Helen Mirren blew the collective minds of millions of flabby-tummied fans when she rocked a bikini at age 63 last year. (Mirren, who shuns plastic surgery, credited workouts, and, more important, a flattering camera angle and lighting.) This year she hit beaches in a slightly more age-appropriate one-piece that nevertheless showed off her hourglass figure.
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As The Daily Beast’s Sandra McElwaine reported earlier this year, looking "refreshed" via plastic surgery is Washington’s dirty little secret. Though 69-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is far from being the only super-dewy-eyed pol on Capitol Hill, she is one of the most visible. And who can blame her, with the political press’ penchant for using the most unflattering photos possible for female legislators?
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Not a trace of Tom DeLay’s years of hard partying before he became a born-again Christian and lost the nickname "Hot Tub Tom" could be seen in his cheery 2005 mug shot when he was arrested on conspiracy and money-laundering charges. But when he performed on Dancing With the Stars this year, he looked like a new man. What’s his secret? Maybe he burned off years of congressional stress by dancing in his office Risky Business-style.
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Diane Sawyer may have been a beauty queen in the '60s, but her glory days are by no means behind her. Come 2010, Sawyer will replace Charles Gibson as anchor of ABC’s World News. Perhaps the simple satisfaction of getting what you’ve worked for your whole life is the perfect treatment for fine lines and wrinkles.
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Once a chubby outlier in the skinny-obsessed fashion industry, Marc Jacobs underwent a dramatic makeover, losing weight, getting a tan, and cutting (and washing!) his shoulder-length hair. Many credit Jacobs’ breakup with a longtime boyfriend in 2006 for motivating the popular designer to diet and exercise. Who doesn’t want to look better than their ex?
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The actress has taken a lot of heat for her lifestyle-advice e-newsletter, GOOP, which exhorts readers to " nourish the inner aspect," but what Gwyneth Paltrow’s doing certainly looks like it’s working. Paltrow credited her vegetarian diet and working out with rather controversial fitness guru Tracy Anderson for finally losing the last pounds of baby weight.
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Her husband’s first presidential campaign took a toll on Cindy McCain, who endured allegations in 2000 that her adopted daughter had been fathered by her husband with a mistress and revelations that she’d abused prescription drugs. But Cindy had learned how to handle press by the time John ran again in 2008—she ignored it. Somehow she managed to look even younger this time around, with a more youthful haircut and bright but conservative designer clothes.
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Holding onto her good looks is a high-stakes game for Demi Moore now that she’s the go-to reference for anyone talking about the cougar trend. Moore, 46, denies having had plastic surgery, but many continue to speculate that the ageless star has had small procedures done over the years, preventing the drastic changes that make plastic surgery so obvious on some faces. Then again, maybe Moore is just benefiting from the exercise that comes with keeping up with much-younger hubby Ashton Kutcher.
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Keanu Reeves has been criticized for an inability to emote on screen, but it looks like those frozen facial muscles have paid off. Reeves looks the same as he did in the mid-'90s.
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Fox News commentator and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee lost 100 lbs. while he was governor of Arkansas. It didn’t help him win the GOP nomination for president, but it couldn’t have hurt when he was offered a TV talk-show gig.
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The track-and-field star of the 1970s was widely mocked for a bad facelift more than two decades ago. As stepdad to the Kardashian sisters, Jenner finally went back under the knife on the family’s reality show, with great results.
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Former co-host of The View Star Jones underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2003, and lost 160 lbs. over the next three years. Jones kept quiet about the procedure at first but eventually spoke out about it in 2007. And in the ultimate weight-loss coup, Jones held on to her enviable bust-line.
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Almost 10 years ago, Late Show host David Letterman underwent emergency multiple-bypass surgery, a big scare considering the fact that his father had a heart attack when he was 36, and died of another in his 50s. Eight years later, Letterman called the doctors who saved him his " best friends." That Dave has been taking better care of himself shows, but these days, his youthful grin must be thanks not only to his health, but also to finally vanquishing his old nemesis Jay Leno from the 11:35 p.m. time slot.
Designer and beer heiress Daphne Guinness looks amazing, but her wardrobe is truly mind-blowing. Ten-inch platform heels have the potential for fashion catastrophe, but Guinness pulls them off, like everything else, with casual confidence. "I always think I look so normal," she says.
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After winning the popular vote but losing the presidential election in 2000, Al Gore had some rough years. He gained weight, grew a beard, and seemed lost. But then Gore re-embraced what had long been an important cause for him: the environment. His global-warming documentary was a huge success and he won a Nobel Prize, all while his old opponent sunk further and further in opinion polls. Gore, slim and trim with few gray hairs, met with President Obama before the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. Maybe there are second acts in American lives after all.
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Drew Barrymore had more than one awkward stage, but this is certainly not one of them. Barrymore just directed her first film, Whip It!, a critical success, and by all appearances, is in a healthy long-term relationship. The star says she doesn’t stress over her weight, which can’t be bad for preventing worry lines.
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Peggy Siegal has been described as "energetic as a teenager," which must come in handy when you’re the top film publicist on the East Coast. As with many of these Benjamin Buttons, loving your job appears to be the most reliable fountain of youth.
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Mother of three SJP doesn’t have the harried, overworked-mom look that is the fate of so many. Since becoming a fashion icon thanks to her starring role on Sex and the City, Parker has stayed slim and fresh-faced well into her 40s. She recently graced the cover of Elle magazine, a real accomplishment at a time when women’s mags have an apparent age limit for cover girls.
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Hotness—it’s contagious. Designer Donna Karen dated a male model more than a few decades her junior, and certainly looked no worse for wear. Or maybe it’s the raw-food diet. New York magazine described her as having the blossoming vitality of a teenager back from an exotic summer abroad—when Karan was 57.
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The jolliest member of the Today show crew lost a lot of weight but none of the cheer after he underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002. Like Star Jones, Al Roker was reluctant to talk about his treatment at first, but eventually got over his embarrassment to share details of his post-weight loss life. One perk: He was unashamed to do a synchronized-swimming skit with colleague Matt Lauer.
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She’s always looked a little bit more buttoned-up than most Hollywood folks, but after a year of wedded bliss with Portia De Rossi, and six years as a successful talk-show host, Ellen looks more relaxed. When DeGeneres came out as a lesbian, her sitcom suffered a decline in the ratings, but a decade later, DeGeneres had the pull to get presidential candidate John McCain on her show, where she strongly made the case for gay marriage to him. Next season, she joins American Idol as a judge.
Barry Manilow, who became famous as a crooner in the 1970s, has had remarkable success in keeping three decades in the music industry from showing up on his face. It’s likely that Manilow has had professional help in maintaining the airbrushed look in real life, but hey, blond highlights have been known to have a "softening" effect for decades.
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Director Peter Jackson once looked remarkably like the hobbits he filmed in Lord of the Rings. But in recent years, Jackson shed 70 lbs. and got Lasik eye surgery. We’re sure the nerds will continue to love Jackson, even if he’s stopped looking like one of them.
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In interviews, Tina Fey makes it clear she still feels like the flannel-wearing, slightly chubby girl she once was, even as she gained fame imitating the hottest vice-presidential candidate of all time. On her show 30 Rock, the fact that Fey’s character can’t get a date is far more unbelievable than the wacky antics of Tracy Jordan.
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Not only does Nora Ephron remain a romantic comedy hit-making machine, but she looks weirdly better than she did when her first movie came out two decades ago. But then, '80s hair looked good on precisely nobody.
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Bill Clinton famously had trouble maintaining a healthy weight way back when he was just a long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. The partisan battles that marred his presidency had a visible effect on Clinton, but after heart bypass surgery in 2004, he had to eat better. And despite his snow-white hair, the healthier (and largely Newt Gingrich-free) lifestyle shows.
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Tom Ford turned around the fashion house Gucci with his overtly sexy clothes, so it’s only natural that the 47-year-old designer himself has stayed young and fresh-looking. Ford has ventured into new creative territory, guest-editing Vanity Fair a few years ago, and directing his first movie, A Single Man, which premiered this fall and stars Colin Firth.
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