# Actors trying to avoid age **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826 "2011-07-30T12:30:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/81 "2011-08-10T23:45:20Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I’m not convinced that’s not just from a different facial expression. Same with Barry Manilow. No, Manilow is really that bad. Check out these [pictures.](http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/stars_who_age_badly/stars_who_age_badly.html) Manilow is #3 on the list. Many of the stars mentioned in this thread are among the pictures. I’m sure they tried to show each star in his/her best and worst pictures, but still some of the pictures were quite shocking. To see the hot 25-year-old Meg Ryan next to the current version is beyond sad. And, man, did Mark Hamill fall apart! And if you don’t want to see what has happened to Brigitte Bardot, don’t look all the way to the end. Otherwise, you will need to watch _And God Created Woman_ 10 times to get the old Bardot out of your mind. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/82 "2011-08-11T00:02:28Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > BTS? I echo this question. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/83 "2011-08-11T00:09:35Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > And, man, did Mark Hamill fall apart! Do remember that Hamill suffered a car accident at one point that did serous damage to his face. Subsequent roles had him wearing tons of make-up to cover what damage couldn’t be surgically restored. That side by side photo shows pretty clearly that his nose has never been quite as straight since (it deviates to the right) and his left and right cheekbones no longer quite match. Granted, that’s not the whole of it, but I’m willing to cut a little more slack to people who have had Bad Things happen to their face. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/84 "2011-08-11T21:25:50Z")
Okay, I grant you something looks off with Manilow’s face, and so I concede cheek implants seem to be the best explanation. ET indeed. I thought Mark Hamill was aging fairly well, from seeing him on TV a few years ago (few = how many? 5? I don’t recall.) He had a big hit from the car accident, but seemed reasonably stable since then. But looking at that picture, holy shit. And yeah, I feel just like some of those. “Bloated” from weight gain describes me, too. But Dustin Diamond from Saved By the Bell doesn’t seem to have aged that badly. He was a dorky kid who now looks like a dorky adult. Sure, he’s got a beard now, but otherwise looks about as well as could be expected. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/85 "2011-08-12T02:56:24Z")
I’m getting mixed messages from that slide show. It’s like some stars are getting slammed for getting plastic surgery and others are getting slammed for aging naturally. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/86 "2011-08-12T14:57:21Z")
Mary Steenburgen…if you’re going to have work done, do the entire area above your shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/87 "2011-08-12T15:55:05Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I’m getting mixed messages from that slide show. It’s like some stars are getting slammed for getting plastic surgery and others are getting slammed for aging naturally. Yeah, agreed on this. A good portion of their picks were not any definition of ‘aging badly’. They picked a Britney Spears picture at 16?? and compared her to herself now as ‘aging badly’. She looks fine, but maybe the problem is that she is no longer 16 and therefore that’s ‘aging badly’? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/88 "2011-08-12T16:28:29Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Do remember that Hamill suffered a car accident at one point that did serous damage to his face. Subsequent roles had him wearing tons of make-up to cover what damage couldn’t be surgically restored. That side by side photo shows pretty clearly that his nose has never been quite as straight since (it deviates to the right) and his left and right cheekbones no longer quite match. > > Granted, that’s not the whole of it, but I’m willing to cut a little more slack to people who have had Bad Things happen to their face. I feel the same way whenever I hear people making fun of Gary Busey for acting crazy. The man was in a serious motorcycle accident in 1988 and sustained real permanent brain damage. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/89 "2011-08-12T16:35:40Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Mary Steenburgen…if you’re going to have work done, do the entire area above your shoulders. What is this about - did she have work done or not? Every picture I can find shows her looking not bad at all for her age, and no obvious signs of plastic-gone-wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/90 "2011-10-25T08:36:31Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Yeah, but he looked BTS then. But he’s had work and is no stranger to Lady Clairol. Bumping this because I still want to know what BTS means. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/91 "2011-10-25T08:49:32Z")
Better Than Shit? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/92 "2011-10-25T10:49:31Z")
Oh wait: Beat To Shit. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/93 "2011-10-25T11:38:11Z")
Has John Travolta had work done? Because to me he looks like The Joker without stage makeup. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/94 "2011-10-25T13:07:49Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > It’s weird how you can look at the parts and not notice anything wrong, but taken together, the whole looks really nonhuman; wrinkles on the face are meant to be accompanied with grayer hair and vice versa. The Grandpa From Hell had about that many wrinkles and still no white hairs in his mid-80s. Arnie looks weird only inasmuch as he always has. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/95 "2011-10-25T13:30:44Z")
We get a lot of unretouched red-carpet photos at the photo house where I work, and call each other over to go, “\*look \*at how awful [name here] looks!” A year or so ago we got in one of 1960s starlet Carroll Baker, and my first thought was, “oh, gosh, she looks _terrible!_” And my second thought was, “Oh–actually, she looks like what a woman in her seventies is \*supposed \*to look like.” I’m just not used to seeing an untouched face. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/96 "2011-10-25T13:45:53Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I don’t think he looks terrible. He looks good for his age to me. Probably better than most of us will look at his age. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/97 "2011-10-25T14:27:36Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > And if you don’t want to see what has happened to Brigitte Bardot, don’t look all the way to the end. Otherwise, you will need to watch _And God Created Woman_ 10 times to get the old Bardot out of your mind. But Bardot is “famous” for precisely not doing any surgery and not caring very much about aging and her image. She’s a total counter-example of the OP, not an example at all. > [@Sampiro](#): > > And stop with the damned pajamas and robe: it was one image when you were 40 or even 65 but men your age are _often_ in pajamas and robe all day and it ain’t cause they’re bringing bring sexy back. This made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/98 "2011-10-25T15:18:11Z")
Abe Vigoda seems to have stopped ageing…only thing is, he looked like 75 when he was 40! No changes at all since “The Godfather” (1972). Can’t say if that’s a good thing or bad! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/99 "2011-10-25T16:41:12Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > We get a lot of unretouched red-carpet photos at the photo house where I work, and call each other over to go, “\*look \*at how awful [name here] looks!” A year or so ago we got in one of 1960s starlet Carroll Baker, and my first thought was, “oh, gosh, she looks _terrible!_” And my second thought was, “Oh–actually, she looks like what a woman in her seventies is \*supposed \*to look like.” I’m just not used to seeing an untouched face. See [post #38](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14091334&postcount=38). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826/100 "2011-10-25T17:00:46Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > No, Manilow is really that bad. Check out these [pictures.](http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/stars_who_age_badly/stars_who_age_badly.html) Manilow is #3 on the list. I dunno. Young Manilow looks kinda weird too, I think he just lost weight which accentuated his kinda eflin features. Also, agree that slideshow is pretty weird, some people there have aged really badly, but a lot of them just aged normally (Matt Perry and Vince Vaguhn for example, just gained some weight and wrinkles). A few actually looked pretty good, Spears looks pretty good and Screech from Saved by the Bell looks better then he did when he was on TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-trying-to-avoid-age/590826.md?page=6)