Aging Gracefully: At the Peak of Beauty and Fame

Paul Newman and Carmen Dell'Orefice share secrets with Barbara Walters.

ByABC News
September 28, 2008, 11:59 AM

— -- In the modeling business where 30 is considered old, you'd think there would be no place for someone old enough to collect Social Security.

But Carmen Dell'Orefice, 76, has been working steadily for the last six decades.

Although she shot her first Vogue cover at age 16, in 1947, Dell'Orefice hasn't let age slow her down.

She's not shy about admitting her age or about revealing her secrets to looking and feeling young.

"I think it all starts with thought and attitude," said Dell'Orefice, who is known as Carmen in the world of modeling.

Her attitude helped make her a supermodel, before the term was even coined. A staple in top fashion magazines for half a century, her looks have only gotten better with age and with her now trademark silver hair.

Several years ago she wrote a book and divulged that sex was a key element in maintaining her youth and it seems that nothing has changed.

"It's part of it, life has to be a balance, and I've figured out the balance for myself. Sex always," she said with a laugh.

Another major component in Dell'Orefice's life is exercise.

"I exercise every day. I don't get up and have a cup of coffee anymore, I get up and move to get blood to my brain," Dell'Orefice said. She says that it's the energy that keeps her going.

"Training like an athlete, get enough sleep, not too much booze [and] I never smoke."

And another secret that keeps her looking and feeling young? She uses lard as face cream to keep the moisture in at night.

It's been written before that Dell'Orefice's regimen sounded like the routine of keeping a classic limousine in running order and she agrees with that.

"It's like, if you have a Rolls Royce you have to keep, you know [you're] looking after the parts," she said with a laugh.

Racing Through the Years

At 82, Paul Newman prefers a race car to a Rolls Royce. He spends a lot of his weekends zooming around Limerock Racetrack in Lakeville, Conn.

"There's something exhilarating about it," he said. "I don't plan to be winning a lot of races, but it's fun to just get in the car, and it's very relaxing actually."