A Star Is Born

In a youth obsessed Hollywood, there is a type of woman whose appeal doesn't diminish with age.

For teenage boys of Nick's generation actress and comedienne Suzanne Pleshette (who died this past week) had just as much sex appeal as younger starlets Ali MacGraw or the cast of Charlie's Angels.

To the generation earlier, the alluring older woman was Barbara Stanwyck whose role of matriarch Victoria Barkley in The Big Valley (1965-1969) set the standard for the glamorous older woman.

Indeed, she was the 'older woman' (by four years) in her second marriage to Robert Taylor which, although lasting 12 years was tempestuous for them both.

But back onto the Stanwyck legacy. Outstanding films like Double Indemnity, Stella Dallas and The Lady Eve, also earned her the title of the finest actress never to have won an Oscar.

Also in another bit of trivia, Stanwyck starred alongside Linda Evans in two series - The Big Valley and Dynasty.