At 65, was Liz Smith really too old to play a resident in an old peoples home?
In view of the news that the actress Liz Smith has been dropped from a production because a fellow actor deemed her too old for the part, we asked member of the profession: are older actors and actresses discriminated against? Margaret Robertson, Actress ‘The problem arises with a generation of directors weaned on TV naturalism. You audition in a tiny room and they see how old you look offstage. This has nothing whatsoever to do with how you appear onstage. It’s a mental thing. An actor can shed 20 years. To be able to capture innocence and cope with the verse you probably need to be 50 to play Juliet. But everyone insists on casting teenagers and wonder why they fail.’ Michelle Guish, Casting Director ‘I’ve never come across discrimination against older actresses. All that you have to do is make sure they’re not infirm. If it’s a good part it’s easy to cast because there are so many of them out there. Look at Thora Hird, she’s never out of work. Trouble is, there are so many more part
