The Actress And The Old Man

[Fossy]

The Actress And The Old Man

Has anyone noticed that there is often an age difference between actresses and their romantic interest. Here are some age differences I have observed.

Jane Powell

Jose Iturbi------------- 34 years ----- Barry Sullivan-------17 years
Ricardo Montalban---9 Years -------- Howard Keel--------10 years
Tony Martin-------------17 years------ Keith Andes---------9 years
Dana Andrews-----------20 years

Kathryn Grayson
John Carroll-------------14 years----- Van Heflin-----------12 years
Gene Kelly----------------10 years

Anna Maria Alberghetti
Sterling Hayden--------20 years ---- Dean Martin-------19 years
Jerry Lewis--------------9 years ---- Howard Keel-------17 years

Lana Turner
Robert Young-----------14 years ---- Lew Ayres-----------13 years
Richard Carlson--------9 years ------ George Murphy----13 years
Clark Gable-------------20 years----- Robert Taylor------10 years
Spencer Tracy----------21 Years ---- Ray Milland --------16 Years
Ezio Pinza---------------30 years ---- John Wayne---------14 years
Pedro Amanderiz------9 years ------ Barry Sullivan------9 years
Bob Hope----------------18 years

Deanna Durbin]
Walter Pidgeon--------24 Years ---- Robert Cummings-----11 years
Franchot Tone---------16 years ---- Joseph Cotton-----------16 years
Robert Paige-----------11 years ---- Jeffrey Lynne-----------12 years
Melvyn Douglas-------20 years
Grace Moore
Leo Carillo-----17 years

Eleanor Powell
Nelson Eddy-------------11 years ---- Fred Astaire-------13 years

Esther Williams
William Powell-------29 years ---- Akim Tamiroff------22 years
Gene Kelly-------------9 years ---- Barry Sullivan-------9 years
Victor Mature---------8 years ---- George Sanders-----15 years

[Uncle Stevie]

Hi Doug,

A lot of research went into that. Thanks.

My observation is that many of these relationships were "studio forced" back in the days. Male leads were held on to as long as they could. Many men were duped into feeling younger by having young chicks hold onto their arms. I must admit, though, that I often cringed at the sight of an aging male lead kissing a youngster. Cary Grant, Clark Gable, and Fred Astaire gave me the worst impressions. A lessor invasive activivty was the kisses of yeateryear were mostly shorter and more to the outside rather than todays invasion of privacy.

Uncle Stevie

[ken123]

John Wayne 13 years older than Maureen O' Hara
James Stewart 12 years older than Maureen O' Hara
Henry Fonda 15 years older than Maureen O' Hara
Joel McCrea 15 years older than Maureen O' Hara
Charles laughton 21 years older than Maureen O' Hara

One leading man younger than Maureen was Brian Keith who co starred to gether in 3 films, The Deadly Companions, The Parent Trap, and The Rare Breed.

[pvitari]

This is hardly a phenomenon restricted to musicals.

Audrey Hepburn had a lot of older leading men. Love in the Afternoon dealt openly with the age difference between her and Gary Cooper, but it still didn't work for me. It is such a relief to see her with Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million (a movie I adore) -- he was a year younger than Hepburn!

[charliechaplinfan]

I really like the movie Love In The Afternoon but it grates a little because it could have been perfect if they had cast William Holden or someone of a similar age, old enough to have been around and be a father's worse nightmare.

Sometimes a generation age gap works, Cluny Brown, Charles Boyer is 20 years older than Jennifer Jones. An Affair to Remember Cary Grant is 17 years older than Deborah Kerr, Cary is 25 years older than Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in the Misfits, Gable was 25 years older than his costar but their onscreen romance really works. Maurice Chevalier was 15 years older than Jeanette Macdonald, Charles Chaplin was years older than most of his leading ladies.

To work, it needs to right actress, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly could pull it off with older costars, though it is refreshing when Audrey gets to act with Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney. Fred Astaire could pull it off almost all of the time but with Audrey in Funny Face it didn't look right although I can bypass that for the music and dancing. Sometimes the script calls for it, as with Love in The Afternoon but unfortunately there I think they just went with a star name and chose the wrong star, the casting of Audrey and Maurice Chevalier is perfect.

It's easy to think of older man/younger actress but not so easy to think of older women/younger men, it was almost unheard of in the past. At least today we accept that women past tthe age of forty can still be very attractuve and desirable.

[mrsl]

.
Back in the days of the dinosaur, my mom always pounded it into my head that a man should be at least 5 to 10 years older than his wife, if for no other reason than maturity. I wish I had listened before getting involved with my first husband, because clearly he still, at 69 has not yet hit adult maturity.

But seriously in some cases, I feel sorry for the actress having to be loving and kissing her co-star who may be older than her own father. e.g. Cooper was no looker after 50, I personally never saw anything appealing in Chaplin, but on the other hand, at 80 Cary Grant still looked swell. I realize a lot of people disagree with me, but that is strictly a personal opinion, and not intended to upset any apple carts. I thought Robert Mitchum was one of the sexiest men ever put on screen, yet most find him basically unattractive. Some pairings are less than enjoyable. Fred Astaire as much as I love his dancing, and his romances with Ginger when he was younger, was 'way too old for Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face and Caron in Daddy Long Legs, yet I cried when he was left and Jennifer Jones died in The Towering Inferno - they made such a lovely, older couple. Cary Grant tried to get away from romantic roles, but his fans complained and he went back to them and how wonderful he and Audrey played off each other in Charade. Grace Kelly is another one who had a line of older co-stars from Bing to Cary to Sir Alec Guiness, but she was so icy one would hardly notice.

Lastly, I had to laugh at Tom Selleck on one of the talk shows the other night. He was talking about his 'family' on Blue Bloods and when he got to Moira Monahan he said; "she's hot you know, so all the time I'm telling myself, she's your daughter, SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER". I'm quite sure he was kidding because even at the height of his Magnum days, I don't recall ever hearing or seeing anything off color about him then or since. So on the other hand, you have the plight of the older man having to keep in mind that these young girls are actresses, not to forget these were the days before viagra (ha-ha).
.

[klondike]

John Wayne 13 years older than Maureen O' Hara
James Stewart 12 years older than Maureen O' Hara
Henry Fonda 15 years older than Maureen O' Hara
Joel McCrea 15 years older than Maureen O' Hara
Charles laughton 21 years older than Maureen O' Hara

One leading man younger than Maureen was Brian Keith who co starred to gether in 3 films, The Deadly Companions, The Parent Trap, and The Rare Breed.

Clearly, Ken's afflicted with advanced Hibernian Titianitus!
Certainly, there are many less happy illnesses to endure!

[charliechaplinfan]

I can see what you saw in Robert MItchum Anne. I feel he comes across on screen better than in stills.

Some actors were very attractive into their forties and fifities. Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Charles Boyer (see a pattern men with names beginning with C) Maurice Chevalier, William Holden,James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart. Bogart only came into his own when he was 40. I don't have a problem with an age gap if the actor is attractive, either in looks or has a certain something. I can look past Fred Astaire's being too old because the love story is usually told through dance.

I'm not into today's actors but aren't Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Johnny Depp the mature side of 40. No one would suggest that they are too old.

[JackFavell]

I'm with you, CCFan.

[mrsl]

.
You're correct in your assessment of the ages of the men you mentioned, but for the life of me, I never saw anything in the least to get excited about with Pitt, - Cruise was always, and still is - cute, and Depp scared the bejesus out of me from his first movie. But when you talk about Clooney . . . . handsome, sexy, cute, funny, suave, debonair, charming, well, I kind of like Clooney. CCFan, you said it more succinctly than I did by simply saying if the man is still attractive, it's not as bad. But there again, you come to personal taste, because I'm sure someone would like to punch me out for saying Cooper was not very attractive, nor to me, was either Boyer, or Frederick March - personal taste :!:

And, by the way, Howard Keel could sing to me 24/7, and I would have basked in the wonder of it :!: :!: :!:
.

[charliechaplinfan]

I can take to George Clooney but I haven't much time for the others.

Paul Newman was lovely in his forties and fifties, Clint Eastwood wasn't bad either. I guess you said it Anne, if you find the actor attractive and it is subject to personal taste, it's OK. Sometimes there are roles that give the actor the attraction. I like Howard Keel although I haven't seen him in anything after the fifties.

Fred Astaire, a man who for me at least is not attractive, until he dances then I would be like putty. I find his pairing with Cyd in Silk Stockings far more easy to take than his pairing with Audrey in Funnyface. I guess it's because Ninotchka could be any age whereas Audrey always looks like she's just out of her teens.