Laura Luhn

Michael Hyatt (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

Published: September 30, 2003

She was a 23-year-old friend of Steve Wynn Jr., and a seemingly unstoppable force on the screen; yet she seemed so bored as she skulked around in a late-career bikini that it was almost comical. Even as she waved her bikini at casual filmgoers, Ms. Rogers' phone rang, an excited Mrs. Rogers requested a meeting with CBS producer Carlton Baxley, who has said she had become sickened by her marriage. Nor did she seem to understand that, in the culture of network television, a woman like her might be expected to be held in high regard for her work.

Much better known for her body of work, Ms. Rogers is unlikely to sell ads or make a fortune running again. But she represents a big point of departure for a woman who didn't even expect herself to make such moves in Hollywood when she'd seen a few movies. That dream, she says, fell apart — and from this point forward became her most powerful tool for dealing with the reality of a life that is quickly becoming smaller.

Ms. Rogers is now 39 years old. She doesn't marry and have children, and recently divorced. And while she says she stays active, she seems to have lost most of her power, because most people are too impressed with her to ask how she does it.

You have heard of “The Griswold Way,” a term referring to the psychological process of developing the character through long and constant practice? This is what Ms. Rogers has done.

Let me briefly illustrate. She started as a model, doing commercials and personal appearances in Miami, until her career took off. From then on, she got many assignments — shooting movies in exotic locations, acting in trailers. This lead to several TV movies, but still not enough. The audience demanded more, and she began to take parts in live theater.

For four years, she also worked as an instructor for 20th-century artists, producing the performance of plays written by Jack Kerouac. (He died in 1965.) In 1964, she came to New York and began modeling, and got into casting for Broadway shows. Then there was a short stint as the red-carpet girl at Rockefeller Center.