Heart to heart with Stefanie Powers: diligence, intelligence and a worthwhile cause forestall the years.

Not in a million years could you say that Stefanie Powers has let herself go. Just spend a little time talking with her, and it's evident what more than 50 years of regular exercise and good eating habits have done for her appearance, her energy and spirit, her staying power and her super-for-any-age shape. Sure, there are laugh lines around her twinkling eyes and tiny creases that appear with the famous smile. But her legs are still long and slender, her waist is girlishly slim, and that mane of red hair looks as lustrous as it did during her reign as Jennifer Hart on TV's Hart to Hart.

At 5'7", the former girl from U.N.C.L.E. admits, "There's a phenomenon that occurs when you put on more mass as you get older, so the question of trying to maintain a physical condition for women is really quite challenging because no woman knows how she's going to age until it starts to happen.

"We have to keep in touch with the changes and with our bodies as much as possible. We can look at our parents and see how we might play out genetically."

Graceful Aging

As for her own genetic map, Powers explains that she is the caregiver to her 91-year-old mother who suffers severe osteoporosis and who lives with her.

"I'm witnessing my mother's osteoporosis on a daily basis. We have to learn about our bodies to be able to maintain healthy equipment."

Powers takes anti-aging measures, such as drinking lots of water, using sunscreen protection and getting regular exercise. And she is adamant about the benefits of hormone replacement therapy for her overall health and illness--and the role it plays in thwarting osteoporosis.