Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell
Life Begins at Forty for 1940s Film Stars More Famous After Age 40
Mar 19, 2009
Although it is often said that there are only three ages for actresses – ingénue, district attorney, and matriarchal figure, many actresses became better known for their work after turning forty.
Today, many current actresses have only gained prestige after hitting middle-age. For example, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, both successful for many years, have only added in their notoriety. Equally, films such as The First Wives Club (1996) feature females in their fifties. However, this is not a phenomenon which has occurred since feminism, many former female stars led the way. For example, silent screen star Gloria Swanson is perhaps best remembered for the role she played at age 51, Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (1950).
The genres vary between cinema, stage, and television, but many early screen actresses found immortality in the legacy left by their later work.
Joan Crawford
Born Lucille LeSueur in 1905, she experienced a sorrowful childhood. Becoming determined to better her life, she began her acting career as a chorus girl on Broadway, eventually gaining a screen test which gained her work in the silent films. Once in Hollywood, she gained her famous name via a contest arranged by the studio to select her stage pseudonym.
In 1929, she married into “Hollywood Royalty” by wedding Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the son of Douglas Fairbanks and the step-son of Mary Pickford. Crawford successfully transitioned to talkies, and rose to stardom at MGM.
However, the studio abruptly dropped her after putting her in a string of lackluster movies. At age 40, Crawford made a come back by moving to Warner Brothers, where she pursued the title role in Mildred Pierce (1945).
Gaining the role, Mildred Pierce became the movie for which Crawford is most remembered. It also afforded her first Oscar nomination and her first win. Ironically, Crawford rejuvenated her career by playing a mother, a role only occasionally written as a juicy lead.
Bette Davis
Although each considered iconic movie stars, Crawford and Davis only made one film together, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane (1962).Longtime rival of Crawford, Davis was under contract at Warner Brothers, and early in her career was a major star and respected actress. Ironically, Davis, who had fought for the right to chose her own roles rather than be ordered by the studio in which films to star, began to experience a decline in her career due to a series of movie flops. One of the film roles she refused was the very part for which Crawford regained success and won an Academy Award.
However, at age 42, Davis obtained a role more suited to her which rejuvenated her career, the part of Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950). She gained the role as a last minute replacement for the injured Claudette Colbert, making the role of the aging theatrical talent her own, and All About Eve has become one of her best known film performances.
Rosalind Russell
Russell was a contemporary movie star to Crawford and Davis, but although she enjoyed much success in films such as The Women (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), My Sister Eileen (1942), and Sister Kenny (1946), she has become perhaps most associated with the roles she played after the age of 40.
Although the acting career of Rosalind Russell remained predominately steady, she has become most linked to the part of Mame in the 1958 film Auntie Mame. While Russell’s stable personal life in no way resembled the life of her flamboyant character, she even titled her autobiography after a life philosophy suggested by Mame.
Russell also impressively stepped into the role of Rose, a part famously portrayed by Ethel Merman on Broadway, in the 1962 movie musical Gypsy, co-starring Natalie Wood.
Angela Lansbury
Born almost twenty years after the aforementioned actresses, Angela Lansbury made her film debut in Gaslight (1944), gaining an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She remained a respected actress throughout her career, but she was usually cast in supporting roles, even ironically playing mothers to actors who were not many years her junior.
However, at age 41, Lansbury starred in the musical stage version of Auntie Mame, the 1966 Jerry Herman smash-hit Mame. Lansbury achieved a triumphant performance, gaining notoriety, critical acclaim, and the coveted Tony Award for Best Leading Actress. Since, Lansbury has starred in several celebrated Broadway productions. She is currently performing in the newly opened revival of Blithe Spirit.
Angela Lansbury also gained success from playing sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the television detective series Murder, She Wrote.
Lucille Ball
Like Lansbury, Ball would become famous for her roles on television, but during the 1940s, she was cast in many motion pictures. She worked steadily with small roles in several films, and starring in many low budget movies, becoming “The Queen of the B-pictures.” However, Lucille Ball gained major fame at age 40, when she and her real life husband, bandleader Desi Arnaz, began starring in the television comedy I Love Lucy.
I Love Lucy quickly became a success, gaining huge ratings and winning several Emmys. The entertaining show remains iconic within American culture, and Arnaz contributed to many aspects of television development by creating some of the filming techniques still used today. The couple not only enjoyed success as television stars but also as studio owners. Sadly, after twenty years, the marriage of Arnaz and Ball ended in divorce, but Ball went on to appear in successful television comedies, starring in television shows for twenty-five years.
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