Actors who always had a mature/matronly look

[Gray Bunny]

I'm currently in the middle of reading Jeanne Cooper's autobiography, and I must admit, I was surprised to learn she began drinking after she started at Y&R, because I always thought she had a very mature, aged look to her from the very beginning of her Y&R days, and I thought it was because she had been drinking heavily for years beforehand.

Similarly, someone like Erika Slezak always had a mature/matronly look to her, even in her early years at OLTL. Can you imagine someone such as Rebecca Budig (don't hate, just using her as an example, ha) portraying the role in the late 70's/early 80's, married to someone looking like Clint?

I can see Erika playing the mother to an adult or teenager at that point, but someone like Farah Fath, who looks like she's still in her early 20's (with enough make-up on her face for a 55-year-old prostitute, but that's another story), looked kinda out of place playing the mother to a 14-year-old a couple years back.

Another example, I can buy Deidre Hall playing a mother to teens in the late 80's (on Our House) when she was in her late 30's/hitting 40, but it seems kind of strange seeing Alison Sweeney (36) playing mother to a 20-year-old today, because she still has a very youthful look to her.

Does that all make sense or am I offending some actresses?

[VirginiaHamilton]

Erika Slezak - OLTL

Julia Barr - AMC

Suzanne Rogers - DAYS

Dana Sparks - PASSIONS

Leslie Charleson - GH

On the flip side, actors who always had a fatherly look to them:

Brad Maule - GH

Walt Willey - AMC

Randolph Mantooth - LOVING

Robert Newman - GL

Robert Woods - OLTL

[juniorz1]

Maura West- ATWT (I think she can play older than her age- I thought Carly was in her 30s when she started and Maura was only 22)

Nancy Lee Grahn- SB & GH

Maureen Garrett- GL

Colleen Zenk - ATWT

[Gray Bunny]

Yikes! Didn't realize how young she was when she started! No wonder she looks like she's been in her 30's for nearly 20 years.

[P.J.]

To me, Colleen Zenk has always had a more urban, hip look than the ordinary ingénue. I think that's worked to make her seem more youthful as she aged. Until they put her in that horrible latex for a year, the girl barely had a wrinkle.

Poor Maura---that horrid, stiff Marilyn 'do when she started did her no favors.

[Winchester91]

Though I must say, Erika Slezak has hit a pause button in her age since about '79.

[Gray Bunny]

It must be the way people presented themselves and took care of themselves back in the day, because when you look at John Clarke who was DAYS' Mickey, and he was supposed to be in his mid-20's when the show began in 1965, but by the 70's he looked like he was pushing 50.

Another actress who always looked more mature, but then seemed to stay the same age for a good 30 years is OLTL/AW's Robin Strasser.

[~bl~]

I think some actors who were on soaps in the 70s and earlier were more "mature" solely due to styling and the types of stories that they were given. If they weren't playing teens they were written as "mature". I've even seen this watching material in the 80s, as some characters I saw later seemed older when they were actually younger. (I don't know if that makes any sense.)

[Winchester91]

Clint Ritchie was in his early 40's starting out in OLTL, but looked well into his 60's...and I compare him to Eric Martsolf/Austin Peck/Daniel Cosgrove (who are all in their early 40's). Worlds of difference.

Ditto on Strasser.

Kin Shriner always looked about 10 years older than his age.

[DRW50]

I don't think Clint Ritchie looked like he was in his 60s when he started on OLTL.

I do agree with those who say that people were styled to look older in earlier soap years. I'll never forget that ATWT 1981 episode I saw where Annie and Dee both looked about 40 years old, even though they were both supposed to be around 25 at best, while Lisa and Kim, who were in their 40s, looked fresher and younger.

[Khan]

I'd say the opposite. I look at KS today, and if not for the thinning hair, I'd have no problem buying him as someone in his 40's.

[Gray Bunny]

I agree with that, that he looks great for his age now. But to think that the hairy beast who tried to stop L&L's 1981 wedding was supposed to be in his early 20's? Yikes.

Looking back at photos, it looks like Another World's Iris (Beverly McKinsey) and Mac (Douglas Watson) should be playing lovers, not father and daughter. But maybe she looked younger on camera?

[juniorz1]

Yes, that was part of it, but I think Maura just was and is a very mature looking woman. She was probably one of those girls who was "developed" by the 6th grade. I actually think it works for her and the character(s) she played. It's a big part of why it didn't bother me that they cast her as Diane on Y&R, at least not age-wise anyway. When all these posters were shrieking- "Yikes- she's too YOUNG to play Diane," I thought "gee, one thing I've never thought about Maura West is that she's too young for a role. It's not like Diane's a GRANDMOTHER!"

Eileen Davidson has always seemed older than her age. It's funny that she looks better than she ever has now and yet when she was young, she looked pretty haggard IMO. Something about her skin aged her back then but now, her skin is just magnificent imo!

Jess Walton I guess would be another one who always seemed matronly, but in a sexy matron kind of way.

[Gray Bunny]

I agree; she's looked somewhere between 35-40 for the past 25 years; which means she looks FANTASTIC nowadays, and she does!

[lovely_m]

When she was on Days Martha Madison looked matronly to me.

I'm sure cheap will be here with her Grandma Boring pics.