Age Before Beauty

Dedicated to TheActress.

shYne

Many people feel that once we’ve reached a certain age there are personal accomplishments that we should have made. If not, we are past our prime… we’ve missed the boat…

But I've got to tell you, "Age ain’t nothing but a number!"
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It is important for all of us who want to truly “live” for the duration of this lifetime with continued success and opportunities for success – to make a decision about the reality of AGE. Ask yourself, "Is it a clutch or a crutch?" Do you embrace your age, which brings experience and maturity, and wisdom… or do you use your age as an excuse for not trying to make your dreams and aspirations a reality.
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Are you
..........past your
.....................prime?

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~Past Your Prime~
You know you're past your prime when,

if you brag about having an affair,

someone asks who catered it.
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Girl, It’s Prime Time!

I’m going to share with you a story of someone with whom we are all familiar. I am going to “tell the story” in a chronologically bulleted format so that the focus of my point will really come together...

1917 – Isabel Sanford was born

1930’s - Isabel is a teenager
Isaebel Sanford, a New York native always wanted to act. Because her mother didn’t find it a “realistic dream” for her no-long-hair-dark-skinned but attractive daughter, Sanford would sneak out of the house at night and perform in the local nightclubs. She only confessed to her nighttime activities after winning third place in an amateur contest at the Apollo Theatre. Still, she made her next step into the working world as a cleaning lady instead of an actress.

Around 1940 or so…
Sanford married, had three children and worked in the New York City welfare department as a keypunch operator. Her desire to act didn’t become a reality until she was in her late twenties when she joined the American Negro Theater.

1946 - Isabel is now 29
In 1946 Isabel made her stage debut.

1960 – Isabel is 43
She moved to Los Angeles in 1960 with the hopes of launching a movie career. Sanford acted in bit parts on TV shows such as "Bewitched" and "The Mod Squad," and had a semi-regular spot on "The Carol Burnett Show,"…

1967 – Isabel at 50
It was her performance in the 1965 Broadway production of "Amen Corner" that caught the eye of director Stanley Kramer. He cast her as the sassy, sharp-tongued maid playing opposite Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, in the 1967 film classic "Guess Who`s Coming to Dinner?"

1970 – Isabel is 53 years old
Three years later, TV producer Norman Lear hired Sandford to play the recurring role of Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson, Archie Bunker`s neighbor on the hit TV show "All in the Family."

1975 – Isabel is the tender age of 55
In 1975, the characters of Weezy and her husband George Jefferson (played by Sherman Hemsley) were given their own spin-off sitcom. "The Jeffersons," ran for 11 seasons.

1981 – 66 year old Isabel get’s her “due”.
Sanford won the Emmy for the Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 1981.

Sometime during all of this activity, Isabel was divorced – becoming a single mother of three children.

Although, we may have spotted Isabel Sanford here and there in “other people’s movies” and shows and broadway plays … as an extra or having a “bit” part, most of us consider THE JEFFERSONS her “ship that came in”. Honey, her name was in lights! This role is what put her in Ebony, Jet, and other media formats that graced our coffee tables, end tables, and kitchen tables when WE were growing up.

SHE WAS 53 YEARS OLD when she got this part.

AND for an actress, recognition for your work as an artist would be in the form of an Emmy Award and she was 61 before she got this recognition. Also a part of "her-story" is Isabel's ultimate recognition… she received her star on the Hollywood walk of fame when SHE WAS 86 YEARS OLD.

And in the SAME year - - - she died.

Now, I ask you… are YOU past your prime?

Isabelle was never past hers in regards to her dreams and aspirations. She continued to progress to the end. She was NOT a superstar at the age of 20 or 30 or even 40. But she craved those bright lights and stayed in them or around them as much as she could… even when she worked as a maid… even when she worked as a keypunch operator… even at the risk of getting a beaten by her Mama for sneaking out of the house… even when she was a divorcee raising her kids as a single parent…

Truly her journey in "age" came before the "beauty" of her success….

Or did her journey toward the success of her dreams

cause her to age beautifully?

I’ll take it either way!

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Quick Success or Progressive Success

In the 80’s there were singing groups and bands that made BIG hits. They made a record with very little recording experience and history (and in some cases, talent) and it was truly a hit… they were known as ONE HIT WONDERS… you know… Anita Ward – “Ring My Bell”, Stacey Lattisaw recorded a few remakes that had her in the limelight for a minute, Amy Stewart remade “Knock On Wood”, Sarah Dash from LaBelle recorded “Sinner Man”. They would shake things up a bit and *poof* they were gone!

And then there are artists like Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Diana Ross.. there are too many songs to list for over too many years. They just got better... no, they GET better with age… but then they were on a creative path with a particular style that they were born with and refined thru the years… old or new… you know when it’s one of these aged genius’ that is singing…. It is THEIR OWN style.

And what about Apple or Dell? Apple brought this computer age in to the light… but Dell (and other such companies) is keeping the light burning. Apple made it big as a baby in the industry… actually giving birth to the industry… but they can’t touch the success of Dell today!

The interesting thing about the Apple and Dell comparison is that Apple “stumbled upon” success and Dell had to work to overcome the previous success level and exceed in order to become more successful; hence the pay-off is greater for it.

And for Golden Oldies like Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou... the world is truly an oyster! They are icons of their art!

Going back to the singers - the "get-it-quick artists" stumbled upon a successful tune (that may have been pre-recorded) and that’s all the wind they had. But the long timers are the artists who are having their songs re-made. Occasionally, you will find a singer who starts off on other people’s material and takes it to another level, like Luther Vandross. Remember “A House Is Not A Home”? Well that one was recorded by Dionne Warwick another long-time Diva of the music industry. But noone seemed to realize just how empty that house was until Luther used his artistic creativity to take a “done” song and bring it to where it has never been before. He put that empty home right back on the market and then he went on to his own level of perfection.

It doesn’t matter if you make it as a newcomer or as a matured dreamer… just don’t stop going until you achieve your goals – and make it.

But most importantly… ENJOY THE TRIP! I believe that Isabel enjoyed hers. I don’t think she would have changed the timing of her Hollywood Walk of Fame Star… how can a woman born in 1917 - aspiring to be an actress when working as a housekeeper - living the African-American-limited-opportunity-and-be-a-woman top that?

Exit stage right, I say!

...and no encore necessary!