Celeb seniors Jane Fonda, Alan Alda and Norman Lear’s successful third acts after 60

What does a person do after they’ve done it all?

Maybe they have already built a successful business or had a long career in the arts. Perhaps they married happily, had children, and saw their families prosper. They accomplished what they wanted. So what do they do next?

These people did more.

They’re the subjects of Josh Sapan’s “The Third Act: Reinventing Your Next Chapter.” And instead of settling down – or worse, just settling – these seniors set themselves new challenges. They rethought what it means to grow old, and they’re making society rethink its tired attitudes as well.

“In life’s first act, from birth to about thirty, the primary tasks of human beings center on biological development, learning, partnering and procreating,” gerontologist Ken Dychtwald writes in his foreword. “In the second act, from about thirty to sixty, the concerns of adult life have focused on the formation of family, child-rearing and productive work.”

Those stages still exist. But with many people now living longer, healthier lives, there’s now a third act, an era marked by “new freedoms, new possibilities and new purposes.” Dychtwald continues. “There’s an abundance of free time and opportunity to try new things – and to contribute to society in new ways.”

“The Third Act” profiles over 60 people who did.

Before their late-in-life detours, some had successful careers as actors. As the star of “M*A*S*H,” Alan Alda led one of TV’s most popular shows, although little of his career felt planned to him. “My life has been one of improvisation,” he says, “Whatever came my way I made the most of. I would have been happy if I’d wound up in some regional theater company.”

Alda ended up with a lot more than that, but along the way discovered something new: A fascination with science. Eleven years ago, after hosting “Scientific American Frontiers” on PBS, he established the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, dedicated to helping researchers explain their work to the public.

“It’s not like I woke up one day saying, ‘I’ll do this,’” Alda says. “My experience had been leading me to this. It’s a natural progression. That’s where we get a third act and a fourth, fifth and sixth act.”

Another television staple, from the 1970s who is still going strong and making a difference is producer Norman Lear. He made history 50 years ago presiding over a string of innovative hits, including “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son.” Still, even as he collected accolades, Lear worried about the country’s future.

So he launched a liberal advocacy group, People for the American Way. He bought a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence and sent it on a 100-city tour to inspire Americans to reconnect with the nation’s ideals. And he continues to raise his voice in defense of progressive principles.

“It seems to me,” Lear says of his activism, “that any full-grown mature adult would have a desire to be responsible, to help where he can.”

Some of the people Sapan profiles were always politically conscious. It’s just that, as their careers have changed or shifted, they have found different ways or chances to be active.

Jane Fonda was already famous – occasionally infamous – for her stand against the Vietnam War. But age hasn’t dimmed her anger. And increasingly, she’s taking it to the streets, protesting violence against women, raising awareness about climate change, and getting arrested at demonstrations. “I try to live my third act in such a way that I won’t have regrets,” Fonda says.

Similarly unbowed is Rita Moreno. Although she was the first Latina actress to win an Oscar for “West Side Story” in 1961, Hollywood prejudices often confined her to what Moreno calls “dusky roles.” “I became the Gypsy girl, or I was a Polynesian girl, or I was an Egyptian girl.” But she never gave up and never gave in.

“I’m now known as ‘La Pionera,’ or The Pioneer,” she says proudly. “I really don’t think of myself as a role model. But it turns out that I am to a lot of the Hispanic community. Not just in show business, but in life. But that’s what happens when you’re first, right?”

While there are plenty of famous folks here – Robert Redford, Gloria Steinem, George Takei – even more inspiring are some of the less famous interviewees.

Robina Asti was a fighter pilot in World War II before coming home, marrying and fathering children. Asti forged a successful career, eventually becoming the vice president of a major mutual fund. In 1976, Asti realized there was another chapter and transitioned to female.

As a man who had once helped run a mutual fund, Asti could now, as a woman, only find low-level secretarial work. She spent her middle age fighting for equality and respect. And once those were won, she sought new challenges and embraced an old love.

“As she entered her late nineties, she set her high-flying sights on two Guinness World Records: oldest active pilot and oldest flight instructor, and at the age of ninety-nine, she took them both, giving her final flight lesson in July 2020.”

Others found revived purpose in giving back. Hope Harley built a long corporate career at Verizon in various departments. While working in community affairs, she heard of the drive to establish a children’s museum in the Bronx – the only borough without one.

Harley had fond memories of going to the children’s museum in her native Brooklyn, so she not only helped the Bronx get its own started, she became the president of its board of directors. “This purpose found me,” she explains. “I wasn’t looking for it.”

The best stories may be of the people who never gave up their dreams – even if it took decades to achieve them.

Andrea Peterson was saved from a burning building when she was 5. Then and there, she vowed she would grow up to be a firefighter. That wasn’t a possibility for little girls in 1955. But in 2011, recently widowed, she decided to go for it. That she was at least 40 years older than the rest of the people in her firefighter class didn’t deter her. She passed the written and physical tests and achieved her dream at 62.

Or, for a lesson in persistence, look to Donzella Washington. She had a long, happy marriage, raised six kids, and fostered 32 others. But after her husband died, Washington realized she still wanted something more. She wanted to go to college. It took her six years, but when she graduated with a degree in social work from Alabama A&M University, it was magna cum laude. She was 80.

“Whatever dreams you had as a child,” she says, “you can obtain them.”

As this book repeatedly proves, age is a number, not a limit. If you still doubt that, look at Ida Keeling, who started jogging at 67. She’s still running at 100 and set records in 60-meter and 100-meter competitions. Her secret? Regular workouts at the gym three to four times a week and an occasional shot of cognac. “Every day is another day forward,” she says.

And the chance for another act to begin.

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