5 Famous Women Who Became Successful Later In Life

By Hannah McLaren

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Dame Judi Dench.

Let’s take a look at some of the most famous women who didn’t get their big career break and become super successful until much later in life.

Dame Judi Dench

The actress’s career really switched gears when she hit her sixties and first appeared in the James Bond film GoldenEye, 1995.

In 1961, Judi Dench joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. She stayed with the playhouse for nearly 30 years and played almost every leading female Shakespeare role.

However, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the actress gained international recognition as M in the James Bond film franchise. Dench then went on to play the role of Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, 1998.

Despite appearing on screen for just eight minutes, at 64-years-old Dame Judi Dench won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Vivienne Westwood

As a fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood started doing well for herself in her 30s, but she didn’t become a household name or create her most memorable looks until her 40s and 50s

In 1971, Vivienne’s husband at the time, Malcolm McLaren, opened a popular London boutique to sell all her punk fashion designs. Then when Westwood began styling the Sex Pistols, after Malcom became their manager, her designs really started raising some eyebrows. In 1981, before eventually splitting, Westwood and McLaren had their runway debut in London.

Vivienne then truly went her own way, reinventing her style multiple times over the years to keep up with the times. She became an international trend-setter! Her most famous designs were the mini-crini skirt of the 1980s, when she was in her 40s, and the frayed tulle and tweed suits of the 1990s, when she had just turned 50.

By the time Dame Vivienne Westwood was in her 70s, her a net worth was around $50 million. The Independent dubbed Westwood “arguably the most influential British designer of the past century.”

Dame Helen Mirren

Can you believe Helen Mirren didn’t win her first Academy Award until she was 62!

Despite being well known for her theatre work on London’s West End, Dame Helen Mirren truly became a household name at 52-years-old when she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Academy Awards for her performance in The Madness of King George. She then went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress at 62-years-old for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen.

Since then she has received numerous honours: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013, the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2014, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2022.

This year she was also immortalised by Mattel with the release of her own Barbie doll.

Betty White

This American actress didn’t land her best known role until she was 63

Betty White’s entertainment career began in the late ’30s, when she hosted her own talk show and appeared on various game shows. Her second biggest TV role didn’t come around until 1973 when she began appearing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show at age 51.

Then in 1985 when she was 63, she landed the role that she’s most famous – Rose Nyland on The Golden Girls.

Kathy Bates

Although she’s known internationally now, Kathy Bates didn’t land her break-out role until she was 43.

It wasn’t until the 1990 film adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery that Bates’ career started flying. She received an Oscar as well as a Golden Globe for her role as the unhinged super-fan/kidnapper, Annie Wilkes.

Kathy Bates then went on to star in so many more films including Titanic and became a regular cast member on the American Horror Story anthology TV series.