Mamie Van Doren embraces aging, with aid of plastic surgery

Looking like Mamie keeps her connected with celebrity.

She still refers to herself as one of the three blonde bombshells of 1950s Hollywood, along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The three actresses' careers intertwined as they shared the spotlight, vied for parts, and passed along potential roles to each other.

"Marilyn opened doors for me, and I opened doors for Jayne," Mamie recalled.

But the last time Mamie did that, the result was tragic.

In 1967, she offered Mansfield a show that had been planned for Mamie. While Mansfield was appearing at the Gus Stevens Supper Club in Biloxi, Miss., she was in a fatal car crash. If not for swapping with Mansfield, Mamie said, she might have been in that crash.

Mansfield died at age 34, Monroe at 36. Mamie has lived nearly as long as the two combined.

"She's luckier than the other two, because she's still here," said Dr. Brennan.

"I've been blessed," Mamie said. "I came to Hollywood determined to follow in Jean Harlow's footsteps, but I was determined not to die young. My hope was to endure. And endure I have."

Her recollections of celebrities are often more upbeat, but they always connect her to the glamour of days gone by.

"I knew Coco Chanel well in the 1960s. She'd let me take her clothes and wear them in New York. She called me Coco Van Doren. We had the same hearts and body," Mamie said. And also:

"On my Web site, there's a photo of me wearing Marlene Dietrich's negligee. We have the same bone structure."

She started her career at age 15 and signed with Universal a few years later, so she knows the difficult life of a young celebrity. That makes her sympathetic to young stars of today who run afoul of the media.

"I was 19 when the studio signed me, and there were no other women there. I had to cope with that," she said.

"There's even more pressure now, and Hollywood is so fickle."

She mentioned Lindsay Lohan, a star at 12, and Miley Cyrus, a superstar at 15.

"Hollywood wants you to keep that look, but it's practically impossible," she said. That's part of the allure of plastic surgery, she added.

Consider the singer-actress Madonna, who has often turned to plastic surgery since 1985, when she starred in "Desperately Seeking Susan" at age 27, Mamie said.

"She did a little, then a little more and a little more," she said. "If you compare her then and now, you'll see she's changed quite a bit." *