Wednesday, August 16, 2006

90 year old in a leopard collar

Recently in LA,shipping my new hand-me-downs home by Fedex, (a packing technique I love), I saw the cutest little lady (80+) getting her passport photo taken. Clearly an old actress, dimunitive, dressed in black with a leopard collar and matching bag. Her "friend" a 40 year oldish ex surfer type guy was art directing the Kinko's passport shoot - trying to get some shoulder in the frame. He wasn't fooling around - checking with someone on his cellphone about exactly what was needed. The Kinkos guys was like "um, it's a standard passport photo." But the surfer wouldn't hear it. "I just want to make sure it's just exactly right. We need to make sure to get some shoulder." I was so curious who she was but couldn't get a clue. Assumed she was being flown in to a foreign film fest for a tribute. My fantasy anyway. I couldn't take my eyes off them as he fussed and cared for her. I was sorry to have to leave as they set on their second shoot, the surfer checking the composition through the camera as she sat quietly and dutifully on the stool. A very old, sweet young thing.

Well so here I'm back at home, thinking about this, wondering who she was. I decided to check around. Google on "old actresses." Find a site "Hollywood's most beautiful actresses...when they were young." The actresses are grouped by decade, I start checking them out - no, too old, dead. I work my way to the 1940's, arbitrarily clicking names, Hedy Lamar, Vivian Leigh, Carole Landis, Jane Wyman - and that's it! Jane Wyman is alive and now 92. 5'2" - this site links to other sites, oh look she was married to Ronald Reagan, and starred on Falcon's Crest, and damn, that's right, in the photos, as she grew older, that pretty much looks like who she was. "Just be sure to include some shoulder."

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