Older Actors Like Ted Danson and Kathy Bates Are Having A Moment

It's About Time

Older actors are having a moment.

More specifically, Ted Danson and Kathy Bates are killing it. And demonstrating how being over 75 doesn’t mean the end. In fact, they are currently starring in shows where their characters are starting anew.

For the record, I’ve been a Ted Danson fan since he played the lovable bartender Sam in “Cheers” back in the 80’s. I was in college back then and every Thursday evening I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next in that Boston bar. More recently, I loved Danson in “The Good Place.” And now he’s in a brand-new show called “A Man On The Inside” which just dropped last week on Netflix. His character Charles is a lonely widower who has withdrawn from the world. But then he answers an ad from a private investigator who is looking for someone to solve a crime in a nursing home from the inside. And he discovers he’s still got a lot to offer and a lot of life to live.

Ted Danson is 77. And is as charming and handsome as ever. The cast of “A Man On The Inside” is delightful as well. You might recognize a few of the show’s actors from “A Good Place” as well as Sally Struthers (who at 77 is also still vibrant).

My husband and I watched all 8 episodes in two nights which is highly unusual for us- we never get through anything that fast. But l really enjoyed the show and wanted to keep going.  I laughed, I cried, I wanted more. I think there will be a second season, but it hasn’t yet been confirmed.

Then there’s Kathy Bates who is in a sort of but not really reboot of “Matlock.” Bates has been acting for over five decades. She’s an ovarian and breast cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy in 2012.

In “Matlock” she plays a lawyer who comes out of retirement for reasons I won’t say because I don’t want to ruin anything for you. But suffice it to say she’s smart, she’s devious, and she’s simply delightful. She’s also a fabulous actor- I loved her in so many other things like “The Blind Side” and “Misery” where she scared the crap out of me.

In real life imitating art, Danson and Bates and their characters are showing us that being older doesn’t mean you’re done. In fact, in many ways they are just getting started. At 61 I am finding them inspirational. I want to be like them when I grow up.

Being older is having a moment. And I for one couldn’t be happier about it.