Plastic surgery is, for most Hollywood actresses, a career requirement as they age. So it’s interesting to hear a few opinions on the whole idea.

Jamie Lee Curtis

The 49-year-old actress has revealed she underwent surgery on her lower eyes when she was 35 after a cameraman told her she was too “puffy” for him to shoot, and she has had work done since.

But now Curtis is urging all women to grow old gracefully because it’s rare that people really do feel better about themselves after they go under the knife.

She tells Oprah Winfrey, “I did it all but, you know what, it didn’t work. The fraud is it doesn’t work; it doesn’t work because there are complications, and I got them all.

“It doesn’t work because you still look in the mirror and you see the fraud of what you were trying to do.”

San Francisco Chronicle

Sally Field

The Places In The Heart star admits her ego has started to get the better of her - and she’s not happy about looking older.

She tells Ladies Home Journal magazine, “I think about it all the time because I see friends who’ve done it and they look great and younger. I have an ego but it’s an actor’s ego more than a woman’s ego. It’s about roles.”

Contact Music

Madonna

As her 50th birthday approaches in August, Madonna says she doesn’t plan to be defined by her age.

“I’m not going to slow down, get off this ride, stay home and get fat. No way!”

She won’t talk about any surgery she may have had, saying “I’m not against plastic surgery, I’m just against discussing it.”

Fox News

Jamie Lee has an interesting opinion on this, in that she says it doesn’t work, because you know it’s a fraud. However, getting your hair colored, a facial, wearing make up and doing your nails are all a fraud too. Except, these things do tend to make women feel good.

How much of that ego boost is from the pampering aspect of a haircut (oh, two hours without my screaming kids!) and how much of it is from your improved appearance I’m not sure. You wouldn’t get the pampering effect from surgery – you’d just get a painful recovery period.

What is the definition of cosmetic surgery? Is botox surgery? Is dermabrasion? Is a facial? Does it count if you only use a local anesthetic?

I think if you are looking to improve your appearance, surgically or otherwise, you need to be realistic. A nose job will not change your life. Changing your appearance won’t make you a better person. It just makes you look better, after the swelling goes down.

And be careful, or you might wind up looking like the infamous Cat Lady, Jocelyn Wildenstein.

In case you were wondering, Sally Field is 61, Madonna and Jamie Lee are about to turn 50. I think all of them look great.

Jamie Lee Curtis is shown on 1/11/07, thanks to WENN. Sally Field is shown on 9/16/07 at the Primetime Emmy Awards and Maddona is shown on 2/6/08 at her Raising Kabbalah benefit with her daughter Lourdes on 2/6/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Kathie Lee Gifford is rumored to be joining “The Today Show” for a hosting stint for its fourth hour. The perky 54 year-old host with a diva reputation left the then “Live with Regis & Kathie Lee” show after 15 years in July 2000 and has been concentrating on her singing career and doing charity work. Since leaving “Live,” she’s done occasional TV and guest appearances, and worked as a correspondent for “The Insider” in 2005.

It’s pretty obvious that Kathie Lee has had more than a few visits to her plastic surgeon’s office. Her face looks way too smooth and pulled and she’s starting to look like Priscilla Presley. Kathie Lee lives in New York so she probably wasn’t a victim of that Argentinian quack who was injecting Hollywood’s elite with car fluid, but she must be going to someone who’s willing to do excessive work on her.

There is an alternative to the two extremes of too much plastic surgery and aging naturally. My mother had a face lift about five years ago and she let it settle. At first it was obvious but within a few months it looked natural on her and it’s not as easy to tell. She looks better than she did before and it’s not glaringly obvious that she’s had work done.

It looks to me like Gifford had more than one face lift along with ongoing maintenance that results in a mask-like effect on her face.

I had trouble finding any photos of Kathie Lee “before,” because she looked about the same and must have had a face lift years ago. In the 2003 image in the header above, you can tell she’s had something done but she doesn’t look freaky.

In a 2000 interview with Larry King, Kathie Lee didn’t exactly deny having plastic surgery, but said she wasn’t going to get “more” and skirted around the issue by saying she was afraid of it. It seems like she got over that quickly.

KING: The story was that you wanted to [get plastic surgery] and [your husband Frank] didn’t want you to.

GIFFORD: But I wanted more. Last year, it was that I was leaving the show or something like that because I was going to have a million dollars worth of plastic surgery. Now, that hurt, you know. Do I need a million dollars worth?

KING: So you’ve never had and you don’t intend to have it.

GIFFORD: I don’t intend to do it.

KING: But you would have if you felt you needed to?

GIFFORD: You know what, yes, I probably would. You know what, just to feel — I probably would. But I haven’t done, you know, anything that I’m ashamed of, and I’m certainly not going to be ashamed of it if I have it down.

[CNN transcript via Awful Plastic Surgery]

Kathie Lee Gifford is shown in January and February of this year, thanks to PRPhotos. Thanks to The National Enquirer for the idea for this story as they covered this in their recent issue.

There’s a lot to be said for aging gracefully. Not so much in Hollywood, but as a general principle. In the entertainment industry, it seems to be a matter of extremes – people either age horrendously, or not at all. Joan Van Ark, of “Knots Landing” fame, seems to be the former. If she looked old and ragged because she’d resisted the pressures of Hollywood and hadn’t gotten any work done, I’d congratulate her. Instead she looks old, ragged, pulled, snipped, clipped, and tightened because it seems she gave in to every single pressure… and every single knife, scalpel, syringe, and toxin. Hooooooollllllleeeeee crap. How do you go out looking like that? I can’t imagine that the heavy white makeup makes it look any better. How could she possibly look worse?

If actress Joan Van Ark of Knots Landing fame could turn back time – it’s safe to say the actress might think twice before ruining her once stunning looks with cosmetic surgery Van Ark, 64, was seen at a benefit in Hollywood wearing a sober suit, and mask-like make-up which failed to hide the fact that she has appeared to have been under the surgeon’s knife. Several times.

The actress’ shocking appearance was not aided by her painted on eyebrows and heavy eye make-up which failed to conceal her blotchy skin. And bizarrely she appeared to have forgotten to add lipstick to her highly-plumped lips – which had the effect of making her look cadaverous.

Ironically, Van Ark, who clearly is not the poster girl for cosmetic surgery, has recently filmed a guest appearance on the plastic surgery based drama Nip/Tuck. According to an insider both actresses required hours of hair and makeup preparation, and rail-thin Joan was said to have only consumed several glasses of water with honey and one banana – all day. It also reportedly took four hours to set up the onset lighting to perfectionist Van Ark’s complete satisfaction.

[From the Daily Mail]

Um, if Joan Van Ark is a perfectionist, how in the world did she let herself walk out of her house looking like that? I wish you could hear my hysterical tone in which that’s meant to be said. I know Hollywood is a brutal place and lighting can be unkind, but there’s a limit. At some point, you’ve just messed your face up and there’s really no excusing it. I can’t help but wonder if she has body dysmorphic disorder. That could explain what appears to be a complete inability to stop with the surgery. I’ve always heard one of the keys to successful cosmetic surgery is to get things done one at a time, and before they become big problems. That way it’s less noticeable, and you can evaluate your progress. Maybe Van Ark went under the knife for several things all at once, and came out with tragic consequences. I’m just babbling here, in a desperate attempt to try and understand how anyone could make themselves look this way.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Joan Van Ark is shown on 12/1/07 at a Reading of A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” in Honor of AIDS Day at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, thanks to PRPhotos.

Lindsay Lohan’s little 13 year-old sister, Ali, had everyone buzzing with how grown up she’s looking in the promo shots for her mother’s new reality show on E! US Weekly notes that she looks nothing like her freckled older sister did at that age. Lindsay was fresh-faced and wide-eyed at 13 while Ali looks at least 18. We all thought Ali’s older look had to do with her tousled hair and mature makeup, but it might also be attributed to plastic surgery.

Compare the header photo of Ali on 12/22/06 at the launch of her Christmas album with the photo of her that was recently released. Either someone shaved off her features with photoshop or a doctor did it the old fashioned way. She’s not that young, though. Ali turns 14 at the end of next month. That’s old enough for plastic surgery, right? May as well get new boobs and a nose job when you can attribute the drastic changes in your body to the natural process of maturing, like Lindsay did when her chest popped up overnight.

What do you guys think? Did Ali get a new nose?

Thanks to Star Magazine for pointing this out in their latest issue.

Nicole Kidman insists that she hasn’t had plastic surgery. Excuse me while I snicker at the fact that her face doesn’t move while she says this. At first I gave her the benefit of the doubt, because botox isn’t technically surgery, but she also says there’s nothing in her face.

To be honest, I am completely natural,” Kidman tells Marie Claire magazine. “I have nothing in my face or anything,” she says. “I wear sunscreen, and I don’t smoke. I take care of myself. And I’m very proud to say that.”

Melbourne Herald Sun

Well Nic, there’s no expression in your unnaturally smooth face, if that’s what you mean by nothing in it.

Actually, given that Nicole may have been the most freckled redhead in the Australia at the start of her career, maybe she has kept out of the sun. After all, once you get freckles removed you have to stay out of the sun to keep them at bay.

Nic doesn’t have a problem with plastic surgery, adding that “Anybody can do anything to themselves, their bodies”.

Nicole also says that falling in love is her best beauty secret. Nicole did look pretty amazing at the Australian Record Industry Association Awards, at her husband’s side in a see-through mini dress. It was great to see her supporting her lower profile partner, who won the award for Best Country Album, and dedicated it to her.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicole Kidman is shown on 10/28/07 at the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Awards in Sydney. The woman she is posing with is Australian singer Delta Goodrem. She is also shown at the UN Development Fund For Women’s Unifem White Tie Dinner on 8/1/07. Thanks to WENN.

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony made an appearance at a public school in the Bronx yesterday to help kick off their upcoming joint concert tour. Lopez had everyone speculating that despite her husband’s rep saying she’s not pregnant, she’s just delaying an announcement until it’s absolutely necessary. She wore a lose billowy gray short dress (not exactly a muumuu, but I took some license) and a black hat.

Her face also looked curiously puffy, which some say could be an indication of pregnancy hormones or weight gain. To me it looks like she had some minor work done recently and is trying to hide the swelling by wearing a hat.

Lopez grew up near the school she visited with Anthony, and she got a little choked up around the kids. Marc Anthony is from Spanish Harlem and noted that one of his old teachers is now the principal at the school:

But Lopez clearly was touched by the hundreds of fans who swarmed the sidewalks and the school’s choir, which sang for the couple.

“We look at you and we see ourselves,” Lopez said. “I can remember doing little songs at school and being onstage and dreaming of great things. And seeing all of you so full of beauty and life and energy, and knowing that - how far you can go - it still touches my heart.”

Anthony recognized P.S. 36 Principal Nilda Rivera as a teacher of his when he was growing up in Spanish Harlem.

“She was a huge part of my youth,” Anthony said.

[From NY Daily News]

The News notes that Anthony and Lopez will donate $1 from each concert ticket sold to the ING Run for Something Better Program, an exercise program for children that aims to help prevent and treat child obesity. The school Anthony and Lopez visited participates in the program.

If Lopez isn’t pregnant she could be undergoing fertility treatments that are making her a bit bloated. Even if she’s self conscious of that, she’s probably loving the speculation. I doubt that it would make her face all swollen like that though.

Anyone with enough time and money can have perfect breasts – but picking the breasts you might like to have takes a little longer. UK scientist Patrick Mallucci spent many hours of research looking for the perfect breast to aid you in your decision. His research involved looking at lad’s magazines. Some people really have the worst jobs, don’t they?

In his lecture, titled Concepts in Design for Breast Augmentation, he will express the hope that his insights are used by surgeons providing breast enlargements.

The operation is Britain’s most popular cosmetic surgery procedure, with 6,156 performed last year.

Mr Mallucci said: “I studied a wide variety of photographs of the most popular topless models to work out the various proportions they had in common and what made those particular features attractive.

“These findings allowed me to form a template around which to plan a breast augmentation, and set a standard of aesthetics.

“Obviously personal interpretation and expression has to be accounted for, but this has allowed me to develop a template that I have been using successfully for some time.”

The key aesthetic elements are nipple position and the proportion between the upper and lower halves of the breast, he said.

“The ideal is a 45 to 55 per cent proportion - that is the nipple sits not at the half-way mark down the breast, but at about 45 per cent from the top.”

He added: “All of the models I looked at conformed to these parameters. None of them were augmentedand yet they were clearly considered to have beautiful breasts, so I wanted to examine how that could be achieved in someone not so well-endowed by using an implant.

“It’s about wanting to create something as close to perfection as possible.”

Daily Mail

Apparently Victoria Beckham’s ‘unnaturally round’ boobs are out, and a UK model and actress by the name of Caprice has a perfect pair. Despite Posh’s breasts not being scientifically appealing, many people still request them when they go in for an augmentation surgery. Almost as many request Caprice’s breasts in Britain and if you’re interested, a Texan surgeon is now offering a breast augmentation procedure that takes 30 minutes, then you go home, have a nap, wash your hair and go out for dinner. All the while screaming in agony I assume.

Posh herself seems to be learning that her sex appeal may not be translating well in her new home across the Atlantic – she’s said to be planning a stint with the Pussycat Dolls. That’s the Las Vegas burlesque troupe and not the pop band.

“They’ve been blown away by Victoria since she arrived in LA,” a source said.

“They love her style and think she has the perfect figure for the group.

“They are all huge Spice Girl fans and can’t wait to have her on stage with them.”

ninemsn.com

Other celebrities that have danced with the troupe include Pamela Anderson, Denise Richards, Tori Spelling, Eva Longoria, and Nicolette Sheridan. I think that Victoria is going to be fighting fit for her Spice Girls tour, and is going to absolutely blow everyone away. If she doesn’t snap like a twig.

Header image from the Daily Mail. Image below from Pretty On The Outside.

Porn Queen Jenna Jameson had her gigantic breast implants removed, and looks a lot less scary. I’m not going to say she looks good, because that would imply that weighing 74 pounds looks good. But it looks better than weighing 74 pounds with 20 pound implants strapped on. Jameson had the implants removed to mark her retirement from the porn industry. While most businesses mark your retirement with a gold watch, removing your implants seems like a pretty sensible porn equivalent. The only thing that would complete the cycle would be if she then sold them on eBay. No word on that though. Jenna says that she now is a lot more comfortable with her body, and no longer feels self-conscious about the implants. Apparently before, she was – gasp! – shy at the beach! She also was a modest granny, and often wore high-necked clothes when she wasn’t partaking in porn-related activities. Jameson gave the lowdown to US Weekly.

On how removing the implants changed her:
“Even for women with naturally large boobs, getting a reduction is so freeing. I feel like I can stand up straighter…before, when I jogged, I had to hold my boobs. I looked like I was molesting myself!”

On how she felt postsurgery:
“Ecstatic. The first thing I did when I got home was open my bra. I wasn’t supposed to but I did. I was so happy, I cried. It was like looking into the mirror when I was 17.”

On whether she’s done with porn forever:
“Yes. A hundred percent.”

On who will play her in a movie about her life:
“I would love Scarlett Johansson to play me. I think Rachel McAdams is amazing, and Sienna Miller.”

On celebrating her one-year anniversary with boyfriend Tito:
“I had my surgery while he was in Iraq on a USO tour. He was so excited: ‘I’m coming home to brand new boobies.’”

[From US Weekly]

I love the actresses she wants to play her. Two out of three are very elegant and pretty, and it makes sense that someone would like them, but they’re waaaaay above Jenna Jameson. Sienna Miller would probably be good though. And she’s not about much of anyone. While Jameson is done with porn forever, she will continue to run her porn-related business ventures, like her $30 million-a-year ClubJenna empire. She’ll also be working on her comic book and a clothing line. I’m guessing that clothing line will be filled with high-necked garments, since that’s what Jameson prefers.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Jenna at the Annual “Night of 100 Stars” Oscar Gala in February. Image thanks to PR Photos.

Does Nicole Kidman have Peter Pan syndrome or what? She’s dressed like an 80s Barbie doll and she’s going to a UN dinner for God’s sake, not the premiere of children’s movie in which she stars as a benevolent fairy.

Her face is also, as usual, unnaturally smooth looking. I can see the appeal in eradicating wrinkles, but you don’t have to infantilize yourself in a warped attempt to look younger. She was out with her parents, though, so maybe she was feeling particularly childish.

I found these new pictures of Lauren Bacall today and that reminded me of the time she lashed out at a British interviewer for calling Kidman a legend when they were doing press for their movie “Birth” in late 2004. Bacall said:
”She’s a beginner. What is this ‘legend’? She can’t be a legend at whatever age she is. She can’t be a legend, you have to be older.” [Quote found at Entertainment Weekly]

Bacall has definitely had a facelift, but she didn’t go overboard and she’s not getting enough maintenance for it to be noticeable. She’s 83 and she looks incredible. My mom had a facelift and she’s settled into it and looks great, not cat-like or freakish. I’m sure I’ll go that route in 20 years too. I also like the way Bacall looks annoyed in some of these photos, like she’s warning people not to mess with her while she’s doing her PR bit. Bacall is currently film Wild Blue Yonder, a film about an old dude who goes to great lengths to make sure his friend is buried at sea, in which she stars with Brian Cox, the evil Senator mastermind from the Bourne series. I hope I live to be at least 90, and I know I’ll be one of those ornery old ladies who is a tough cookie but can be nice when its called for, kind of like Bacall must be.

How long do you think it will be before 40 year-old Kidman starts showing the effects of too much work? She’s teetering on the brink now, and given the way she dresses you know she’s not about to age gracefully.

Thanks to WENN for the pictures of Kidman at the UN Development Fund For Women’s Unifem White Tie Dinner in Sydney Australia last night, and PRPhotos for the pictures of Bacall at a photoshoot in Boca Raton, also on on 8/1.

Update: Just Jared points out that the event Kidman was at was in support of the White Ribbon Foundation, which “seeks to eliminate violence against women by promoting cultural change.” That still doesn’t excuse her dress.

I can’t explain it, and I should be embarrassed to admit it, but I love Star Jones gossip. Probably because she’s just so dense. Not literally dense, but in the sense that she just seemed to have no clue how tacky and disliked she was. It did seem to sink in after a while, and she admitted that in hindsight her wedding was overdone, as was her obsession with talking about it. So if nothing else, it’s nice to see some growth in terms of self-awareness. In anticipation of her upcoming show on CourtTV, Jones is writing a confession of sorts for Glamour magazine, out August 7th. Titled “Getting Over Myself,” the piece discusses her dramatic weight loss of an estimated 150 pounds. In the past, all Jones would say was that she had “medical intervention.” Of course that could mean ten different things. Most believe that she had gastric bypass surgery, considering how quickly she lost a dramatic amount of weight.

“The Star power hour will be a chatty daily compendium of the top stories from the worlds of law, news, pop culture and entertainment. In other words, it’ll be everything from Scooter Libby to Paris Hilton to “Harry Potter.” At least that’s the plan.

“’Provocative television that’s entertaining and relevant — not for insult or embarrassment purposes, but for inspirational purposes and entertainment purposes,’ is how Jones described her hopes for the tone of her show to TV critics during a Court TV news conference Sunday morning.”

[From the Detroit Free Press]

It sounds like Star is trying pretty hard to make nice, and that’s a good thing. She’s acknowledged that she was self-absorbed and given to ridiculous extravagances in the past. I think her “talent” for self promotion, and the way it annoyed people, really clouded the fact that she’s pretty sharp. She was a New York City criminal prosecutor before joining “The View.” If she could wipe out all her boasting for good, she could still have a really great career ahead of her.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Star Jones is shown in her side career as a lobbyist in a picture from 4/23/07 in which she was visiting Congress on behalf of First Star, which strives to bring awareness to child abuse. It was also sponsored by Build a Bear workshop, so surely she got paid. Thanks to WENN for this picture.