Women celebs beat age barrier

Gray: "Scared" of nudity role

By Aysha Iqbal

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Joan Collins in lingerie, Linda Gray nude on stage -- celebrities are not letting their age get in the way of their careers.

Gray, 60, who was Sue Ellen in the TV series "Dallas", has been playing to packed houses at "The Graduate" stage production in London's West End since October 1, appearing naked in one of the scenes. She took over the role from Jerry Hall, 45.

Collins, 68, alias Alexis Carrington in rival TV show "Dynasty", turned down the Graduate role because she was unwilling to go nude.

Instead she dons a skimpy, frilly corset for a part in "Over the Moon" at London's Old Vic.

Collins, once quoted as saying: "I was fed up with prevailing attitudes that women over 40 were unattractive non-persons on the slagheap of life", is helping to dismantle stereotypes, according to her spokeswoman Stella Wilson.

"Although we are living in a very youth-obsessed industry, women like Joan are definitely helping to break the barriers for other women in the industry."

Gray said her role of a bored wife who develops an intimate relationship with a friend's son presented a professional challenge. "I'm scared of the nudity in the role, but that's part of the job."

Collins: Back in the limelight

Terry Tavner, editor of the UK,s "Woman's Own" magazine, says: "These are the 60s women growing older. These are women who were not going to be kept down and were never going to disappear from the scene."

And Trish Halpin, editor of women's magazine "Red", says celebrities like Collins and Gray help create a more equal society. "It's genuinely inspiring to see the talent and sexuality of actresses like Linda Gray, Jerry Hall and Joan Collins on stage.

"It isn't healthy that we live in a society where aging has become one of women's, not men's, greatest fears." Gray, Collins and Hall are not alone. Goldie Hawn, who first featured in the film "Cactus Flower" in 1969, is also busy breaking the boundaries, recently performing in Woody Allen's musical "Everyone says I Love You" and starring in "The Out of Towners" with Warren Beatty.

And Raquel Welch, one of the most successful women in Hollywood in the 1960s, is now doing exercise videos in her 50s.

But not everyone favours the comeback queens. "The only time these older women return in to the limelight is when they are doing something unconventional," says London entertainment journalist Sarah Thompson.

"When they are dating younger men or posing on Playboy is when we hear of them. They can never be who they once were, however hard they try."