Wanted: Women of a Certain Age

Blythe Danner recalls part of a dinner conversation she had with actress Leslie Caron nearly 30 years ago. “She said, ‘I have to go back to Europe now because I’m over 35.’ ” Now, says Danner, “it seems that there are more opportunities for older women, at least in television.” As the star of CBS’ “Presidio Med,” the 59-year-old Danner is one of a growing number of exuberant, strong-willed and complex women over 40 featured in prime-time television.

Back in the days of “The Golden Girls,” it was almost a novelty to find active, vibrant older actresses in leading roles on television. During the past several seasons, however, that has begun to change. With an onslaught of ensemble dramas, women over 40 are continually being pushed into the forefront and defying stereotypes of mature women devoid of personality, sexuality and corporate savvy.

Take, for instance, Holland Taylor, the libidinous judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC’s “The Practice,” or Dyan Cannon, the wily Judge Jennifer “Whipper” Cone of Fox’s departed “Ally McBeal.” Both actresses played older, successful women who were alluring, provocative and sexy to their younger, powerful male counterparts.

That is certainly the case with 46-year-old Kim Cattrall, who plays lusty vixen Samantha Jones on HBO’s “Sex and the City.” Moreover, who could doubt the professional prowess of Marg Helgenberger, 43, of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” or Allison Janney, 41, of NBC’s “The West Wing”? As scientist and politico, respectively, they are among the tops in their class. Pick any woman on Lifetime’s Sunday-night slate, and the same would be true. This fall’s new series will continue to showcase vital, interesting women who are north of their 39th birthdays.

Of its five female characters, “Presidio Med” has three mature leads, including Danner; Dana Delany, 46; and Anna Deavere Smith, 51, as headstrong, dedicated veteran San Francisco doctors who care for patients and battle HMOs at work while juggling relationships and personal crises at home.

Other series with 40-plus women include NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” newcomer Lorraine Toussaint, 42, as a rival for the series’ younger star, Jill Hennessy. CBS’ “CSI: Miami” will see the series return of two veteran television actresses: 40-year-old Kim Delaney (“Philly”) and 45-year-old Khandi Alexander (“NewsRadio” and “The Corner”).

“When you think about women like Allison Janney, Laura Innes [of NBC’s “ER”], Hattie Winston [of CBS’ “Becker”], women who bring so much to the table--what would these shows be like with a 22-year-old in their place?” Alexander asks. “Women have lied about their age for so long. But honey, how long can you be 38? Now we’re kind of able to be who we are and be wonderful about it.”

Mature women face similar challenges in the news business. While Diane Sawyer, 57, and Barbara Walters, 71, have maintained their high-profile careers, news and information programs more typically spotlight younger faces. If, in most cases, that’s due to the same preferences exhibited by series TV casting agents, in others it can be chalked up to the choices women in the media must make. Consider Walters’ colleague on “The View,” Meredith Vieira, who put aside her high-flying news career when she started her family. The time demands of young children and a peripatetic career in broadcast journalism proved to be too much of a conflict. She has managed to maintain her professional life, although by taking a far different direction. (See story, Page 96.)

Although the landscape may be blossoming with opportunities, overall the picture is not as rosy. According to “Boxed In,” a study of female characters during the 2000-01 season, women are considerably younger than their male counterparts on television. The report shows that the majority of female characters were in their 20s and 30s, while most men were in their 30s and 40s. Meanwhile, just 4% of women characters on TV are at least 60 years old; that age group accounts for 19% of the actual female population.

“And things don’t change much from year to year,” says Martha Lauzen, a professor at the School of Communications at San Diego State University, who has conducted the annual study for nearly a decade. “Each and every night of the week there are significantly more women watching prime-time television than men, and older individuals tend to watch more television than younger individuals. You would think that the networks would really want to create programming that would appeal to that older female viewer over 40, because those are the people that are watching.”

Nor are advertisers quick to change their focus, Lauzen says, considering that the majority of advertising dollars are aimed at women 18 to 49. And it’s been that way for several decades.

Such choices run counter to current reality, says Hollace Davids, a publicity executive at Universal Pictures and president of Women in Film, a Hollywood organization promoting employment of women in the film and TV businesses. “Your 55-year-old today is not the same as your 55-year-old 20 years ago,” she says. “This is the fastest-growing demographic with the most money. You’re leaving money on the table by not paying attention to this group.”

It can be argued that this current wave in television signifies a sea change in public attitudes. Jack Bender, a longtime director on “Ally McBeal,” “Boston Public,” “Alias” and “Judging Amy,” who is now co-executive producer of Fox’s “girls club,” says that shows featuring seasoned female leads reflect the demands of the growing baby-boomer generation who want to see more empowered images of themselves in their entertainment media.

“Our culture is youth-obsessed, but the world isn’t--and it’s time our media catch up with that,” Bender says. “It’s a very difficult thing, not only for actresses, to have that little window in their teens and 20s to have a career. As a culture we need to embrace the fact that women reach their prime at a later age, an older age, and we have to find a way to deal with that and express that on television.”

It certainly helps matters that there is significant pool of broadcast and cable network executives, show creators, producers and writers who are a part of that female demographic. Among the Hollywood Reporter’s list of the 100 most powerful women in entertainment, more than half of the 48 television executives and creators are 40-plus. Consequently, it would come as no surprise that the women they champion in series are not unlike themselves.

“Your age and your experience certainly color the way in which you view the world,” says Carol Mendelsohn, co-creator and co-executive producer of “CSI: Miami.” “I think, [my producing partner] Ann Donahue and I both feel that we really stepped into our own when we were in our 40s. When you get to be 40, you suddenly don’t care about what anybody thinks. And when you look at Marg Helgenberger, at Khandi Alexander, at Kim Delaney, they bring that. They are women, and their sexuality isn’t just out there....They’re leading with their brains, their experience and the fact they are women and not afraid to let the world view them as women.”

But CBS’ president of entertainment, Nancy Tellem, cautions that scripting great characters is not solely a gender-biased issue. “When you’re really looking at roles, you also have to step outside of yourself a little bit because your personal views don’t necessarily reflect what the viewing public is going to accept,” Tellem says. “It’s less about being a woman in this position and making sure that women are defined as a reflection of who you are, but [instead making] creative choices that really reflect who you are as a person, not necessarily as a woman.”

Thanks in large part to television, actresses have an opportunity to play interesting, three-dimensional characters on screen as the dearth of equally compelling roles in film continue to diminish with every explosive, testosterone-packed action film unleashed on a youth-driven public.

“Feature films? Forget about it, there just aren’t any great parts,” says actress-director Christine Lahti, 42. Since leaving CBS’ “Chicago Hope” in 1999, Lahti has starred in nearly a dozen made-for-television features, including Showtime’s upcoming World War II biopic, “Gisella Perl,” because character-driven women’s roles have been scarce on the big screen. “They’re the boring, girlfriend parts. They sit home and wring their hands saying, ‘Honey, come home.’ I mean, why isn’t Meryl Streep doing two movies a year? De Niro is.”

Women in Film’s Davids adds: “Leading ladies in film tend to be younger women. The whole argument is whether these ladies are still sexy and beautiful at 40. When Rene Russo was the romantic lead in ‘The Thomas Crowne Affair’ it was such a big deal because, ‘Oh my God, she’s over 40 and look how sexy she is!’ When we’re talking about aging male actors like Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Sean Connery, there’s never a question about how sexy and wonderful these guys are.”

Over the years, television has been the bastion of hope for the careers of mature film actresses like Joan Collins, Jane Wyman, Faye Dunaway, Sally Field, Glenn Close, Candice Bergen, Bette Midler, Geena Davis and Whoopi Goldberg. It’s important not only as a place to work in front of the camera, but also for extending their careers behind-the-scenes as producers and directors.

“Particularly for networks who are perhaps struggling to come up with signature shows, it helps them to have an established name,” says David Bushman, curator of the Museum of Television & Radio in New York City. “A lot of times you have an actress that is looking for what the network is looking for, specifically with networks like Lifetime, WE and Oxygen. So you have a meeting of needs that creates additional opportunities.”

The progress of women in front of the camera and behind the scenes has indeed been significant, says Mollie Gregory, author of “Women Who Run The Show: How a Brilliant and Creative New Generation of Women Stormed Hollywood, 1973-2000.” Still, “I can’t say by 2010 we’ll have parity,” Gregory says. “I think the forward motion will simply continue. It’s just too slow.”

Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.