By Wonderwall.com Editors
8:00am PDT, Apr 23, 2024
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Take a look back at some of our favorite older leading ladies when they were young starlets early in their careers…
More than a decade after winning the Miss Florida pageant, Delta Burke won the role of interior decorator Suzanne Sugarbaker on the CBS comedy series "Designing Women" just before turning 30. She spent five seasons on the hit series, from 1986 to 1991, during which time she earned two Emmy nominations for her work. But Delta exited after feuding with show creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason. "It got ugly and very sad," Delta said on an April 2024 episode of the "Glamorous Trash" podcast, explaining that she and the creative, whom she worked with before and after "Designing Women," had a "love-hate" relationship.
Delta was also struggling with her rapid rise to fame at the time as well as the "incredibly ugly" narratives about her weight, she said, explaining that she was "emotionally too fragile" to cope with the criticism. She also elaborated on something shocking she'd first shared in her 1998 memoir, "Delta Style: Eve Wasn't a Size 6 and Neither Am I": She once used crystal meth to slim down.
Delta had initially started taking prescribed pills to diminish her appetite while attending drama school in London, but upon her return to the States, she learned they were illegal. Someone on a set procured some for her though — they were called "Black Beauties" — but they stopped working as she developed a tolerance, so she was then offered crystal meth — and took it. "[I] put it in cranberry juice," she said, and "wouldn't eat for five days." But the criticism continued. "They were still saying, 'Your butt's too big. Your legs are too big.' And I now look back at those pictures and go, 'I was a freaking goddess,'" Delta said on the podcast.
Keep reading to see her decades later, plus more stunning older leading ladies then vs. now…
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Delta Burke went on to appear in projects including the "Designing Women" spinoff "Women of the House" in the 1990s, "DAG" and "Boston Legal" in the 2000s and "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings" in the 2010s.
The support and love that she's received during her long marriage to actor Gerald McRaney — they wed in 1989 — has helped her get through the most difficult periods of her life since "Designing Women," which have included struggles with depression and hoarding.
She said on an April 2024 episode of the "Glamorous Trash" podcast that she's in a much better place today. "I love my life truly for the first time. And I love him desperately," she said of the "Simon & Simon" and "Major Dad" star. "I know that I'm safe and I'm loved."
MORE: See what country music stars looked like when they were young
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Jessica Lange now has six Academy Award nominations and two wins to her name.
She's seen here with daughter Hannah Shepard, one of her three children with two very famous men.
Jessica welcomed her first child, Aleksandra Lange "Shura" Baryshnikov in 1981 with famed ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. She had Hannah in 1986 with playwright and longtime former partner Sam Shepard, with whom she also had a son, Samuel Walker Shepard, in 1987.
MORE: Hollywood leading men when they were young: Photos
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Kelly LeBrock was in her early 20s when she made her acting debut alongside Gene Wilder in 1984's "The Woman In Red" (pictured).
She then notably starred as the perfect woman in the 1985 John Hughes hit "Weird Science" before appearing in 1990's "Hard to Kill" opposite then-husband Steven Seagal, with whom she had three children.
They divorced in 1996 and Kelly left Hollywood behind, preferring to live on a ranch in California's Santa Ynez Valley. She's called the place home for more than two decades.
Keep reading to see her now and find out why she wanted to get away…
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Kelly LeBrock moved to a ranch in California's Santa Ynez Valley after stepping away from Hollywood in the '90s, though she occasionally returns to Los Angeles for events like the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery Visionary Ball, which she attended in October 2023 (seen here).
"Hollywood wasn't a place where I wanted to raise my children. My divorce [from Steven] was very much in the press, and I'm just not a Hollywood girl. Never have been. I never really liked the attention. I wanted to have dirt in my nails and be in the outdoors," she told Fox News in 2021. "So I quit my career and moved to the wilderness where I lived with no television for 25 years. I did the best that I could as a single mom."
According to Kelly, she realized, "I could always go back to my career. I could never go back to my children. Some people can do both. But I already had the fame and was done with it. I became famous when I was very young and it didn't do me a bit of good. It just caused trauma. Being famous is not for everybody."
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Before she was a 21-time Oscar nominee, talented blonde beauty Meryl Streep was a high school cheerleader. She's seen here in 1976, the same year she earned her first Tony Award nomination, two years before her first Emmy win and four years before she took home her first Oscar.
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Meryl Streep is practically a national treasure: She has 21 Oscar nominations to her name — and she's won three of them.
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Glamorous British actress Joan Collins was still just a teenager when she posed for this portrait in the early 1950s.
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Joan Collins — seen here just a few weeks before she celebrated her 90th birthday in 2023 — began her career in her native Britain before becoming a Hollywood starlet.
Though she appeared in dozens of movies over the decades, American audiences best know her as the villainous Alexis Carrington Colby on the delicious '80s prime time soap "Dynasty," for which she earned an Emmy nomination.
The actress, a noted philanthropist who in 2015 was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II for her charitable services, is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.
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Jane Seymour scored her breakthrough role as a Bond girl, playing Solitaire, a tarot card reader and psychic, in "Live and Let Die." The actress, seen here alongside co-star Geoffrey Holder in the film, was just 22 when the film debuted in 1973.
The talented British beauty's career took off after that, leading to Golden Globe wins for her work in TV projects "East of Eden" and "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and an Emmy for her performance in the miniseries "Onassis: The Richest Man in the World."
Keep reading to see the mother of four — who's been married and divorced four times — now and to find out how she maintains her good looks in her 70s…
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Jane Seymour is still a stunner in her 70s. "The world is against aging. We hate aging. We look at aging and we go, 'Oh, no, there's a wrinkle, oh my God. Get rid of it. Grey hair. No. Terrifying!' Whereas you can look at it the other way and you can say actually, I now have time in my life to do things I really want to do. Maybe I can now become the person I want to be," she told HELLO! magazine in October 2023.
She's tried to age gracefully, she explained: "I'm a temporary enhancement person, rather than a permanent enhancement person. If I need eyelashes, I stick them on. If I need more hair, I clip some in," she said, further sharing that she isn't a fan of injectables. "I keep my face mobile. That's why I don't do the things a lot of people are doing because I'm a blank canvas. I'm an actress. I want to be able to play every emotion there is because it would be like having a string instrument and taking a few of the strings off or numbing them."
Jane tries to get eight hours of sleep each night but "I'm not one of those obsessive exercise people," she said. "I used to be a dancer so my body remembers its muscle tone, it comes back pretty quickly if I do some stretches and some of the basic bar moves that I used to do when I was a ballet dancer."
She eats a Mediterranean diet and "I do intermittent fasting, unless I have to work very early in the morning on a film and I feel I need the extra energy," Jane added. "I generally give my body 16 hours minimum to recoup. I think it works brilliantly. I've seen it work for me but I'm not religious about it. If I'm going out for a glorious dinner, everything gets thrown out the window."
The actress also works to stay positive. "I'm just so happy to be alive and I feel gratitude, I feel gratitude for being safe and pretty healthy. I feel gratitude for having great relationships with my children, my family, my close friends and even my school friends," she told HELLO!
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During the '80s, Donna Mills played scheming, manipulative Abby (opposite stars including Ted Shackelford, pictured) on the primetime soap opera "Knots Landing."
After leaving the show, she became a single mom in her 50s. "I was single, I was 54, and I wanted to be a mother very badly. It was not a tough decision at all to adopt," she told AARP in 2022.
"For the first couple of years, I could take Chloe [my daughter who's now a model and Soho House executive] with me. I truly believe she was meant to come to me, she was meant to be my child. I wanted her to have a normal life. So I stopped working for many years while she was in school, and it was for me exactly the right thing to do. I didn't want to be apart from her."
Over the decades, Donna's stayed in touch with her old "Knots Landing" co-stars. "Joan Van Ark and Michele Lee are still dear friends 40 years after we starred in 'Knots Landing,'" Donna told AARP.
Keep reading to see her now — and find out what she does to look so good in her 80s…
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"During the soap opera years, I never ate pasta, sugar, bread, ice cream, cookies or any of that kind of stuff. I would have maybe half a glass of wine. Now I eat, but I'm still careful. I'm not a vegetarian, but I grow, pick and eat a lot of vegetables," Donna Mills — seen here in September 2023 — told AARP the previous year of how she takes care of herself now that she's in her 80s.
She stays active too — even when it hurts. "I started out as a professional dancer. That kind of discipline helps you in every area of life. Usually if people get a little tired, their attitude is, I'm done. But if you grew up dancing, you know that being tired, being in a little pain, that's just the process. So you just keep going, you go through it," she explained.
"I play tennis five times a week, for two hours at a time. I am lucky enough to have a clay court, which is so much easier on your joints than cement. I also have a small gym in my home, so I work out with light weights, use my Peloton, do a lot of stretching on my ballet barre. And let me tell you, it's not always fun. Like almost everyone my age, I have arthritis, and it hurts sometimes. But this is where discipline comes in. I'm not Superwoman, but I do always see the bigger picture," she added.
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Meg Ryan scored her first big break in her early 20s with the soap opera "As the World Turns" — she portrayed Betsy Stewart for several years in the early '80s.
She went on to become a household name — largely due to her role in the 1989 classic "When Harry Met Sally," for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination. She continued to work steadily in the '90s and 2000s, most notably appearing in romantic comedies like 1993's "Sleepless in Seattle" and 1998's "You've Got Mail." She then stepped away from the spotlight, acting only rarely in the 2010s aside from 2015's "Ithaca," which also marked her directorial debut.
Meg makes her big return to the big screen opposite David Duchovny in the 2023 rom-com "What Happens Later," which she also directed and co-wrote. (It opened in theaters on Nov. 3.)
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During an October 2023 interview with People magazine, Meg Ryan — who's now in her 60s — explained why she essentially left Hollywood for nearly a decade: "I took a giant break because I felt like there's just so many other parts of my experience as a human being I wanted to develop," she said. "It's nice to think of it as a job and not a lifestyle. And that is a great way of navigating it for me."
The actress-filmmaker spent her time away from the spotlight raising her two kids: 31-year-old "The Boys," "Scream" and "The Hunger Games" actor Jack Quaid with ex-husband Dennis Quaid and 18-year-old daughter Daisy, whom she adopted in 2006.
She also spent nearly a decade in an off-and-on romance with rocker John Mellencamp.
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Blonde, beautiful and talented Helen Mirren looked gorgeous sans makeup in this photo taken in 1967 when she was 22. She's pictured here alongside actor Bruce Myers, whom she once dated.
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Helen Mirren — who brought a youthful energy to the 2023 Cannes Film Festival with her bold blue 'do — has been nominated for four Oscars over the years. She took home top honors for her work in 2007's "The Queen."
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Candice Bergen got her start as a model in the '60s, appearing on the cover of Vogue before transitioning to the acting world.
She started out on the big screen but landed one of her most memorable roles in the '80s starring as the titular TV journalist on the sitcom "Murphy Brown."
That performance earned the beauty five Emmys and two Golden Globes during its 10-year run.
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Candice Bergen is still a radiant beauty! She most recently starred alongside fellow stunners Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen in the 2023 film "Book Club: The Next Chapter."
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Julie Newmar posed for this photograph in her New York City apartment in October 1960 — two years after she won a Tony Award for her performance in "The Marriage-Go-Round" and six years before taking on her legendary role as Catwoman on TV's "Batman."
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Julie Newmar went from the stage to the screen and back again, continuously moving between television, film and Broadway roles. Her most iconic part came in 1966 when she joined the television series "Batman" as Catwoman. She also appeared in George Michael's "Too Funky" music video in 1992 and inspired the 1995 film "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar" in which she has a cameo. Her most recent role came in 2019 when she joined the voice cast of the audio drama miniseries "Dark Shadows: Bloodline."
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Jane Fonda looked picture-perfect in a portrait taken circa 1960 when she was in her early 20s.
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Diane Keaton was in her mid-20s when she starred in the 1972 film "The Godfather."
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Diane Keaton had already been nominated for a Tony Award for her work on Broadway by the time she appeared in the movie "The Godfather" in the early '70s. Over the next several decades, the frequent Woody Allen collaborator — who's now in her late 70s — earned four Academy Award nominations — and won an Oscar for her performance in 1977's "Annie Hall."
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Mary Steenburgen won an Oscar for her performance in 1980's "Melvin and Howard" when she was in her 20s. From there, the beautiful brunette has been a fixture on our screens both big and small.
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Mary Steenburgen is still an absolute stunner in her 70s! She's currently starring in "Book Club: The Next Chapter."
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Isabelle Huppert has always been a stunner. The freckle-faced beauty is seen here in a portrait from 1971, the year she made her television debut in her native France at 18.
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The style! The sass! The flawless skin! Oscar-nominated French actress Isabelle Huppert is still a beauty!
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Rita Moreno raised temperatures in this portrait from the '50s when she was in her 20s.
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Rita Moreno is now in her 90s. She's also an EGOT winner with an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award to her name.
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Who's the beachy babe? It's Sally Field at 21 in 1967!
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We really, really like Sally Field — and not just because she's a two-time Oscar winner.
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Lily Tomlin, seen here at about 30 when she was hosting the ABC show "Music Scene" during the 1969-1970 season, had worked as a stand-up comedian and off-Broadway performer when she got her big break on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" at the end of the '60s.
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"Nashville," "9 to 5" and "Grace & Frankie" actress Lily Tomlin, who's also a lauded writer, has continued to make audiences laugh well into her 80s. She's been nominated for an Oscar and has won six Emmys and a Grammy during her career.
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Maggie Smith was in her early 30s when she posed for this publicity portrait for her 1967 film "The Honey Pot."
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Two-time Oscar winner and four-time Emmy winner Maggie Smith these days is best known for her work as elderly and fiesty matriarch Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, on "Downton Abbey."
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Ellen Burstyn looked lovely in this portrait taken circa 1965 when she was in her early 30s.
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"The Exorcist" and "Requiem For a Dream" actress Ellen Burstyn has enjoyed an impressive, enduring career and has an Academy Award, a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmys to her name.
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Susan Sarandon smoldered in a promotional photo for 1980's "Loving Couples" when she was in her early 30s.
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Susan Sarandon now has five Oscar nominations and one trophy to her name.
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Sissy Spacek looked absolutely stunning in 1972's "Prime Cut" when she was in her early 20s. before she was an actress, she was a model.
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Sissy Spacek has been nominated for six Oscars during her long career — and she won one of them for her performance in 1980's "Coal Miner's Daughter."
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Seven-time Grammy winner Madonna is now in her 60s.
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In case there were any doubts about where actress Kate Hudson gets her good looks, check out this portrait of her mom, Goldie Hawn, in 1967 when she was 21.
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Oscar winner Goldie Hawn is still blonde and beautiful in her 70s!
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Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer-actress Cher still looks gorgeous in her late 70s!
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Charlotte Rampling was a true English rose in this 1967 portrait, which was taken when she was about 21 around the time she made her big screen debut in her home country.
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American audiences got a bit of a late start with Oscar- and Emmy-nominated English actress Charlotte Rampling, who's in her 70s now.
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Did you know that late "Golden Girls" star Betty White was once a pin-up girl? The comedy legend passed away at 99 — just days before her 100th birthday — on New Year's Eve in 2021.
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Carrie Fisher was just 19 when she first played one of the most iconic characters in cinema history — Princess Leia, who made her debut in 1977's "Star Wars."
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The late, great Carrie Fisher shot into the spotlight as Princess Leia in "Star Wars" in the '70s and in the decades that followed, she became an in-demand Hollywood script doctor, a three-time Emmy nominee and a bestselling author before her death at 60 in 2016.
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Cicely Tyson posed for this portrait circa 1960 when she was in her mid-30s — a decade after she started her Hollywood career and a dozen years before she earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in "Sounder."
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Oscar-nominated "Sounder" actress Cicely Tyson looked absolutely gorgeous at the premiere of Tyler Perry's "A Fall from Grace" in January 2020. She died less than a year later at 96.
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Emmanuelle Riva made her acting debut in her native France in 1957 when she was about 20 and earned her first BAFTA nomination for her work in "Hiroshima Mon Amour" just a few years later. Is it any wonder why Japanese actor Eiji Okada, her co-star in the romantic drama, couldn't keep his hands off her angelic face?!
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It wasn't until 2012 that the late French actress Emmanuelle Riva, who died in 2017, made a splash in Hollywood when she starred in "Amour." Boy, were we missing out!
