Hello Magazine has a new interview with Linda Evans, 78, featuring photos of her at home on the 70 acre estate in Washington state where she’s lived since 2000. Her sister, nephew and stepdaughter from her relationship with John Derek live there with her. (Linda was married to John from 1968 to 1974, before he married Bo Derek. He passed in 1998.) Linda’s home is decorated in a country style with some high end touches. She told Hello that she designed additions to it and added large windows for natural light. I enjoyed her interview, which had a lot of wisdom and positivity, and wanted to talk about it. She’s promoting Swan Song, her new movie on Apple +, which stars Udo Kier and features Jennifer Coolidge. Linda plays a woman whose will stipulates that her old hairdresser (Kier) come back to do her hair and makeup for her funeral. The trailer made me laugh out loud and it includes a quote from my friend Kristy Puchko at Pajiba about what a funny, smart movie it is. I’m definitely watching this one. Here’s some of Linda’s interview. It’s worth picking up Hello! for the rest.
How do you feel about ageing?
Life is a much more beautiful game later on in life.I’ve learned something I longed to know when I was young, and that is self-love. I’ve learnt what it means to love yourself, to become your own best friend, and it is amazing. That’s why I have such a comfort in me. I don’t need much because I’m really a happy person.
As you get older, you look back on life and you learn the things that seem the worst were actually your greatest teachers. Everything in life has meaning and if you pay attention to it and learn from it, you can see life in a totally different way.
I think our 50s and 60s are the best years of our life. Women glow in their 50s. I’ve travelled the world as a speaker and I tell women anything is possible.
What has life taught you about love? Are you in a relationship?
I’m happy on my own at the moment. It’s not that a man can’t make you happy – I’ve been so blessed to have such extraordinary relationship and I wouldn’t have missed one of them – but you don’t have to. It’s not a case of either/or; it’s and/and.The relationship itself will be great when you love yourself and you don’t need another to fill that place.
Do you still lead an active lifestyle?
I could be busy every day just running this property. It’s like a little city – I have roads, wells, solar panels, fruit trees and a garden to tend to. I grow everything, from lettuce, potatoes and squash to tomatoes and herbs. I could be busy here 24 hours a day.I also adore yoga. I wish I’d discovered it earlier. Yoga will keep you marching up a mountain at 85 or 90 years old. You’re building from the inside out. It’s a great investment in your future.
[From Hello Magazine, print edition, August 17, 2021]
I love reading interviews with older women who promise that it gets better. I’ve already seen how much my life has improved since I’ve hit my 40s and have more time to focus on myself. I’m sure as I get older I’ll care even less about what other people think. Plus I know myself better and can make sure my life is set up more like I want it to be. Of course it’s easy to say these things when you have plenty of money to live the way you want. She sounds grounded though, and like she’s really grateful for everything.
photos credit: Avalon.red and via Instagram
She’s gorgeous! She looks older but still very beautiful and like she’d done some work on her face, but nothing too much
The interview is fantastic and she is gorgeous, but PLEASE! She has had (larger unnecessary, given how beautiful she is) massive work — the main photo is completely unrecognizable. She looks like Carol Burnett now. But I grew up looking at her face, so I likely know it better than younger people.
As someone who also grew up looking at her face I have to respectfully disagree that she’s had major work done. She has had some work for sure but in that one photo she just looks like an aging woman whose face is showing perhaps more weight than she used to carry.
I agree, I’m sure she’s had some minor work done but she looks fantastic. In the first picture especially she looks like she could be Jill Biden’s sister.
I think she’s had her lips done. But that’s about all I can tell. Changing the lips does seem to make a major difference to a person’s face (i.e see Kylie Jenner).
I would say she had a face lift at some point. At 78 gravity takes it toll.
Yeah, you’re right, I think. Her chin doesn’t have any skin hanging.
I’m so glad you posted this. I saw this trailer I think on The AV Club but totally forgot about it. I have to see this, it looks amazing.
It really looks like a fun movie, doesn’t it? I’m definitely going to see it.
Linda Evans has always exuded class & grace. I remember when she was with Yani back in the day, they were a hot couple (at least to my teenaged self).
I had a co-worker back in the day who was into Yanni. She called him “Captain Orgasm.” LOL. Wonder what he’s up to these days?
This is some great news to read after having had a rough few weeks of stressing about my aging parents and aunt and uncle. Three of the four of them were not super physically active and they are paying the price now in their 80s in many horrific ways, from serious heart problems to memory and cognition issues. My dad, who has always been active and athletic, is by far the healthiest. Staying active in middle age is a must, I’m realizing. I have actually stepped up my working out in my 50s versus scaling back in any way.
She looks absolutely gorgeous, too. I hadn’t heard about Swan Song, I’m looking forward to checking it out.
I’m sorry about your family Esmom. It’s so stressful.
I have done the same. I always say, ” I do this today because I can and so that tomorrow I still can. “
Me, too. I have every intention of doing what I can while I can.
Thanks, Darla. It is stressful. And I am grateful every day that I get to move and that my brain is still functioning semi well. And I realize there are no guarantees, either. What a journey this life can be.
I am sorry your family members aren’t well.
I am old. It’s important to stay active and eat right. Live as stress-free as you can. It makes a big difference. Why not hedge your bets.
However. We don’t always get what we “ deserve”. A lot of illness is out of our control. People who never smoked get lung cancer. People who did everything right get inflammatory bowel disease and heart disease and arthritis and so on and on.
Thank you, Tom. I agree about hedging your bets and know there are no guarantees, as I mentioned to Darla above.
I would add getting proper sleep to the mix. I think a big piece of the puzzle that really hurt my mom was unchecked anxiety and insomnia for many decades. Her memory seems to be just shutting down a little more every day. I recently read that a study showed that insomnia in your 50s can lead to dementia in your 70s and she seems to be an example of just that. I know insomnia is a red flag for anxiety…taking care of mental health is so important, too, and I wish my mom hadn’t dismissed it for so long.
Thanks for this reminder @Esmom Anxiety and proper rest are areas that I have always struggled with…
Absolutely right. I couldn’t exercise for a week and just stayed in. I just reached 40. I kept lying down and had the worst sore aches. It was then I realised it’s very important for seniors to keep active in some way instead of just staying home.
Yes. I think the pandemic really hit some seniors especially hard, even if they managed to avoid Covid. I think my parents’ accelerated decline has come in part from being home and isolated so much for the past year and a half.
Feeling contrary this morning…so over wealthy 50/60 something women going on about how amazing these years are, yadayada. I’m mid50’s and while yes, definitely have more of a DGAF attitude about things it’s also been, so far, an incredibly challenging decade. It is God awful if you find yourself unexpectedly laid off and job searching (12 months and counting)…..and single (no regrets on that choice, except for the financial aspect) with an awareness that 65 is looming, rapidly, but realistically you’ll be working well beyond that since there is no one to split the expenses with and a nonprofit career, while incredibly rewarding, is not remotely lucrative and chances are when/if you do find another job it’s going to come with a significant decrease in salary. *sigh*. Sorry for the Debbie Downer vent first thing on a Monday, this just hit a nerve.
On the positive, this movie looks like fun so maybe I’ll watch and my mood will improve.
Well she’s in her 70s so is she saying her best years are behind her?
I think people need to state a certain age to make themselves feel better. You can feel like shit at 30 or 50 or 80. Depends on the person.
I don’t think there is a best decade. But I think some people face problems early in life. And others face problems later. Depending on when you face less problems, that’s likely the decade you’d view as the best.
I don’t want to hear a wealthy person in their 50s (i.e J-Lo or Jennifer Aniston?) saying their life isn’t great though (even if it might be slightly true). That’s just depressing.
Ah, AnnaC, I get you.
AnnC:
Totally agree. My 50s suck. And if I hear the word “reinvention” one more time, I am going to scream.
I will say my 40s were amazing!
AnnaC, I’m pretty much in the same boat as you. I’m 62, with no plans to retire anytime soon. People think you live large when you’re single, but if your salary is just middling, you lose a lot of ground over the years without that second income from a spouse.
However, unbelievably, I got a promotion last December. I had no plans to go for the job, but my then-manager said, “You really should apply.” I figured, well, okay; why not? And I got the position, including a nice pay bump. So it’s still possible to move up the career ladder at our age. There are employers out there who realize we can bring a lot to the table.
@annac I’ll be contrary with you. I rolled my eyes at the headline.
I found this less distressing to read than an interview with Kristen Scott-Thomas.
I find it a little depressing when beautiful women complain about getting older so this was better.
Only if you are wealthy Linda
I’m not wealthy but I have to say my sixties have been my best decade. Despite dealing with menopause, breast cancer, the loss of my family and best friend, that’s life. We learn from every damn experience we have, good or bad. I’m wiser, I’m healthy, I have a loving partner and I will enjoy every year of my life that remains come hell or high water.
Didn’t her first husband leave her for Bo Derek, who was like 17? Her twenties and early thirties would have been wasted on some guy who left her for a younger woman. I can kind of see why she thinks her later years were better.
For her generation and the way the times were changing, she was probably given the emotional and spatial freedom to thrive in her 40s, 50s, 60s. (I think her wealth helps, of course, I wouldn’t dispute that).
I just turned 60. I’ve lost all but 1 sibling, my immediate family has passed on young.
As for health, IMO, flexibility, balance and try to keep weight from over taking you.
Her opinions are her experience. Her wealth cushions her lifestyle/health.
I’m 53, working full time and then some, raising a teenager as a single parent, helping out with an aging parent, and trying to keep up with a house and yard. Please tell me more about how this phase of my life makes me glow.
I’ve liked every generation that I’ve experienced. As a woman pushing 60, I wish I was thinner and firmer, but I’m pretty happy! It’s easier to enjoy getting older when you have the money she has. It’s a big privilege. Me? I’ll work until I’m 100 probably.
I assure you that she has had major work. And so what? I would too.
She’s wealthy and privileged but after having to do that sex scene with Joe Don Baker in Mitchell (which is what I ALWAYS think of her in) I’ll say she’s earned it– bleh!!
According to her Wikipedia, her first husband convinced her to do Playboy. I did not know this.
If it’s a woman’s choice to do Playboy, that’s fine. But if a man has to persuade you to do it, then I don’t know — she may have had some struggles, I think, despite whatever privilege she has now.
John Derek was a narcissistic douchebag who liked to pimp out his wives. He got a thrill out of showing off their naked bodies to other men, knowing they would never “have” them the way he did. He gaslit his wives into thinking they were sexually hung up if they didn’t go along. He liked to pass off his sybaritic lifestyle as “sexually liberated,” when in reality, it was just about him getting to do what HE wanted to do — what his wives may have wanted didn’t factor into it at all. I think he did a real number on both Linda Evans and Bo Derek, and probably Ursula Andress (wife # 1), too.
Y’all, I’m one of those “life in my 50s is amazing women,” even though my life has been really fucking hard, especially in the last few years. I annoy myself with my positivity, so I get it if you want to flip me off.
But if people aren’t done with this post by now I do want to hear more from women who don’t agree or who are struggling, because there’s clearly more we can do to support each other. What would be most meaningful to you? Thank you for raising your voices!
Linda was won a Marco Pierre White celebrity cooking show, and was absolutely lovely.
Maybe men enjoy this time of their lives, but women? Hmmm let’s see…perimenopause is f*cking hell. That’s all I’ve got to say and I’m not even 50 yet. Does it get better? I doubt it. I better be a man in my next life.
It does get better. I’m 68, been through the hell of menopause and breast cancer but learned how to mitigate most of the problems. So as far as I’m concerned, my sixties have been a great decade because I’ve gained wisdom, patience, and don’t subscribe to self-pity in a world where half the population is starving, forced into war and facing certain death. Think about it.
Well I’m in my late sixties. Survived breast cancer and a few other serious health issues.Had some bad relationships that broke my heart and my spirit. I’m not rich but I have enough to have a modestly comfortable life. I have a great partner now, and both of us have the same goals — to work out, eat healthy and live our senior years as best as we can. Menopause was a bitch but I’ve found natural treatments that mitigate the worst of it. I recently lost my best friend of 45 years and have found that meditation helps enormously in dealing with the grief and sense of loss. It’s not that Linda’s rich and has an amazing home that gives her satisfaction, it seems to come from within. Rich people have problematic issues and bad relationships and loss too. Even if I was a millionaire, it wouldn’t change the sadness I feel on the death of my BFF, it’s how you approach these inevitable situations with gratitude and grace. I’m grateful she was in my life for so long and taught me many good things that I’ll remember. Maybe that’s where Linda is at.