Remembering Lauren Bacall

I have a bunch of regrets about the career of Lauren Bacall, but I am sure she does not and is content and satisfied at her final resting place somewhere up in the sky twinkling brighter than all the other stars in heaven. I still can't help but wonder what Bacall would have been like sans Bogie.

Lauren excelled as a model, with her definite symmetrical features and glowing mane of gorgeous hair, her height, and flawless figure were tailor made for still photography. She would have been a great fashion and cover model. She would have made a better model than actress, but she chose acting and chose Bogie.

I actually liked her solo career better, but she was a bit older and the age was showing turning her face masculine, yet her acting was solid, and I felt she could have expanded into many different roles, had it not been for her marrying the old man Bogie and essentially raising a family instead of promoting herself. It is evident that she looked better in photos than in moving pictures. In the old days, modeling was not lucrative, so all the models wanted to be actresses, even though sometimes their good looks failed to translate well into moving pictures.

Bogie & Bacall also had a radio show that was just as boring as their movies. It was called "Bold Venture" set in Havana and the Caribbean and the stories centered around crime and intrigue, but their voices and personality failed to spark any interest.

Each did better without each other. I was never a fan of those monotonous buddy films featuring married couples or just couples that were paired together, like Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, or anyone with Hepburn; the same couples in every film are flimsy and dull.

Bacall in "How To Marry A Millionaire", playing a model. Her acting was good but she was too old for the part as is evident; Betty Grable was miscast, but we're not talking about her right now.

Loved Bogie sans Bacall "In A Lonely Place" pictured here with the wonderful
Gloria Grahame.

Is It Time To Cut Your Hair?

I am sure you get tons of criticism if you are past a certain age and your hair is past a certain shoulder but really it is about your own individual style and maybe rethinking your look as you approach a certain age and your face isn't as firm as it used to be. Look at some young photos of yourself for inspiration as sometimes our hair was much shorter when we were young and it might work again and even your original hair color hair might work now and be better than ever.

Liza always looked good in short haircuts.

Now, if you are young, anyone under forty, can normally do as they please, and play with color and cut and can be a bit daring. But for all those women out there who are not Cher, you need to really not look foolish as you a-g-e, honestly, your close friends won't tell you what I am telling you; listen up and wise up; yet don't get stuck in a total rut and try to dig out of it by having fuchsia hair.

So, you don't feel like dying your hair? You can still have a nice cut and color and I know not all of us can afford the pulled back faces and carefully injected substances, but I still like Carmen's style and anyone can basically have a similar look...don't forget makeup, you can just do a light foundation for color, a tinted sunblock, I love anything from Natura Bisse. The facelifted faces can do the heavy makeup because it won't settle in wrinkles or sagging skin, everyone else needs to lighten up as they age, but it doesn't mean going bare.

Case in point for men is Fabio, as you approach the big 5-0, it is time to cut the hair and go back to a shorter style; even a facelift will not help men keep their long styles because they will only look like girls. Young guys can do whatever they want and look great, but hey, aging is what it is, I can't change it for you, but you need to reverse time by going back to the shorter styles.

Young Fabio modeled for The Gap.

I liked a true story I read years ago, if I had the link I would provide it, but it was about a woman who lived her whole life working and raising kids only to find herself quite alone and about 60 years old. She wondered if she should spend her hard earned cash on a facelift. She also, through time and events, always had short naturally blonde hair...well, she thought about it and decided now she wanted her hair long, past the critical shoulder mark, and always wanted a long vacation to the Galapagos Islands.

No, this person was not Streisand or Streep, but they might serve as a bit of an inspiration, yes, the woman decided to skip the plastic surgeon, let her locks grow out, and headed to the Galapagos Islands and she never regretted it.