Tuesday, February 26, 2008

WOMEN WHO'VE AGED . . . GRACEFULLY . . .

The topic of this post was inspired by none other than Ms. Ruby Dee, who really should have been honored with an Oscar the other night. No, I didn't see her performance in American Gangster nor the performances of any of the the other actresses she was up against. I mean, really, does it matter? Very seldom is that stuff is ever assessed fairly or based on any degree of real talent anyway (LOL).

Folks have been overlooking Ms. Ruby Dee (aka Mother Sister) for a long-time. At least since, A Raisin In The Sun I'd dare say. A big ups goes to Spike Lee for bringing her and her late hubby Ossie Davis back into the forefront and the big screen, via movies like Do The Right Thing and Jungle Fever.

But anyway, getting back to the topic, there's nothing that inspires me more than to see a woman, like Ms. Ruby Dee, who has aged gracefully. 'Cause y'all know, there are a lot ole girls out here who seem to be doing their darnedest to accomplish the exact opposite. No, I'm not trying to name any names. Please! And get myself put on somebody's hit list? Ah, no thank you (LOL).

Besides, I'd much rather stay on this side of positive and concentrate on those ladies who I think are still working it with class, style, beauty and grace. You may or may not agree with some of my choices. But feel free to add you own or comment on some of my pics. So, in no particular order . . .

1) Ruby Dee (Keep representing, Ms. Dee!)

2) Nancy Wilson (Yes, ma'am, now this is how I want to go gray.)

3) Sophia Loren (I do believe the hubby still has heart palpitations whenever he spies Ms. Loren. I know he can barely watch any of her old flicks without salivating.)

4) Rita Moreno (Makes me want to go find my copy of Westside Story and then slap somebody.)

5) Toni Morrison (Ms. Morrison can rock those dreads, can't she?)

6) Racquel Welch (I saw her on some show recently and could barely believe my eyes. All I could think was: Now, I know she is old as dirt. How is this possible?!)

7) Diahann Carroll (Gotta love Whitley and Preston Burke's mama, don't you? LOL!)

8) Judy Pace (Many of you may not remember Ms. Pace, whose hey-day was in the '70s. But I saw a picture of her in Jet, not long ago, and she doesn't look like she's aged a bit.)

9) Sally Fields (I think she just might be sipping from the fountain of youth.)

10) Barbara Streisand (Age has actually softened her looks, I think.)

11) Patti LaBelle (I'm pretty sure Ms. Patti has had some "work" done, but I swear she looks younger now than she did when she was with the group LaBelle.)

12) Priscilla Presley (I almost didn't put Ms. Presley on the list. I can tell she's had some "work" done fairly recently and if she's not careful she may end up looking like her former son-law. But overall, ole girl has got it going on.)

13) Diana Ross (Y'all stop hating. Even if you don't like Ms. Ross, you've gotta give it to her. For her age, she still looks darn good.)

Ordinarily, I would have saved a list like this for "Thursday Thirteen." But these days, I just don't have the time to visit all of those different blogs and reciprocate in kind with comments. But don't let that make you hesistate to leave your two cents here. If you leave a remark, I will most certainly holler right back at ya (smile).

9 comments:

pjazzypar said...

Lovin the list. You are right about Patti having work done. She readily admits that she had a nose job. Barbara Streisand has gotten better with age. What no Re Re? Can Aretha Franklin get any bigger?

Lori said...

Pjazzy,
You know I'm not about to mess with Aretha (LOL).

The good thing about Ms. Patti's work is that it looks natural. She didn't go overboard, like far too many of them do.

Malcolm said...

Because Women's History Month is coming up shortly, I plan on doing a Thursday Thirteen about this very subject. I'll hold off on saying who I will put on my list until then.

I saw Priscilla Presley at courtside during the recent Tennessee vs. Memphis Men's basketball game. The work she's had done/age is starting to show.

Michelle said...

What?! No Lena Horne? She is the most amazing, work or no. She will be 91 this June...we should all hope to look half as good!

Lori said...

@Malcolm,
Okay, I'll look for your list in March. You know, I also saw Ms. Presley at the game you mentioned, the game my guys tried to force me to watch (smile). That's why I said she needs to leave the work alone before she starts looking like some ghastly version of MJ.

@Michelle,
My bad! I thought about Ms. Horne, but it's been a while since I've seen her. I'm sure she's still looking good though.

Hey, my Granddad will be 91 in June too and he's still pretty spry for his age . . . Some ole girl, who obviously thought he was in his sixties, tried to pick him up one Sunday at the Picadilly (LOL)!

bettye griffin said...

Hey, I'm with Malcolm. I'd cut Priscilla Presley from the list and add in her place Candice Bergen, who's past 60 and looking fabulous (I saw her on the Today show this morning.

Anonymous said...

I love Sophia Loren, we would all be lucky if we aged as gracefully and as beautifully as she has.
Maribeth
www.marnini.wordpress.com

Lori said...

@Bettye,
Ms. Bergan for Ms. Presley? Well, rather than drop kick Ms. P, why not just add Ms. B? (smile). I can't just leave my Memphis-connected folks hanging (LOL).

@Maribeth,
Yes, I can't get too mad at the hubby. Ms. Loren is in a league of her own.

Anonymous said...

YOu know Patti Labelle looks better now than she did in the 70s. Another person I would add to the list is Natalie Cole. I saw her on Oprah yesterday and she's in her late 50s. What a difference changing your life around can make. I can't forget Ms. Tina Turner. After seeing her performance on The Grammys the other week with Beyonce; these young women don't have nothing on Ms. Tina. She still rocks and she's 60 plus.