By: Geodie Baxter Padgett
Top Ten Sexiest Celebrity Grandparents – 2006 Winner: Grandfather Tony Danza
GRAND’S Top Ten Sexiest Celebrity Grandparents love life and live it with unbridled passion and spirit. These gifted individuals look great, perform like nobody else in their field and give generously to charities and the world around them. And most declare that being a grandparent is one of the best roles of their lives. In fact, many say that they feel best about themselves when entertaining their “children’s children.”
With his shock of white hair, wooly mustache and distracted air, Albert Einstein gave us the defining image of an eccentric scientist. But was he also a very sexy man, maybe even the sexiest man in history?
Certainly not in the traditional sense we associate with sexiness. He would not be one of those people who immediately make our toes tingle and our hearts engorge with lust.
Certainly there is a place for the physical aspects of sexuality. The handsome face. The just-so figure. The fashionably dressed man or woman.
To women, on the surface, sexiness may be rugged masculinity. For men, first thoughts about being sexy may be that perfect face and alluring figure.
But sexiness is not just physical. It is a state of mind as well.
Consider Einstein. He was sexy because he was brilliant. But you don’t have to have a huge brain to be sexy. Sexiness can mean many things.
Viewed that way, sexiness does not mean we have to necessarily touch. We can be sexy by merely talking. There is an intimacy to being sexy that goes far beyond physical contact.
Mere sexual attraction (particularly as seen in the movies and popular culture) is fine. But real sexuality is not just in the body but also in the spirit and even in the soul.
Real, deep and abiding sexuality is not a solitary act. It’s something you share. And let’s admit this: most of those who are sexy know it. But their real appeal lies in the fact that if you ask them how they feel about being sexy, they are often uncomfortable about discussing it. There is nothing fake or forced about their appeal. It’s all natural.
Our top ten sexy GRANDS, briefly discussed below, are sexy in often non-traditional ways. And their sex appeal goes well beyond their physical charms.
And by the way, you would be far from alone if you voted Einstein as among the sexiest men in history.
Former boxer Tony Danza shows how tough and talented make for a very sexy combination as this year’s top choice for GRAND’S Top Ten Sexiest Grandparents. It’s hard to believe that this handsome and gifted actor was busy boxing when he began his television acting career on the sitcom “Taxi.” Today, he not only enjoys his work as host of “The Tony Danza Show,” he also enjoys being a new grandparent. “One of the most amazing things is to see your offspring turn into a parent,” says Danza. “There’s sort of an inexplicable feeling of accomplishment.”
“What’s Love got to do with it?” A lot, when you’re the former Anna Mae Bullock turned Tina Turner. Big hair, long legs and a powerful voice bolster Turner’s appeal…and did we mention this grandmother is supercharged on stage? She credits her Buddhist faith for leaving an abusive husband and “finding” herself in later life.
First known for her chipper attitude, bikini and painted body displayed in the 1960s TV show “Laugh-in,” Goldie Jeanne Hawn made giggling sexy. The 60s’s it-girl showed her serious side later as a film star, recording artist and author of a memoir that tells what she has learned in a busy life. Today, this GRAND has a talented daughter with the same irresistible charm (Kate Hudson) and a beautiful grandchild.
When her coach and most of Peggy Gale Fleming’s U.S Olympic team were all killed in a plane crash, she had to define her own style in figure skating that led her to five U.S. titles and three world titles. To date, this grandmother of three has skated for four presidents and starred in five television specials.
A grandmother of three, Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known for her stage name of Whoopi Goldberg, remembers as a child screaming to her mother to come quick… “There’s a black lady on television, and she ain’t no maid!” First successful as a stand-up comic, Goldberg has appeared in hundreds of movies and as a television star and has not backed down from her sometimes controversial anti-President Bush remarks.
If she did nothing else, Priscilla Ann Wagner would be seen as sexy for being the only wife of Elvis Presley. She met him when she was 14 years old and married at the age of 17. She later went on to a successful film career. Today Priscilla Presley is definitely a sexy GRAND in her own right with two grandchildren.
Paul Leonard Newman in the public eye was Blade and Butch Cassidy. He showed how even eating eggs can be sexy in Cool Hand Luke. He took up auto racing at a time when most are thinking about retirement. And this GRAND showed his philanthropic side in such enterprises as “Newman’s Own” salad dressings, pasta sauces and even lemonade.
Perhaps no American better personifies how heroism can be sexy than Colin Luther Powell. He was a highly capable and dedicated professional soldier for 35 years. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he repeatedly showed grace under fire during his term’s 28 crises, including Operation Desert Storm. Respect and competence as sexiness? This grandfather of three personifies it.
No other actor in history has had the box office grosses of Harrison Ford, a self-described late bloomer who worked as a carpenter before being “discovered.” His appeal may lie partly in his everyman demeanor, but it also helps that he often plays tough, wisecracking heroes such as Han Solo. The Guinness Book says this grandparent of two is the richest actor alive today, but he’s also like that handsome, funny, devil-may-care guy everyone wants living next door to them.
James Bond with a grandchild? If all he ever did was play James Bond, Irish-born Pierce Brendan Brosnan would endure as a sex symbol. His father abandoned his mother when he was 11, which perhaps provided some background for his first successful role as a mysterious detective in the TV series “Remington Steele.” Showing wisdom in addition to his natural attractiveness, Brosnan avoided being typecast as Bond by working in other movies. Brosnan has one grandchild.
Originally Published in the print version of GRAND Magazine – Feb/Mar 2006 pp 32-35
Read more about winners of GRAND Magazine’s Top Ten Sexiest Celebrity Grandparents Award
GRAND MAGAZINE’S Sexy Celebrity Grandparents
Television personality Tony Danza attends TV Guide’s Launch of its new magazine at Home & Guest House on Oct. 11, 2005 in New York. Readers of Grand magazine voted Danza the Sexiest Celebrity Grandparent of 2006. Danza, 54, became a first-time grandpa to Nicholas David in August 2005, the first child of his son, Marc. The magazine says Danza “epitomizes today’s passionate, funny, devoted grandparent, and he’s cute, too.”
No. 2: Donny Osmond
Singer Donny Osmond, his wife Debbie and their sons Chris, left, and Joshua, right, arrive at the Golden Dads Awards ceremony at the Peterson Automotive Museum on June 15, 2005 in Los Angeles. Osmond, who has five sons, became a first-time grandfather to Dylan in August 2005. Grand readers voted him as the second Sexiest Celebrity Grandparent of 2006 in its readers poll.
No. 3: Pierce Brosnan.
The former James Bond actor and star of the film “The Matador,” is also a sexy grandfather. Pierce Brosnan was named one of the top 10 Sexiest Grandparents of 2006 in a poll conducted by Grand, the magazine for today’s grandparent.
No. 4: Paul McCartney
Sir Paul McCartney reads a story as he launches his first children’s book “High In The Clouds” at Waterstone’s, Piccadilly, in London on Dec. 14, 2005. Readers of Grand magazine named the former Beatle one of its sexiest celebrity granparents of 2006.
Priscilla Presley
Priscilla Presley
Sexy celebrity grandparent No. 6 in the 2006 Grand reader’s poll is Goldie Hawn. Her daughter, Kate Hudson, gave birth to Ryder Russell Robinson in January 2004.
No. 7: Sean Connery
Voted “Sexiest Man of the Century” by People magazine in 1999, Sean Connery is also a sexy grandparent according to a poll conducted by Grand magazine.
No. 8: Ringo Starr
The former Beatle and father of three ranks 8th on the Grand magazine list of Top 10 Sexy Celebrity Grandparents of 2006.
No. 9 Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger is a sexy celebrity grandparent, accordinh to the Grand reader’s poll. His grandson, Assisi, was born to Jagger’s eldest daughter, Jade, in 1992.
#10: Blythe Danner
Actress and grandmother Blythe Danner rounds out the Top 10 Sexy Celebrity Grandparents list. Her granddaughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, was born to Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin in 2004. The couple is expecting their second child.
