The 'flue

Look Who's Turning 50
By Nancy Griffin, January & February 2008

A milestone age, redefined



You heard it here first: 2008 is the year that will forever change the image of 50. Consider the bumper crop of rock stars and sex symbols who will hit the half-century mark—including Sharon Stone, Madonna, Viggo Mortensen, Ellen DeGeneres, Prince, and Michelle Pfeiffer, just to name a few.

Does that mean 50 is the new 30? Not really. Most of us, at 50 and beyond, are happy with the lines we’ve earned and the lives we’ve led. Still, nobody can deny that being a quinquagenarian today is a whole new ball game. Fifty can mean starting a brand-new career or soaring to new heights in an old one (before Lord of the Rings, few would have recognized the accomplished indie actor Viggo Mortensen). It can mean having young children (Stone has three kids under age seven). Or it can mean the freedom and confidence to do whatever the heck you want—whether it’s to spend time with family, write children’s books, take to the stage in a corset, or, like Madonna, do all three.

So in honor of AARP’s 50th anniversary we hereby proclaim: “50 is the new 50.” And when the birthday party’s over, we guarantee you’ll never think of the Big 5-Oh the same way again.

Ellen DeGeneres (January 26)
Never shy about saying “This is who I am,” the irrepressible DeGeneres says she can’t wait for the big day. “I’m very excited about turning 50,” she told us. She’ll be throwing a must-see bash on her wildly popular daytime talk show, Ellen, so look for some original dance moves to mark the occasion. “I have lots of plans for my birthday,” says DeGeneres, “and they include a piñata and Tim Conway.”

Sharon Stone (March 10)
She eschews a regular exercise plan and has a weakness for dark chocolate, so we figure it’s the ever-glamorous actress’s activism, fighting HIV/AIDS, that keeps her preternaturally youthful. She’s never pulled punches about aging and delights in speaking out about the upside. As Stone has put it: “You have thoughtfulness and dignity and spiritual elegance.”

Michelle Pfeiffer (April 29)
This mom of two teenagers came roaring back last year after a career hiatus, appearing in three films. Aging is universal, she told In Style: “Once you accept that, it unburdens you.” Her concession to getting older? She quit smoking and started using sunscreen—and she isn’t ruling out plastic surgery, just as long as she doesn’t “look like a wax figure of myself.”

Prince (June 7)
His Purple Badness, pompadour and high heels intact, is still a prolific one-man band, perpetually cranking out CDs—with tamer content now that he’s become a Jehovah’s Witness. The mercurial semi-recluse rocks the house at venues large and small, from the Super Bowl to the Macy’s in his hometown, Minneapolis, where he launched his 3121 fragrance.

Madonna (August 16)
The indefatigable Material Mum (of three young kids) will release a new CD this year and is mulling a “Madonna at 50” tour next summer. She keeps her body age-defyingly ripped and ready to dance with tough workouts that include Ashtanga yoga, and a diet of fish, grains, and veggies. For fun, search on the Web for “Madonna’s 50th Birthday Countdown Clock” (which you can download to your desktop).

Viggo Mortensen (October 20)
This thinking woman’s hottie is fast becoming an unlikely movie star, thanks to critical raves for such performances as the Russian mafioso in Eastern Promises. Fluent in four languages, this Danish American Renaissance man is also a poet, photographer, and painter. “Life is short,” he once said. “I like to pay attention while I’m going through it.”

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Caroline Kennedy
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