It was the film that made Dustin Hoffman a household name. 1967's The Graduate offered up one of the most famous cougar/cub relationships in existence. But in reality, sexual relationships between older women and younger men have been going on for a long time.
1533-1603 -- Queen Elizabeth I lusted after after several of her young courtiers. History doesn't tell us whether any of these passions were consummated, but heck, she was the Queen! She probably got a little.
1726-1796 -- Catherine the Great enjoyed a string of younger male companions, with the age difference ranging as high as 40 years. Nicely done, Empress Catherine!
1893-1980 -- Mae West loved men of all ages.
1920 -- Novelist Colette scandalized Paris by, among other things, having an affair with her stepson.
1950 -- Sunset Boulevard portrays the killer cougar! Joe Gillis (William Holden) tells Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) to get over herself, because "there’s nothing tragic about being fifty."
1971 -- Harold and Maude takes the cougar/cub thing just a little too far, in my humble opinion.
1983 -- Mary Tyler Moore wed Dr. Robert Levine, a cardiologist 15 years her junior, and they're still going strong today!
1986 -- Cher made headlines with her intense affair with actor/bartender Rob Camilletti, a cubby 22 to her 40. Gotta love her!
1991 -- Elizabeth Taylor married construction worker Larry Fortensky, 20 years her junior. Of course, this union didn't last any longer than her others, but that probably had more to do with the fact that they met in rehab than their ages.
1998 -- While Kim Cattrall's alter ego, Samantha on Sex and the City, engaged in sexy cougar/cub affairs, Kim was enjoying relationships with younger men off-screen as well.
2002 -- Joan Collins married fifth husband Percy Gibson, a whopping 32 years her junior. Here's hoping we all look that good in our seventies!
2009-2010 -- Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins call it quits, but Demi and Ashton are still going strong!
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7 comments:
hi Helen, I totally love these facotems. Way cool! And Smith's relationship with Samantha was so touching. (And I'm glad it was she who broke them up in the movie, not him.)
Good topic!
And don't forget the current great Kathryn...Kathryn Bigelow, the Oscar winning director of The Hurt Locker. Her current love is Mark Boal, the Oscar winning writer of The Hurt Locker. Kathryn is 58 and her cutie is 37. Our girl is carrying forward a fine tradition!
I loved Kim Cattrall's character in SITC. Yep, she had some hotties. :-)
There have been and always will be cougars.. What's wrong with older women and younger men?? Men have had younger women forever. Tit for Tat..LOL..
Very informative post, Helen. Love it!
What an interesting article and I enjoyed it very much. A few items I never even gave any thought to. Thanks for sharing. susan L.
I really don't know why people make such a big deal about an age difference. LOL - as you point out it's been happening for a long time. :)
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