Madonna at 55 and other 50-plus celebrities still turning heads
AS Madonna turns 55 refusing to age gracefully, we look at 50+ stars who still turn heads - with or without a little help.
AS she celebrates her 55th birthday there's no question of Madonna ageing gracefully, but it would be hard to argue she's not ageing well.
There will be no frumpy fifties for this singer, who made headlines only this week attending a classical music festival in the south of France with an impressive set of diamond grills fixed to her teeth - and her toyboy dancer on her arm.
The queen of reinvention, boasts the body and energy of a woman half her age, and shows no sign of slowing down, recently saying: "I've always danced and exercised. I can't imagine not doing it. So, I'll be (modern dance pioneer) Martha Graham in my nineties, doing contractions on the floor."
But, with some claiming 50 is the new 30, Madge isn't the only celeb who can still turn heads after the big 5-0.
Here's our pick of the Fabulous at 50+ club. They may not all have defied the years without some help along the way, but there's no denying they wear it well.
Michelle Pfeiffer, 55
The former Miss Orange County finished sixth in the Miss California pageant in 1978, making enough of an impact to land herself an agent and begin getting work in commercials and TV. She got her big break in Scarface in 1983 and never looked back. Last year she admitted vanity was partly behind her decision to adopt a vegan diet. "Vanity is right under there," she said, "but I have to say that it's a close second with wanting to live long."
Iman, 58
Iman was studying political science at university before she became a supermodel and is multilingual, with five languages under her high-fashion belt. She was at the top of the modelling game for 14 years before launching her Iman Cosmetics line which focuses on products for dark skinned women. At 58 she says she still feels 30 inside. "What ages you is when you lose your curiosity."
Kim Basinger, 59
Basinger was crowned Junior Miss Georgia in 1969 and started modelling soon after, but quit life as a cover girl to pursue acting in LA. She secured her breakthrough role as a Bond girl in 1983's Never Say Never. Late last year daughter Ireland praised her as "the most naturally beautiful woman there ever was and will be". She tweeted: "Your skin care, workouts and advice on eating healthy inspire me to do the same. Ladies, if you want to avoid Botox and any other skin treatments, listen to my mom!"
Vanessa Williams, 50
Williams was the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America, but relinquished her title after Penthouse magazine bought and published nude photos of her. She rebounded from the scandal to carve a successful entertainment career as a singer, actor and producer. In a recent interview with her daughters she talked about her full-on exercise regime and the benefits of modern skin care products, but admitted: "It's just a constant battle every day. A new wrinkle appears; a new dark spot appears."
Michelle Yeoh, 50
In what's beginning to look like a theme for our Fab 50s, Yeoh first gained attention on the pageant scene, winning the Miss Malaysia contest before being crowned Queen of the Pacific in 1983. TV roles followed, then films including Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with movie website Rotten Tomatoes ranking her the greatest action heroine of all time in 2008. In her late 40s she said she understood her body and had worked out ways to exercise anywhere "even when you are on the telephone, when you are watching TV, in the car". "If you have a healthy body then you will have a healthy mind, and then you will enjoy the quality of life."
Demi Moore, 50
She landed her breakthrough role in St Elmo's fire and in 1996 she became the then highest paid actor in film history when she garnered $US12.5 million for her role in Striptease, but Moore has admitted struggling with her body image and has been the subject of much plastic surgery speculation. Last year though, she seemed more at ease. "I sit today in a place of greater acceptance of my body," she was quoted as saying. "And that includes not just my weight, but all of the things that come with your changing body as you age. I find peace when I don't see my body as my enemy, when I step back and have appreciation and look at all that my body has done for me."
Christie Brinkley, 59
Billy Joel's Uptown Girl was discovered by a photographer in a post office in Paris, where she was studying, in 1973. She has worked as an actor and television personality, but it's her success as a supermodel that stands out. She was the face of CoverGirl cosmetics for 25 years and is a regular feature on hottest-of-all-time lists. "My age has so little to do with my image of myself because at a certain point, the number just didn't fit how I felt," she has said. "It has become irrelevant to me."
Kim Cattrall, 56
Best known has the highly-sexed Samantha in Sex and the City, Cattrall has worked extensively as an actor in film, theatre and TV since 1975. Refreshingly honest about the pressures of ageing in Hollywood, she recently told an interviewer, "I don't think I'm vain … but I do like to be lit well." She added: "There are parts (for older women in Hollywood) but they're really hard to get. And a lot of them have always gone to Michelle Pfeiffer, who is a brilliant actor, and I get that."
Madonna, 55
Constantly reinventing her image and her music has kept Madonna in the charts and the headlines since her first global success with Like A Virgin. She has sold over 300 million records and even in her 50s sees no need to hide her assets, as the picture taken in May, below, shows.
Meg Ryan, 51
She has a long list of film credits, but will always be remembered for her famous fake orgasm scene in Harry Met Sally and a far less animated real-life interview with British TV stalwart Michael Parkinson, which he later described as his "most difficult television moment". No toyboy for this over-50, the former rom-com queen is dating singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, 10 years her senior. But her looks have come under regular scrutiny. Earlier this year Frasier star Jane Leeves, 52, hit out at Hollywood's obsession with going under the knife, saying: "Meg Ryan destroyed her career with plastic surgery."
Jamie Lee Curtis, 54
A former scream queen who showed her comedic chops in A Fish Called Wanda, Curtis celebrated her 50th birthday by posing topless on the cover of a US magazine for over-50s, saying: "If I can challenge the old ideas about ageing, I will feel more and more invigorated."
Sharon Stone, 55
While some stars try to fight time, Basic Instinct star Stone says the secret to looking good at 55 is attitude as much as anything. "I think I am ageing but I'm enjoying the process. I think that's really it. I'm enjoying my years, I'm enjoying my life, I'm enjoying my family. I'm just happy - a happy person. My secret is no secret. I just do all the things you're supposed to do. I eat right, I sleep, I work out, I'm happy."
Jennifer Grey, 53
The star of 1980s' films Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Dirty Dancing star showed off her admirably-toned physique when she won the US version of Dancing With The Stars in 2010. The actor famously struggled to find work after a nose job in the 1990s left her virtually unrecognisable as she auditioned for roles and is pragmatic now about her looks. "Ageing is inevitable and the idea that we can be eternally youthful is the pitfall of our society," she has said. "If you try to hold on to something you don't have anymore, you can't be happy in the moment."
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