TV! Search
Yahoo! TV Blog

Our Favorite Old Biddies

By Amy & Nancy Harrington, GetBack.com | Monday, June 29, 2009, 1:20 PM


Betty White
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Our grandmother was a teetotaler who wore a fold-up rain bonnet and gave us those pink wafer cookies with the super-sweet frosting inside. Don't get us wrong: she was a lovely woman, just not very fun.

 

These days, octogenarians like Betty White are breaking the old biddy mold by showing their spunkier sides. White recently appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" and went head-to-head with the host in the perennial frat party game beer pong. Although everybody's favorite "Golden Girl" scored the first point, Jimmy ultimately overtook her two-to-one, and despite some minor dribbling, got the gray-haired sitcom star to chug a red plastic cup of suds.

 

 

Check out Betty White on "Late Night":

 

Betty is just one of the glorious grandmother-aged women who are rewriting the book on what an old lady is. Check out how other celebrities in their sixties, seventies, and eighties who are making it fun to grow old un-gracefully.

 

[Photo gallery: See the outrageous old biddies we love.]

 

Cloris Leachman Delivers Blue Humor

It's true: Cloris Leachman did blue humor on "Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget." From her first proclamation of what she wanted to do to John Stamos (believe us, if you didn't see it, you don't want to know) to begging to be punched in the face so she could "see some stars," the 83-year-old Leachman was the funniest person (of any age or gender) on the comedy special.

 

 

Florence Henderson Is a Gossip Girl

You don't have to be 16 to face mean girls: even mature women sometimes smack-talk their rivals. So we shouldn't have been surprised when 74-year-old Florence Henderson, the always pleasant Mrs. Carol Brady, talked trash about then-"Dancing With the Stars" contestant Cloris Leachman. FloHen said that the bawdy ball-roomer sometimes acted like "she's not all there," and that she hoped the "audience doesn't think all older people act like her." Frankly, we'd rather have our grandmother act a little wacky than waste away in a corner playing tiddlywinks.

 

 

Shirley Jones Poses for "Playboy"?

If Reuben Kincaid were still in charge of Shirley Partridge's career, there'd be no way he'd let her pose in an adult magazine. Unfortunately for Shirley Jones (and perhaps porn fans everywhere), Shirley is managed by her husband, the borderline insane Marty Ingels, who's trying to pimp out his 75-year-old bride for a nude spread in Playboy. Although she still hasn't been booked for a pictorial, she will open her top on an upcoming episode of "The Cleaner." Whether she's facing toward the camera or not, we still don't know.

 

 

Helen Mirren Kicks into High Gear

Helen Mirren got the ultimate career boost when, at age 61, she won her first Academy Award, for "The Queen." And while most women her age are using their AARP cards to get their senior discount at the matinee, Helen Mirren is making more movies than starlets half her age. She has four films due in 2009, including the recently released "State of Play" and the upcoming "Love Ranch."

 

 

Sophia Loren Stays Young and Sexy

Remember when old ladies used to dye their gray hair with just a tint of blue or pink? Does anyone know why they did that? Well, the good news is that our elder stateswomen aren't falling for that tired old look. Take 75-year-old Sophia Loren, whose auburn locks and impeccable makeup wipe a good 15 years off her look.

 

 

Jane Fonda Talks Sex

Jane Fonda is busy these days, appearing on Broadway for the first time in 46 years, Twittering like a teenager, blogging like Arianna Huffington, and writing a new book. "The Third Act: Entering Primetime" will talk about life after 60 and give people hope that senior sex can be the best sex of their lives (because, she says, women are "more assertive" and men are "more nurturing"). She also plans to help older folks get in shape, announcing in her blog that her book release will coincide with a new fitness program for the geriatric set.

 

 

Susan Sarandon Shuns the Muumuu

Old ladies have earned the right to wear muumuus, those loose fitting, ultra-comfy house coats that almost obliterate the memories of years suffering in uncomfortably tight jeans and high heels. But the new wave of old broads are working their looks. Take, for example, Susan Sarandon, who at age 63, can still squeeze into a slinky dress and look like one of the hottest women on the red carpet.

 

 

Julie Andrews Swears Like A Sailor

While promoting "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement" in 2004, Anne Hathaway reportedly let the secret slip: Mary Poppins has a dirty mouth. Apparently, Julie Andrews curses like a sailor and has since her days on the set of "Sound of Music." The now 74-year-old star admitted that upon losing a bet to one of her onscreen Von Trapp children, she was told her punishment was "to stop swearing so much." Practically perfect, indeed.

 

 

Talk About It: Which of these "old biddies" is the spunkiest?

 

 

More at GetBack.com:

SPONSORED LINKS