BOTOX Boo-Boo

[mrsl]

I watched a half cute, half sad movie last night called the Boynton Bereavement Club or something like that about seniors living in a senior community who joined this club for companionship and to meet people. One of the things I noticed was the rampant use of botox.

Through the wonder of movie film, all my heroes are still young and handsome or beautiful, as Gregory Peck and Maureen O'Hara, but so many of the second generation (60's through 90's), just have not accepted aging. Someone should tell them they are now at the age that they should look like their grandmother, not their daughter. Dyan Cannon (star of the movie), was the young little snippet who bagged Cary Grant and gave him his only child, and I still think of her that way, but good heavens(!!!) she is 61!!! However, because of botox her mouth is so misformed, she looks like she is in pain when she smiles, as does Sally Kellerman, a co-star. I swear Kim Bassinger and Melanie Griffith are wearing fright masks nowadays and so many others.

It is not fair that men simply look more masculine with lines in their faces and eyes, but no matter how well you have kept your body, after 55 the face and neck are going to get lines that no amount of foreign product is going to erase.

This is what I meant by sad. Dyan Cannon has the body of a 20 year old, and still that huge mane of curly hair, but the beautiful shaped legs have visible veins, and the hair is way thinner, and the curls no longer bounce, but hang lankly. Why did so many of the stars of the 40's still look lovely in their 60's and some even older? Was it their way of life, what they ate, the make-up? Olivia deHaviland, Maureen O'Hara, even Joan Crawford, and especially Barbara Stanwyck, were all gorgeous into their late 60's, what did the next generation do, that at 40 they feel they already need surgery or other applications? Meg Ryan e.g. was such a cutie pie, and now she's ruined it, also Michelle Pfeiffer was so gorgeous, but she's had her mouth done, and messed up her smile.

Anne

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Anne,

"You can't fool Mother Nature"... She will get you in the end.

Some of these people end up with big fish lips or the windtunnel look and no expression....
And, they do look plastic - I guess that's why they call it 'plastic surgery.
Not to mention the pain that would be involved...

Someone told me that the only good face lift she'd ever seen was on Pamela Harriman and that she looked young and normal.
But, viola!! - - she had a stroke and died!!!
So, Mother Nature again had the last laugh...

Larry

[stuart.uk]

Anne

You won't know many of them, but here's some current beauties from my part of the globe,

Helen Mirren (The Final Prime Suspect)
Joanna Lumley (The Northern Lights, a doc where Joanna visited Norway)
Julie Walters (Filth)
Lynda Bellngham, who's playing the Mirren role on stage in Calander Girls
Judi Dench (Casino Royale)
Brenda Blethyn (Saving Grace)
Elisabeth Sladen (The Serah Jane Adventures and Doctor Who)
Barbara Flynn (Miss Potter)
Charlotte Rampling (The Duchess)
Barbara Flynn-(Miss Potter)
Julie Christie (Finding Neverland)
Linda Thorson (The Avengers and Emerdale)
Amanda Redman (New Tricks)
Amanda Burton (Silent Witness and The Commander)
Hayley Mills (Wild At Heart)
Claire Bloom (guesting on New Tricks and Doc Martin), Chaplin's leading lady, who in her late 70s looks 20 yrs younger than she actually is
Joan and Jackie Collins
Jane Asher

[charliechaplinfan]

Anne I agree with you. I feel sorry for the women in th public eye who feel they have to have procedures done to keep working or keep their face in the public eye. Women can be incredibly attractive past their younger years, just like men. Some women seem to mature into their features often looking better in their forties than they did in their twenties. I love the maturer man look, Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia is a prime example, he's lovely in that, I never got into him as Bond. Perhaps these actresses feel they have to strive because the marketing men prefer the nubile young thing?

Melanie Griffiths, what does she have to prove, she's married to Antonio Banderas for heaven sake.

Over here we have an advert, I think for L'Oreal skin products but it stars Jane Fonda, I know every trick will have been used to make her look perfect but heck, she looks really good.

Now someone's going to tell me she's had a face lift.

[stuart.uk]

Just watched the British version of Dancing With The Stars, Strictly Come Dancing, where Bette Midler made a terrific surprise appearence. She was simply stunning!

[Lzcutter]

I think Larry is right, it is about good genes.

Another factor for the ladies that Anne listed, many of those classic era stars as they aged, changed their hairstyles and make-up as they grew old gracefully.

Anne Miller and Ginger Rogers always seemed to do just the opposite. They both hung on to hairstyles and make-up which made them look glamorous when they were younger but somewhat garish as they got older.

As for stars of today, we are a youth driven society. Many women feel the need to look as young as they can in hopes of continuing working. Unfortunately, too often they end destroying one of the things that made them famous: their looks.

I guess for them it is a Catch-22.

[mrsl]

Stuart:

I'm not sure about your list. Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Hayley Mills, don't seem to have had any botox or surgery. So I'm not sure if your list is saying those ladies are still lovely by nature, or with help, because I'm sure both Collins sisters have had lots of help.

Charlie Chaplin fan:

Years ago, my eyes popped when I saw Richard Gere in Pretty Woman with his grey hair -- Wow!!! Previous to that he had stayed with the dark hair, but in PW with the grey at the temples, he looked like (ha-ha) a MOVIE STAR, but a perfect example of what I meant.

lzcutter:

Holy mackerol, Ann Miller with that severe black, black hair pulled back for that stupid bun, and make up which was fine at 30 with an L.A. tan, but not for a retired 60 year old grandma. And my idol Ginger and that awful blond hair to her shoulders and all swept to one side of her face - I preferred seeing the caterpillars above Joan Crawfords eyes, and you know I wasn't really fond of her, but at least they were natural!

Anne

[stuart.uk]

Anne

I point was that all the ladies I mentioned are still lovley today. I wasn't thinking about them having surgery or not, though in most cases, as you noted, their beauty is still natural.

On on a thread I started I did an article on Leslie Ash, a beautiful British actress in her early 40s who IMO didn't need any surgical help with her looks. However, it seems, despite her beauty she felt pressure to get her lips enlarged, so she could slow down the aging process, even though IMO as I said she didn't need too. The result was it went wrong and she was publically humilated with comments about her pouted lips, which devasted her

Lauren Bacall was a Hollywood star to retained her beauty into old age without any artificial help

I never though Bette Midler was a great beauty in her 30s, though found her very sexy. However, she's in Britain just now on a tour doing the rounds on chats shows. Now I would say, at 61, she's beautiful. As I'm writing I've just thought of the beautiful Alison Steadman.

I was thinking of John Thaw's actress widow Shelia Hancock, who's an actress IMO has aged gracefully and has an inner beauty

[stuart.uk]

Anne

Possibly the likes of Ginger should have cut her long blonde hair short, or at least got it down to medium length, because she still retained her shaply figure for most of her life. I remember a story of Ginger in her 50s or 60s getting wolf whistles wearing a modern tennis outfit, her back to the guys giving her attention

Susannah York actually looks older than her yrs because she's got short spiky hair, which is more common for a girl in her 20s. However, IMO with a more suitable hairstyle she would look great again!

Cher is someone who still looks great, but has a lot done surgically.

[charliechaplinfan]

I saw Bette Midler on the TV the other night, I agree she does not look 61 and she looks better now than years ago.

Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, lovely indeed however if he had no hair he wouldn't have the same effect on me. Perhaps having hair as an actor is as important as to some actors as staying youthful is to some actresses.

[jdb1]

I never understood the appeal of Richard Gere to women. Aside from the fact that he's as dull as dishwater, he always looked like Danny Kaye to me.

Not to this woman. I've always thought he looks like a myopic sheep. And he has at least half the personality of one. However, he got my attention in that Howard Hughes scam movie, only I kept thinking he was Alec Baldwin. Maybe he should have skipped the romantic parts and done character roles.

[stuart.uk]

Jane Fonda does a comercial for British tv promoting face cream. It's always the same one, but she changes one line every yr. 'I'm 68 now' 'I'm 69 now.' and recently, you've guest it 'I'm 70 now.'

I must be getting old now. Hank Fonda's daughter is now 70 LOL