Rhoda and Maerose

So many dames, so little time to type about them all. So here are just 2 very different but very rockin' dames:

Anjelica Huston
Angelica’s one of those women just born cool. She just slunk out of the womb all tall and unusual-looking and smarter and waaay more together than you and me. She’s so slick that in The Grifters, you’re not terribly surprised her own son has the hots for her. Which begs the question: In Prizzi’s Honor why in the world would Jack Nicholson prefer Kathleen Turner to her? And right there “on the Oriental.” But then in real life Jack was a big enough jack to let Anjelica slip through his fingers and take up with baby ectomorphs like Lara Flynn Boyle. But hell, everyday we see men choose whipped cream, fair-haired, slight-nosed chicks and bypass the truly happening broads. And Anjelica, she just watches it all go down with the bemused grace of someone who knows they got it going on.

Valerie Harper
For a generation of smart alecky girls who knew they couldn’t – and wouldn’t -- be Mary, Rhoda Morgenstern was the role model to watch. Valerie Harper’s portrayal of the funny, self-deprecating, down-to-earth window dresser was the epitome of the sassy best friend archetype whose humor and low self-esteem put up a smoke screen over how mighty happening she really is. Though Rhoda lives on in our hearts, minds, re-runs, and the occasional reunion TV-movie, Valerie has moved on to age gracefully and gorgeously in films and stage roles. As if her sassy role modeling weren’t enough, Valerie has also been a staunch women’s rights advocate and authored Today I Am a Ma’am to commiserate with and empower her post-menopausal sistahs.

(I first wrote about AH and VH and other "older" hotties for BUST Magazine.)