Lauren Bacall decries cosmetic surgery

LOS ANGELES, May 12 (UPI) -- Septuagenarian actress Lauren Bacall has spoken out against cosmetic surgery among actresses, calling the trendy Hollywood practice a "youth sickness."

"I have friends who are beautiful women, and they are having liposuction and boob lifts, and I say 'What are you doing to yourselves? Stop it!' I disdain this whole youth sickness thing," the 79-year-old actress said in Wednesday's London Daily Mail.

Bacall's sentiments are unusual in an industry that promotes youthfulness, as evidenced by the dozens of aging actresses who transform themselves via cosmetic surgery.

Meg Ryan, 42, and Melanie Griffith, 46, sport full, luscious lips reportedly the result of regular collagen injections. Demi Moore, 40, unveiled a sculpted body last year, allegedly from more than $300,000 worth of cosmetic surgery, the Daily Mail said.

"I can't wear bare stuff any more, but that's no great loss," said Bacall, whose film career has spanned six decades and who has been considered one of Hollywood's most beautiful women.

"Women of a certain age do not look fabulous in sleeveless tops," she said.