[Note from Frolic: We’re so excited to welcome actress turned author Tina Sloan to the site! She’s rounded up some stunning actresses over 50 that are blessing our TV and movie screens. Take it away, Tina!]
When I was a young actress, audiences weren’t paying attention to female leads over 50. Back then, like football players, you were out to pasture in your 30’s. I started on Guiding Light as the star, then became the mother of the star, then the grandmother of the star and my lines were still fabulous. I wasn’t diminished as I would have been if I had become 50 in an earlier decade. So to be applauding these women it feels like women got the vote all over again! We used to be marginalized at age 30 but now times have changed for Women in Entertainment, and these 11 women are just a few in Hollywood that are leading this movement in Hollywood history.
1. Heather Graham, 50
Probably one of the most beautiful actress working today. Her work in The Hangover with Bradley Cooper is my favorite comedic acting in film. I did a film with her and we were sitting next to one another in our makeup chairs and talking into the mirror for about 20 happy minutes when I looked away from her face in the mirror and glanced at myself and nearly fell out of the chair. I thought while we chatted that I looked like her. She was the most giving charming actress I ever worked with and the cast and crew of The Guru adored her.
2. Halle Berry, 53
Halle Berry overcame racial prejudice to become the first African American woman to win the Academy Award for Monster’s Ball. Her performance in her pet project, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge—which she co-produced and starred in to show the struggle to succeed in a racially-biased Hollywood in the 1950’s—that was so stunning. It was her passion to revere those who went before her and didn’t have the timing she had to be born into a world where racial biases had lessened enough for an African American woman to win an Academy Award. Halle Berry is everything a woman should be.
3. Allison Janney, 60
Allison was briefly on the soap opera I was on. She was an extra, yet every time she worked, I marveled at how she stole the show from those of us who were supposed to be the stars. She would do kooky things with her black uniform and maids headpiece or apron and trip as she passed hors d’oeuvres. I knew she was too good, and off she went to LA and was on The West Wing and became such a star. The characters she plays are clever and always surprise one. they are never predictable.
4. Madonna, 61
Madonna is the genius of transformation decade after decade. When she was Evita Peron in the film Evita and sang “Don’t Cry for me Argentina” she broke hearts, and then she proceeded to do some stupendously out of the box insane album. There is NOTHING she cannot do: sing, dance, act, perform, compose, produce. Truly a sensation in every way especially in the ability to reinvent herself.
5. Michele Pfeiffer, 61
Like Heather Graham, so beautiful you can’t take your eyes off her. When she was in the film The Age of Innocence, she did a scene where her glove was unbuttoned one button by one by Daniel Day Lewis and it was the sexiest scene in film history – no clothes came off, Just the glove…omg.
6. Meryl Streep, 70
Possibly the greatest actress of our generation, no one can become another person the way she can. She IS whomever she plays. I was in a scene with her last year in The Post where she was Katherine Graham who took over The Washington Post when her husband died, but it unfortunately got cut. But what fun it is to work with Meryl- she is simply a genius.
7. Betty Buckley, 72
Betty is known as the Broadway Legend for her Tony-award winning performance of Grizabella in Cats. Her next break was when you saw her on Sunset Boulevard in oh-so-high heels. She just finished a tour of Hello Dolly! where she was of course, Dolly. We were both up for a soap opera eons ago called Search for Tomorrow. I got it and a few weeks later received 8 roses from Betty with this note. “Tina you keep searching for tomorrow, I found Eight Is Enough”. And indeed she did, it was a great TV series she did for years.
8. Diane Keaton, 73
Her films ranging from Annie Hall to Something’s Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson where she appears naked (or has a great body double) and looks fantastic at age 65. Diane Keaton makes me smile just thinking of her films. . She just gets away with anything she is so good and so very charming. She is so fey with her very own personality that works for every film she is in.
9. Tina Turner, 80
All my life I adored Tina Turner, we do have the same first name! And that voice, that dancing, those legs, the showmanship. When she finally went out on her own it was hard going as her ex, Ike Turner, kept all her money. She had nothing and had to work cleaning houses. But she did it. She is such a mentor to all women to just go for the stars. Her comeback showed she still had it with more electrifying live performances. She became one of the greatest singers of her time.
10. Maggie Smith, 84
I guess all I need to say here is Downton Abbey as she is the grand dame of that remarkable show. Her constant work on stage, in tv, and in film just makes one thrill that she is still, at this stage, doing what she has done all her life so brilliantly. She is the star of anything she is in. No matter whom she is working with, she steals the scene easily.
11. Judi Dench, 85
Dame Judi Dench is my all-time favorite actress. From Shakespeare to James Bond franchise, she has spanned an amazing life in film and on stage. Her devilish role in Notes on a Scandal and her funny, scene-stealing role on The Way We Were show the depth and breadth of her acting life. She is truly a Dame of not only the British Empire, but a national treasure to all.
About the Author:
Tina Sloan is best known for her 26-year-role on CBS’s soap opera Guiding Light and as the author of Changing Shoes: Getting Older – Not Old – with Style, Humor and Grace, based on her autobiographical one-woman show. Some of Sloan’s most notable on-screen appearances include roles in Law & Order: SVU, Third Watch, Celebrity, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, The Brave One, Changing Lanes, The Guru, People I Know, and Black Swan. Her latest projects include being part of an all-star cast on the soap web series Beacon Hill and Venice, and she continues to be a sought-after speaker. She divides her time between Florida and Maryland with her husband of 44 years, where they enjoy time with their son, his wife and 2 grandchildren. Her new book, Chasing Cleopatra: A Novel of Love, Betrayal and Suspense, will be released on February 1st, 2020
Learn more about Sloan by visiting her website, and connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Chasing Cleopatra by Tina Sloan, out February 1!
To the untrained eye, Cleopatra Gallier appears to lead a charmed life in Honolulu’s paradise. She is impossibly beautiful, clever, wealthy and…trained to kill.
When she enters into a love affair with the much younger, irresistibly handsome rogue, Jake Regan, she finds herself colliding with an intricate terrorist plot. Her secret past, like Hawaii’s smoldering volcano, is ready to erupt. In the four days leading up to Christmas, two stunning betrayals and a terrorist attack threaten to reduce her and the island she loves to ashes.
As Cleopatra’s deadly skills are put to the test, she must first untangle the devastating secrets of her past.
Don’t miss this debut novel, a gripping page-turner from acclaimed American actress, playwright, author Tina Sloan.
