A little while ago, we at Look Fabulous Forever decided we'd like to do something a bit different to celebrate International Women's Day on 8th March...
We wanted, with your help, to create a list of 60 women over the age of 60 who are still making an important contribution to society, either publicly in their field of expertise or in their local community. A list that would be inspirational not only to older women, but to younger women who may feel life becomes less interesting and fulfilling as we age
We decided to focus on those over 60 as there are already plenty of lists that include women over 50, but none as far as we know, that only include women over 60 which used to be the traditional retirement age.
These women could be well known, for example Prue Leith or Margaret Atwood, but we also wanted the list to go into areas including science, law, medicine, sport, music, academia and politics.
We asked the incredible Look Fabulous Forever Community to nominate who ever they wanted to and over 150 women were suggested.
Over the past week, over 850 of you have been voting for the top 60 - and here they are!
1. Queen Elizabeth II
94
Category - Other
She needs no introduction! HRH The Queen has been on the throne for nearly 69 years making her the longest serving British monarch in history.
2. Dame Judi Dench
86
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British actress who has starred in many, many acclaimed theatre productions, TV series and major Hollywood films. Her most well-known roles include Mrs Brown, Philomena and M in Skyfall.
3. Baronness Betty Boothroyd
91
Category - Business, Politics & Law
British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. From 1992 to 2000, she served as Speaker of the House of Commons. She is the only woman to have served as Speaker.
4. Dame Jane Goodall
86
Category - Medicine & Science
English primatologist and anthropologist who has dedicated her life to protecting chimpanzees in the wild as well as championing conservation
5. Dame Esther Rantzen
80
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series That's Life! for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and founded the charities ChildLine, promoting child protection, which she set up in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness in older people's lives, which she set up in November 2012
6. Dolly Parton
75
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
Legendary star of country music famous for many, many hits including 9 to 5 and Jolene
7. Dame Mary Beard
66
Category - Education & Charity
Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Newnham College, and Royal Academy of Arts Professor of Ancient Literature. Presenter of numerous TV and radio programmes and author of several books including Woman and Power, and SPRR: A History of Ancient Rome
8. Joanna Lumley OBE
74
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist best known for her roles as Purdey in The Avengenrs and Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous
9. Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin MBE
60
Category - Other
British Anglican bishop, who has been suffragan Bishop of Dover since 2019: she is the first black woman to become a Church of England bishop
10. Princess Anne
70
Category - Education & Charity
The Princess Royal holds patronage within over 300 organisations, including WISE, Riders for Health, and Carers Trust. Her charity work revolves around sport, sciences, people with disabilities, and health in developing countries. She has been associated with Save the Children for over fifty years
11. Dame Julie Walters
70
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
English actress, comedian, and author. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Fellowship, and a Golden Globe
12. Prue Leith CBE
80
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British-South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, businesswoman, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. Most recently presenter of The Great British Bake Off
13. Carol Klein
75
Category - Other
English gardening expert, who also works as a television presenter and newspaper columnist
14. Meryl Streep
71
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
American actress and singer. Often described as the "best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accents. Her most well-known films include Out of Africa, The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia!. She has won three Oscars and nine Golden Globes
15. Caroline Lucas MP
60
Category - Business, Politics & Law
British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elected in the 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections, increasing her majority each time
16. Baroness Doreen Lawrence
71
Category - Business, Politics & Law
British Jamaican campaigner and the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager who was murdered in an attack in South East London in 1993. She promoted reforms of the police service and founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.
17. Dame Lesley Lawson (Twiggy)
71
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
English model, actress, and singer, she was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during the Swinging Sixties in London. Since then she has gone on to front campaigns for Marks & Spencer and most recently started her own podcast Tea with Twiggy
18. Sandi Tosvig
62
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
British-Danish writer, comedian, broadcaster, actor, podcaster, and producer on British radio, stage, and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written plays, novels, and books for children.
19. Dame Joan Bakewell
87
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is President of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an author and playwright, and has been awarded Humanist of the year for services to humanism.
20. Dame Hilary Mantel
68
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
English writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. She has won the Booker Prize twice for Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies
21. Oprah Winfrey
67
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist
22. Professor Wendy Savage
85
Category - Medicine & Science
British gynaecologist, and advocate and campaigner of women's rights in childbirth and fertility. Professor Savage read medicine at Girton College, Cambridge. She qualified in 1960, and was the first woman consultant to be appointed in obstetrics and gynaecology at The London Hospital
23. Angela Merkel
66
Category - Business, Politics & Law
Leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and German Chancellor since 2005
24. Lady Mary Peters
Category - Sport
Northern Ireland's most successful athlete, she won a gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich in the pentathlon
25. Duchess of Cornwall
73
Category - Education & Charity
Wife of Price of Wales, charity patron and since 1994, has taken action on osteoporosis, earning honours and awards. She has also raised awareness in areas including rape and sexual abuse, literacy, animal welfare and poverty
26. Dr Jenny Harries OBE
62
Category - Medicine & Science
Public health physician who has been the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England since June 2019
27. Dame Mary Berry
85
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
85, food and cookery expert, author of over 80 cookery books, presenter of Great British Bake Off and most recently Celebrity Best Home Cook
28. Edith Egers
93
Category - Medicine & Science
Born to Hungarian Jewish parents, Edith Egers is a psychologist practicing in the United States. She is a Holocaust survivor and a specialist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Her memoirs entitled The Choice - Embrace the Possible, published in 2017, became an international bestseller
29. Annie Lennox OBE
66
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
Scottish singer song-writer with a long solo career following her partnership with Dave Stewart in the Eurythmics
30. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
77
Category - Medicine & Science
Astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. She was credited with "one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th century"
31. Baroness Shirley Williams
90
Category - Business, Politics & Law
British Liberal Democrat politician and academic who served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection from 1974 to 1976 and Secretary of State for Education and Science and Paymaster General from 1976 to 1979. Originally a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), she was one of the 'Gang of Four' rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981.
32. Dame Shirley Bassey
84
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
Welsh singer, whose career began in 1953, well known for her expressive voice and for recording the soundtrack theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. In January 1959, Bassey became the first Welsh person to gain a No. 1 single
33. Carole King
79
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
US singer song writer famous for hits including Will You Love Me Tomorrow and You Make Me Feel (Like A Natural Woman)
34. Jane Scullion
Category - Medicine & Science
One of the first ever nurse consultants in the UK and has fought and spoken on behalf of people with severe lung disease. She now runs a Covid survivors clinic for those patients who have developed "long Covid" and who are struggling
35. Germaine Greer
82
Category - Education & Charity
Australian writer and public intellectual, regarded as one of the major voices of the radical feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century
36. Jayne Torville OBE
63
Category - Sport
English professional ice dancer and former competitor. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, becoming one of the oldest figure skating Olympic medalists
37. CBE Delia Smith
79
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
British cooking legend and owner of Norwich FC
38. Alison Steadman OBE
74
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British actress famous for roles in Gavin & Stacey, Abigail's Party and many more
39. Bunny Guinness
65
Category - Other
Chartered landscape architect, journalist and radio personality who is a regular panellist on the long running BBC Radio 4 programme, Gardener's Question Time. She also writes a weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph
40. Angela Rippon CBE
76
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
Journalist, newsreader, writer and TV presenter currently seen in Rip Off Britain and The One Show
41. Dame Maggie Smith
86
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British actress well known for roles on TV including Downton Abbey and many film roles including Lady with The Van, Gosford Park and Room with a View
42. Dame Jenni Murray
70
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
English journalist, author and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour between 1987 and 2020
43. Theresa May MP
64
Category - Business, Politics & Law
Lady May is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. May served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 in the Cameron government and has been Member of Parliament for Maidenhead in Berkshire since 1997
44. Tina Turner
81
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Known as the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the front woman of The Ike & Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer
45. Billie Jean King
77
Category - Sport
US tennis player, winner of 39 grand slam titles and campaigner for social justice and equal rights
46. Zandra Rhodes CBE
88
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
English fashion designer known for her distinctive personal style, Rhodes was one of the new wave of British designers who put London at the forefront of the international fashion scene in the 1970s.
47. Baroness Floella Benjamin
71
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
Trinidadian-British actress, author, television presenter, singer, businesswoman and politician. She was named as one of the most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent in the UK. She is now in the House of Lords and speaks on children‚ education, a personal passion.
48. Sue Barker OBE
64
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
English television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won fifteen WTA Tour singles titles, including one Grand Slam singles title at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3, She currently presents A Question of Sport and the BBC's coverage of live tennis events.
49. Dame Helen Mirren
75
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
Award-winning British actress, star of stage and screen who has starred in numerous TV series such as Prime Suspect and major Hollywood films including Calendar Girls, The Queen and The Good Liar
50. Dame Cressida Dick
60
Category - Business, Politics & Law
British senior police officer who in 2017 was appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in London
51. Lorraine Kelly CBE
61
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
She has presented various television shows for ITV including GMTV, This Morning, Daybreak, Good Morning Britain, The Sun Military Awards, STV Children's Appeal and her eponymous programme Lorraine
52. Sister Madonna Buder
90
Category - Sport
AKA the Iron Nun, she is a Roman Catholic religious sister and Senior Olympian triathlete. Buder has the current world record for the oldest woman to ever finish an Ironman Triathlon, which she obtained at age 82 by finishing the Subaru Ironman Canada on August 26, 2012
43. Harriet Harman QC MP
70
Category - Business, Politics & Law
British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positions
54. Anne Reid MBE
7
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British actress well known for her roles in Dinner Ladies and Last Tango in Halifax
55. Dame Vivienne Westwood
79
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream. Westwood came to public notice when she made clothes for Malcolm McLaren's boutique in the King's Road, which became known as SEX. She continues to design and shows her collections at London Fashion Week
56. Dame Jacqueline Wilson
75
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
English best-selling children's author whose novels are been notable for featuring controversial themes such as adoption and divorce without alienating her large readership
57. Baroness Helena Kennedy
70
Category - Business, Politics & Law
Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords
58. Chi Chi Nwanoku OBE
64
Category - Arts (Music, Art and Fashion)
British double bass player and professor of Historical Double Bass Studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Nwanoku was a founder member and principal bassist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, a position she held for 30 years
59. Margaret Atwood
81
Category - Arts (Writers, Journalists & Broadcasting)
Canadian author, poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Her best known works include The Blind Assassin, the Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments for which she won the Booker Prize for the second time in 2020
60. Dame Sheila Hancock
87
Category - Arts (Film, Television & Theatre)
British actress and author who has appeared in many West End theatre productions including Annie, Cabaret and Sister Act, as well as numerous TV series. She has also regularly appeared on panel game shows including Just a Minute, Have I Got News For You and Grumpy Old Women
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