What counts as a "senior," " mature," "seasoned," "veteran," or, dare we use the word, "older" performer? While the term "senior citizen" is classically thought to mean 65 and up, a "senior actor" is often described as being 50 and up and, especially in the case of women, 40 and up.
But wait a minute. Doesn't older mean wiser, and more experienced at one's craft? And isn't the job of theatre, film, television, and even commercials to tell stories that reflect the human experience, which certainly includes a lot of people out there who are way over 40?
Age matters because our youth-obsessed culture often produces stories that reflect a world in which almost everyone is young. For some time, older performers have reported that they experience what playwright-actor Alex Bond has described as "a certain distance at auditions, and worse, a drop in calls to auditions."
Older performers report there are fewer quality roles offered to them—in fact, fewer roles altogether. When these performers do get calls, they are often asked to play characters who are ill, out-of-it, nasty, or objects of derision.
So coyness about age—even when speaking in terms of "range"—does not stem from mere vanity. There are concrete employment consequences to revealing one's age.
Men generally have an extra 10 or 15 years before they find themselves facing fewer roles to choose from. In fact, actor Tom Aldredge, one of the recipients this year (with Margo Martindale) of Actors' Equity Association's first Richard Seff Award (which honors mature actors with a body of work in supporting roles), finds, "It's getting better. I think it's the attrition factor. A lot of performers my age have left the business." Seff, who established the award, is a former actor turned agent who returned to acting at 47. He specifically wanted to acknowledge actors in supporting roles because "they have so often done such excellent work and so seldom get 'big time' recognition."
The Screen Actors Guild collects casting data annually. In 2002, women were cast in 38% of the total number of roles available in film and television, leaving men to be cast in the remaining 62%. Within the roles available to women, those over 40 were cast in 29% of roles (a two percent increase over 2001). Men over 40 were cast in 42% of roles available to men.
Theatre appears to be a bit kinder towards age. It is hard to imagine Hollywood casting the 70-ish Chita Rivera to do the hot tango she performed on Broadway with Antonio Banderas in "Nine." Equity's statistics on the casting of "senior actors" apply the term to those aged 60 and up, rather than 40. But even in the theatre, according to Equity, as of 2001, only 5.15% of actors employed under Equity contracts were over 60—3.09% were men, 2.06% were women.
Back Stage has looked into these problems before, and since they are ongoing, is taking a look at them again.
The Good News
This time we also want to focus on successful efforts to combat the attitudes and problems that often marginalize performers who have honed their chops and are highly professional, eager to work, and able to portray characters representing a large segment of the audience. After all, the film "Something's Gotta Give," which depicted a romance between late 50-ish Diane Keaton and 60-something Jack Nicholson, was a hit. Perhaps the belief that only kids head for the multiplex comes from the fact that most of the films shown are about and/or written by kids.
We'll discuss:
è The efforts of the performing-arts unions to keep an eye peeled for age discrimination, raise awareness of the misguided perceptions older performers meet up with, and help create more work;
è Television networks' "diversity showcases," which are beginning to include older performers as one of the underrepresented groups of actors that casting people are seeking to target;
è The creation of several theatre companies by midlife and older performers who are letting one and all know that they're still here and that they're damned good (these include individual companies and senior theatre festivals, among other efforts).
Several of the older performers Back Stage spoke with complained of the attitudes of many young casting directors, who appear to tune out if an older person turns up. No doubt these complaints are valid, but Ken Slevin, head of the New York office of the talent agency Cunningham, Escott, Dipene & Associates, and Lakie Wolf, also of that agency, both point out that in show business, "marketing yourself never stops." Slevin says, "You may have been around for a long time, but you can't take for granted that agents and casting people know who you are. You still have to sell yourself."
Wolf agrees: "Be sure to send postcards to let people know you're out there and interested and where you can be found. Keep them up to date on what you've done lately."
And, Slevin stresses, "Stay true to yourself. Some performers hurt themselves by sending in an old picture. If the casting person finds you don't look like the person they expected to see walk in, they won't call you, so that won't help. You'd do better to send a recent one and go for the roles you're suited for. The reality is you have to be as persistent as if you were starting out. The newer people will get to know you. In this business, you always have to reinvent yourself and persist."
Taking Action
Still, senior performers are clearly not imagining it when they say they're up against a lot of attitudinal obstacles. Marvin Kaplan, president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' Los Angeles local and a senior performer and writer himself, says, "Members who have worked for years have been dropped by agents who just couldn't sell them, or at least believed they would not be able to."
SAG and AFTRA have senior performers committees, which often work together and with other unions. In New York, the active joint SAG-AFTRA senior performers committee, co-chaired by Geena Goodwin and Mildred Clinton, holds meetings the first Tuesday of every month. All members can attend. Speakers address a variety of issues. Open-door sessions with casting directors have been held.
In Los Angeles, SAG and AFTRA held a Senior Career Day in March that attracted hundreds of members. Panels and readings were held in which actors performed works written by older Writers Guild members. Actors such as Robert Guillaume and Doris Roberts, a strong advocate for older actors, were speakers, along with several other actors, producers, and writers. The union locals' senior projects reading committee performs works by senior writers. AFTRA's Kaplan is a fan of radio drama as a venue for older actors, and as a quality experience for audiences. He is active in holding such readings.
Kaplan says of the recent Career Day, "People got work and we have raised awareness, but some casting directors told me that while they were blown away by the credits and the performances they saw, they were upset by the experience because they didn't have roles to offer these very talented performers. Many of our senior members don't have representation. And we know that writers are being told to 'youngen up' scripts."
In a "truth is stranger than fiction"-type tale, Ray Bradford, AFTRA's national director for equal employment opportunities, reports that on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," a plot line was written involving a serial killer who moves to town and periodically bumps off various characters. The cast noticed that the serial killer was striking older characters, leaving those actors out of work. Pointing this out led to the serial killer plot being "back-burnered." In addition, Kaplan says, viewers wrote in protesting the loss of beloved characters, who are now being rewritten into the plot as ghosts who return to town.
Prejudice rears its ugly head in equally loony ways in the world of voice acting. Bradford notes that performers have complained that they are increasingly being asked to submit photos along with their audio demo reels. Obviously, one's appearance has nothing to do with one's ability to project a given voice. The union sent letters out questioning this practice and it has diminished, though performers still report a reluctance on the part of younger casting people to hire an older voice actor, even though that person will not be seen and so is unlikely to appear "out of character."
Another phenomenon affecting voice actors, and others as well, is that as roles for older actors decrease, stars often take a step down and accept roles that had been the bread and butter of many less famous but highly experienced working actors, such as voice-over and supporting-character parts.
Perceptions
As with any prejudice, ageism is often fueled by misconceptions. Geena Goodwin notes, "Advertisers believe older buyers have chosen the brand they'll stick with and can't be swayed. They also believe it's young people who spend money. Well, grandma and grandpa buy a lot for those young people, as well as for themselves."
SAG recently updated and is sending to advertisers a pamphlet titled "Your Key to Unlocking the Two Trillion Dollar Senior Market." The pamphlet proclaims, "Commercials that don't include 'gray' miss out on a lot of 'green.' " It cites the U.S. Census Bureau as stating that "the 45-85-year-old age group spends more on new cars and trucks, entertainment, and personal products than all other age groups combined," that they control more than 48% of discretionary spending, and that they watch more television than today's teenagers do.
These efforts have brought a response. "We're still most likely to be called in to sell medications, but you do see many more commercials geared to older people making retirement investment choices, traveling, and leading active lives," says Goodwin. "This is a big improvement."
But, she points out, "It's still acceptable to present older people as ridiculous." Says Marvin Kaplan, "Independent films are our best hope."
Independent-film director Deirdre Fishel's documentary "Still Doing It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65" was readily picked up in Europe. The topic was treated warily at first in the U.S., but "networks are now expressing interest," she says. "The idea of older women as sexual beings is radical in this country." Fishel found that she herself had misconceptions. "We initially put out a call for women in their 50s. The women who showed up didn't look 'old' and had active personal lives. So we moved the age up. While many older women are alone, they do not necessarily see themselves as asexual, and we show women who found romance at that age and older."
Yet it is still politically correct to depict the notion of an "old lady" looking a guy over (especially a younger guy) as inherently hilarious, though casting a man opposite a much younger woman without even acknowledging the age gap is still commonplace.
Goodwin says that a commercial for Midas mufflers was so egregious that many SAG committee members, among others, spoke out and succeeded in seeing the commercial yanked off the air. Advertising Age ran an article saying the commercial had gone too far. According to Goodwin, the "comedic" ad depicted a topless, very senior woman (shot from the back). A young man sees her breasts, throws up, and falls down.
This was extreme, but the premise turns up often, says Goodwin. "I don't fault the actresses. They need the work. We should learn from foreign films, which use older actors more and are more realistic. There is more substance—authentic emotions and reactions."
Network Casting People Take Note
The major broadcasting networks have begun to realize that older people are among the underrepresented groups on prime-time TV. The networks have been holding auditions for performers who participate in "diversity showcases," which the casting people for various programs take note of. Generally, these showcases have focused on ethnicity, but Ray Bradford notes, "They are including older actors in general and within each minority group." ABC has held showcases in Los Angeles and Chicago and is holding auditions in Texas, New Mexico, Raleigh-Durham, Atlanta, and Miami. A showcase will be held in New York on Oct. 18. Those interested in submitting pictures and resumes for auditions can find information at www.abctalentdevelopment.com or from the unions.
ABC put together a series of short pieces it calls "Micro-Minis," which ran on June 28 and will also be seen on July 12 and 19, programmed in between prime-time comedy programs. Older actors, writers, and directors were included in preparing these one-minute self-contained acts of three-minute-long continuing stories that one must "stay tuned" to in order to see in full.
CBS has held diversity showcases in Los Angeles for specific ethnic groups, as well as for performers with disabilities. Again, check the unions or check www.cbsdiversity.com for announcements of upcoming auditions. NBC recently initiated showcases in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York seeking minority-group comedians. Bradford points out that even when ethnicity is the emphasis of a given showcase, every ethnic group encompasses people of all ages. NBC's website for this area is www.nbcjobs.com/NBC_Talent_Diversity_Initiative.html.
"The showcases prove there is talent in all groups, but whether there are jobs or not depends on what shows are being produced and what parts are being written," Bradford says.
Onstage
Several performers have taken the bull by the horns and started theatre companies geared to presenting older characters and, therefore, casting older actors. Catherine Wolf is a working actor who founded the New York City-based Colleagues Theatre Company in 1996. "We have lives to live, and for creative people, that means continuing to do the work we love," she says. Actor Paul Newman is a financial supporter. "Even though we've gotten good reviews, attracted top senior talent and press comments that there should be more efforts like ours, I still encounter skepticism about what we're doing," Wolf says.
As to the dearth of material providing quality roles for older actors, it appears the lack may be in the imagination of producers rather than writers. When playwright Elsa Rael co-produced, with Joseph Papp, the Professional Older Women's Theatre Festival at the Public Theater back in 1985, she was surprised to find that her solicitation for such material through the Dramatists Guild brought in 220 plays focused on older women.
Actor-singer Alice Christy says that when she found "that I was beginning to experience not getting hired and seeing younger people get the jobs," she began to speak to other artists her age. She organized Wise and With It Productions, located at 252-15 72nd St. in Bellerose, NY, to allow writers, actors, directors, choreographers, and others to collaborate. Wise and With It has been holding readings and is soliciting scripts with the goal of mounting productions in the near future.
Christy points out, "By using the term 'seniors' for people over 50, two generations get lumped together, but that is fine. The younger 'seniors' can readily portray the adult children of the older actors, among the wide variety of roles both groups can play."
Over the past few years, a "senior theatre" movement has grown up. In January, the second Senior Theatre Festival was held at Harrah's in Las Vegas. It included 22 performances by companies from throughout this country and the Netherlands, as well as workshops for actors and playwrights. Senior theatre is one of the courses of study at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and at Ohio State University. Other centers of such activity can be found at www.seniortheatre.com. Some actors, such as Mildred Clinton, have expressed wariness that senior theatre might further separate the generations and feel that seniors should be portrayed as part of the larger world. Others view senior theatres as a valuable opportunity for more work and for a focus on the expression of older peoples' perspectives.
Michael Fischetti, who was long co-artistic director of the South Street Theatre with his late partner, Jean Sullivan, says he had left the business because "it's not just older people cast in mindless stereotypes. Most of what's produced in general has no substance." But he feels the Colleagues Theatre Company "values language" and presents quality work. So he was happy to take work with Emily Mitchell compiling the readings performed in the company's recent production of "Tasting Memories" by a rotating cast of well-known senior performers.
In 2001, the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media held an all-day conference, "VintAGE 2001: Positive Solutions to an Age-Old Problem," and attracted artists from all over the country, including Margaret Hoorneman, who, at 86, wrote the book of the musical "Great Expectations."
Richard Seff feels that older performers should look ahead optimistically, bearing in mind actor Ruth Gordon's acceptance comment when she received an Oscar at age 70. Gordon said, "I can't tell you how encouraging a thing like this is."