thread disgusts me. Who cares if someone looks old or not...maybe it is because she IS old.

[hannahshule]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 9:43pm

The whole beauty of the theater is that age isn't as big of an issue. You can still be a leading lady/diva at 75. Look at Barbara Cook!

[OnTheAisle]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 10:27pm

or Elaine Stritch ... or Chita!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 10:34pm

For anyone who thinks that age makes a woman somehow "less than"...two words: Jeanne Moreau. Two more: Susan Sarandon. And yet two more: Catherine Deneuve....

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 10:54pm

We Americans are obsessed with youth! What we see in magazines is not real. Most , if not all, photos are retouched. We all age.

And thanks to aging and experience we get to play Amanda.
Updated On: 5/7/05 at 10:54 PM

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 11:39pm

Firstly, yes this is a very foolish thread...that I'm actually going to contribute to. Secondly Barbara Cook looks amazing for being in her late 70's. Thirdly, sometimes age works well for people. Elaine Stritch and Angela Lansbury both looked a bit older than they actually were pretty early in their lives. But because of that, they did some amazing things. I don't think Angela would have had a harder sell Whistle, Sweeney, Mame, and Murder She Wrote if she didn't look a little older.


ohh and ummmm why are you telling people your 21 when your 22? 1 year really is not gonna make or break you for a role..really.

[Plum]

Posted: 5/8/05 at 12:15am

I don't think Angela would have had a harder sell Whistle, Sweeney, Mame, and Murder She Wrote if she didn't look a little older.

Not to mention The Manchurian Candidate. I think the guy playing her son was 3 years younger than she was. Still, fact is, people like Lansbury, Stritch, and Co. are the exception rather than the rule- they're such exceptional actresses and comediennes they made their age appearances almost irrelevant. Most actresses don't have that much wiggle room.