Golden but not olden

BISSET. “Sexy sexagenarian” refuses to be counted down and out. AFP

Most stars opt for partial or complete retirement when they hit 50, but an increasing number of now or near-“golden” luminaries, like Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock, have many dour and dire prognosticators and professional naysayers resetting their clocks—and calendars.

Brad, Sandra and some of their golden and definitely not olden batchmates are having the time of their professional and personal lives, with one attention-calling project after another (“Gravity” could even clinch an Oscar for Sandra) adding to their filmographies. Fifty must really be the new 40 these days—or even 35!

Add another decade to the calendar, and some of the film world’s “sexy sexagenarians” similarly refuse to be counted down and out.

Jacqueline Bisset was in retirement for years until she made her comeback last year in “Dancing on the Edge”—and, what do you know, she got a Golden Globe for her exceptional portrayal!

Never mind that she flubbed her acceptance speech big time, the key fact is that she’s proven that “forgotten” stars still have great performances left in them, if anybody remembers to give them at least half a chance to craft them!

Add yet another decade to the chronological tally, and we find some “stellar septuagenarians” still raring and ready to surprise us all with their creative vim, vigor and vitality. They’re  paced by the still newsmaking and -breaking Robert Redford, who has been producing and acting in one exceptional film after another, not to mention running the Sundance Film Festival, which has made some independent films major players in US and international cinema.

Noble countenance

(It’s also a relief to note that Redford no longer looks quite as prematurely wizened and wattled as he did some years ago—something or someone must be smoothing away those creases on his still noble countenance!)

Redford’s “classmates,” like Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, Warren Beatty, Sophia Loren and Jack Nicholson, aren’t doing all that badly either, so there seems to be more than enough senior spunk, spark, sizzle and chutzpah to go around!

Of course, it isn’t just “advanced” age that these stalwart stars have going for them. We prize their new portrayals because they are full of the hard-earned insights into human nature that viewers thirst for—which younger and perhaps more beautiful luminaries can’t share, simply because they haven’t lived long enough!

Taking yet another decade-long leap forward, we pay tribute to our most senior stars, the few but prodigiously exceptional octogenarians who are still making waves in the movies, despite the wear and tear that even “eternal” icons are subject and heir to.

Clint Eastwood was born in 1930, so that makes him a certified octogenarian—but, if you look at his still amazingly prodigious output, both as actor and director, you wouldn’t believe it. Did he make a pact with Hollywood’s resident Beelzebub, or something?

Nope, the guy just has so much to give that one professional lifetime doesn’t seem to be enough—so, he’s on permanent creative overdrive!

What’s up next for Eastwood, Woody Allen and other super-senior stars? Well, George Burns hit 100—so, Eastwood and his durable batchmates have some catching up to do!