Golden oldies
MANY HAPPY RETURNS. MARION MCMULLEN LOOKS AT THE FAMOUS FACES PROVING THEY ARE GREAT AT 80
SIR Paul Mccartney has just turned 80 and is still happily belting out the hits.
The former Beatles star has picked up 18 Grammy Awards and eight Brit Awards since his first chart hit Love Me Do in 1962 and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to music in 1997.
Sir Paul is marking his landmark birthday by headlining at Glastonbury this weekend and launched the American leg of his Get Back Tour in April.
The hit-maker, who turned 80 last Saturday, said: “The crowds at Glastonbury have always reminded me of a medieval battle scene – it looks very heraldic.”
Around 120,000 people watched him when he last performed at the famous festival in 2003.
Hollywood star Harrison Ford turns 80 on July 13 and will be back in action on the big screen next year in the fifth instalment of the Indiana Jones movie franchise.
The veteran actor, also famous for playing Han Solo in five Star Wars films, first played college professor and hero Indiana Jones in 1981 film Raiders Of The Lost Ark and has been keen to return to the role.
He said: “I didn’t want to become an actor to become rich and famous, I wanted to become an actor because I wanted to do that job. I wanted to be able to live different lives, learn about different people and their lives. I wanted to tell stories, powerful stories. And I’ve got, happily, the opportunity to do that.”
Scottish actor and comedian Sir Billy Connolly is 80 on November 24. The Big Yin was born in Glasgow and began his working life as a welder in the Clyde shipyards before embarking on a career as a folk singer and musician alongside Gerry Rafferty in The Humblebums before developing the stand-up act that made him famous.
He released an autobiography titled Windswept & Interesting last year and received the prestigious Bafta Fellowship back in May.
Sir Billy, who has Parkinson’s disease, has retired from live performances, but continues to record programmes and make TV appearances.
Former Lovejoy actor Ian Mcshane is 80 on September 29 and is busier than ever, appearing in the John Wick movies and on TV in American Gods. He is currently filming TV mini series Last King Of The Cross.
“Acting is the only business where the older you get, the parts and the pay get better,” says Ian.
Jean Shrimpton was one of the world’s first supermodels and turns 80 on November 7. She was an iconic face of the 60s with her long hair, big eyes and pouty lips and she was photographer David Bailey’s muse. She was credited with making the miniskirt popular and Doctor Who and Guardians
Of The Galaxy star Karen
Gillan told her story in
2012 TV film
We’ll Take Manhattan.
Swedishborn former
Bond girl
Britt Ekland marks her 80th birthday on October 6. Her relationships with British comedy star Peter Sellers and singer Sir Rod Stewart made her headline news and she appeared opposite Sir Roger
Moore in the 1974 Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun. She was recently among celebrities who visited India for 2020 series of The Real Marigold Hotel.
Rocky Horror Show creator and former Crystal Maze TV host Richard O’brien turned 80 on March 25. He played Riff Raff in the 1975 film version of his stage hit and a Halloween performance of the musical was broadcast live last year from Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre in London’s West End. He said of the production’s enduring success: “The stage show is wonderful because it’s a party every night.”
Coronation Street regular Julie Goodyear was 80 on March 29. She started work as a secretary when she was 16 before finding fame playing barmaid and Rovers Return landlady Bet Lynch in ITV’S long running soap.
Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em comedy star Michael Crawford also celebrated his 80th birthday on January 19. Playing the accidentprone Frank Spencer in the BBC sitcom made him a household name in the 1970s and the character became a favourite of impressionists everywhere.
He went on to stage success in 1987 playing the role of Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Opera and winning Olivier and Tony Awards. He also won an Olivier for musical Barnum. An early film role saw him auditioning for Gene Kelly for the 1969 movie Hello, Dolly! Michael remembers: “He said ‘Listen kid, what we’re looking for is an attractive idiot. Now my wife thinks you’re attractive and I think you’re an idiot’ – and that’s how I got the part of the attractive idiot in Hello, Dolly!”
American President Joe Biden also joins the ranks of 80 year olds on November 20. He is the second Catholic to be elected president and his first overseas trip was to the UK last June to attend G7.
Queen Elizabeth hosted a tea party for the President and the First Lady at Windsor Castle. His road to the White House was long, but he once noted: “Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.”