While Jessica Lange may have entered her seventh decade in April, to many she’ll always be America’s sweetheart. The acclaimed actress first made a name for herself starring as the beautiful ingénue in 1976’s King Kong, and continued to land major roles through the decades, earning two Oscar wins along the way. She recently starred alongside Drew Barrymore as “Big” Edith Bouvier Beale in HBO’s highly praised TV adaptation of Grey Gardens and, still stunning at 60, she has a long career ahead of her.
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Award-winning songstress Natalie Cole has been churning out hit albums for more than three decades. Although she began her career as an R&B artist, she eventually tackled pop and jazz, following in the footsteps of her legendary father Nat King Cole. And while she may be best known for ‘80s hits like “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love),” “Pink Cadillac,” and “Miss You Like Crazy,” the singer-songwriter continues to produce 21st-century winners—most recently on her album Still Unforgettable, which won two Grammys in 2009. Sixty never sounded so sultry.
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After playing the part of the seductive, big-haired blonde to perfection on ‘80s series like Flamingo Road, Falcon Crest, and Dallas, Morgan Fairchild is living proof that, perhaps, we grow bolder with age. In 2005, Fairchild played the role of Mrs. Robinson in a national tour of The Graduate—which required her to be completely nude in one scene. “The first night there's an audience there, you just sort of take it all off…and pray that the lights are dim enough and kind enough and the scene is short enough that people don't run screaming from the theater in horror and will accept you for what you are at this age,” she said. Since then, she’s starred on episodes of Chuck and My Name Is Earl.
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Empowering multiple generations of lovesick women, disco queen Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” first hit airwaves in 1978 and quickly became a megahit. While it remains the singer’s best-known anthem, Gaynor—who turns 60 this September—has enjoyed a long, diverse music career. As recently as 2001, her single "Just Keep Thinkin’ About You" topped the Billboard Dance/Club charts at No. 1—and in 2005, she was inducted into New York City’s Dance Music Hall of Fame. Still every bit the soulful diva she was in her disco heyday, Gaynor has used her fame for a good cause: She’s a spokesperson for The Rita Hayworth Gala for Alzheimer’s and Revlon’s Annual Walk for Life.
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The former first lady of New York is a testament to the fact that life isn’t over when your politician spouse announces on live TV that he’s cheating on you. Following a messy divorce from then-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, actress and journalist Donna Hanover reunited with her former high-school sweetheart, Edwin Oster. A few years later, the couple married—and remains happily hitched today. Hanover even penned a bestselling book about the phenomenon of reuniting with “the one who got away,” titled My Boyfriend’s Back, which earned her a spot on Oprah. The vivacious New Yorker turns 60 in February.
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The daughter of Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan (Hayworth’s third husband), Princess Yasmin Aga Khan has been a vocal advocate for Alzheimer’s awareness and research for nearly two decades. Galvanized by her mother’s death to the disease, the Pakistani-American philanthropist holds a yearly gala and other events to raise money for Alzheimer’s research—and looks glamorous doing it. She turns 60 this December, and will surely celebrate in style.
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Nine-time Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt has been giving people something to talk about for more than three decades. The redheaded singer-songwriter made it big with the bluesy hits “Nick of Time,” “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and, yes, “Something to Talk About” and released her 18th album, ,em>Souls Alike , in 2005. This fall, she’ll tour with contemporary-blues great Taj Mahal—an impressive lead-up to her 60th birthday in November.
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Following a successful modeling career, Cybill Shepherd earned her stripes in films like Taxi Driver and The Heartbreak Kid. She then found her comedy groove on TV, starring on the popular 1980s and ‘90s series Moonlighting and Cybill, earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations along the way. Now, at almost 60, Shepherd is fit, fabulous, and a frequent TV guest star.
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Sissy Spacey secured her place among Hollywood’s elite when she took home an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the 1980 drama The Coal Miner’s Daughter. With timeless beauty and talent, Spacek—who turns 60 in December—has continued to score prime film roles into her 50s: In 2002, she was nominated for Best Actress for her heartrending turn in In the Bedroom, and last year she had a cameo in the Reese Witherspoon-Vince Vaughn comedy Four Christmases.
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Will Meryl Streep ever go out of style? Garnering two Oscar wins—for her roles in Sophie’s Choice and Kramer vs. Kramer—and more than 80 nominations in all for her performances over the years, her reputation as Hollywood’s leading lady has endured for nearly three decades. Earlier this month, Streep received an honorary degree from Princeton University, and in August, she’ll portray larger-than-life Julia Child in the highly anticipated Julie & Julia, written and directed by fellow 60-something Nora Ephron. Hollywood may be kind to the young, but Streep remains untouchable.
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In the mid-1960s, “Twiggy” became an international sensation. The rail-thin British supermodel, born Lesley Hornby, and known for her big eyes, big lashes, and childlike pout, helped popularize the super-skinny model, and arguably became the face of the decade. In the 1970s, Twiggy parlayed her fame into a successful acting career, and from 2005 to 2008, she replaced drama queen Janice Dickinson as a judge on America’s Next Top Model. Still remarkably youthful-looking and svelte, the fashion icon models for British chain Marks & Spencer.
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British actress and comedian Julie Walters has been entertaining audiences on stage and screen for more than 30 years. She’s picked up countless accolades—and two Oscar nominations—along the way, but in recent years, she’s become best known for her role as Molly Weasley (mother of Ron, Ginny, and the twins) in the Harry Potter films. Walters stars in next month’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and celebrates her 60th (muggle-style) in February.
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Who can imagine the wedding industry without Vera Wang? The iconic designer launched her fashion career as an editor at Vogue, before opening her famed New York City bridal salon in 1990. Since then, she’s designed gowns for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Garner, Sharon Stone, Uma Thurman, and Holly Hunter—and countless everyday brides. As a girl, Wang was a competitive figure skater, and she may soon be twirling for audiences again: E! Online recently reported that Wang, who turned 60 this weekend, has signed on to compete in next season’s Dancing With the Stars.
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Best known for playing badass lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies, Oscar-nominated Sigourney Weaver has enjoyed a long, successful film career. In 2008, she returned to outer space, voicing the spaceship’s computer in WALL-E—one of the few human voices in the film. And she’s reportedly signed on to star in Harold Ramis’ Ghostbusters 3, alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and other original cast members.
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If there was any doubt that one could still be fashionable at 60, consider two words: Anna Wintour. The legendary Vogue editor—who revitalized the struggling glossy in the 1980s and has been its constant for the past two decades—continues to define fashion internationally. Known for her perfectly coiffed bob, big sunglasses, and severe personality—she’s been called Darth Vader in a frock and Nuclear Wintour—the editor recently told 60 Minutes’ Morley Safer that she doesn’t plan on stepping down from her throne anytime soon.
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