DATE: Thursday, September 11, 1997          TAG: 9709100224

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: THUMBS UP! 

SOURCE: BY KATHRYN DARLING, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  100 lines

CENTENARIAN JUST BEGINNING TV AND FILM CAREER

She's 100 years old, lives in the house her father built, keeps her teeth in a box in her bedroom and has just begun her acting career.

Louise Buchanan turned 100 Wednesday and in the last year she's been an extra in a not-yet-released film starring Jessica Lange and Nina Foch and had a principal role in a Sentara TV commercial, which first appeared Sept. 1 and runs through December.

The movie opportunity came when the talent agent for Buchanan's daughter-in-law, Marjorie Buchanan, an actress in community and professional theater in Richmond, asked if the elder Buchanan would try out as an extra for a nursing home scene. Louise Buchanan didn't question how much it paid or how long it would take. She asked if she had to wear her teeth.

The answer was no, and Buchanan got the part.

``I hate wearing my teeth.'' They don't hurt, but they kill the taste of food, she said.

Liz Marks, the Richmond talent agent and casting director for the Tristar film, said, ``She seemed at ease during the shooting and even had a glow about her. Though she didn't have any speaking parts, she did have several great reaction shots.''

Buchanan's charms were influential at the commercial shooting as well.

Originally, the plan called for an elderly man to be surrounded by his family at a reunion, but when Buchanan showed up, they decided to switch the scene to a 100th birthday party, said Marks. Buchanan was one of 40 people chosen out of 650 who auditioned for a part.

When you watch the commercial, don't blink. The scene that highlights Buchanan is brief.

Its brevity, however, doesn't show the time that went into the shoot. Buchanan, her son, Lee, and daughter-in-law, Marjorie, spent two of the hottest days of the summer working on the scene, said Marsha Wulf, owner of Talent Link which arranged the casting.

``She's got real sparkle and energy. She can't hear very well but she's spry and mentally totally alert. And she kept up with the pace,'' even in the heat, said Wulf.

Buchanan's first TV appearance was in a CBN commercial 10 years ago. It was a lark - Buchanan never expected to do any more appearances and never got a professional photograph done.

``I was supposed to be the old lady - I was the old lady,'' she said.

Buchanan was born in Greenville County, Va., and lived in Portsmouth as an infant. Eventually her parents moved the family of three sons and a daughter to the house in Norfolk that her father built.

In 1922, she left her job at National Bank of Commerce to marry Lee Buchanan in St. Lukes Chapel on Colonial Avenue. They had two children, Lee, who lives in Richmond, and Beverley Tipton of Candler, N.C. She has three grandchildren.

When the war started in 1940, she returned to the bank and worked there until she retired in 1960.

After her husband died in 1966 she buddied up with three friends and spent the 1970s traveling across the U.S. and abroad.

She's only 4 feet 10 - she says she's shrunk 4 inches over the years - and weighs only 92 pounds.

Ask Louise Buchanan - she'll say she looks like her mother. Ask her family, friends and aquaintences - they'll say she looks like Bette Davis.

The resemblance is unmistakable. The brilliant blue, wide-set eyes, the slim straight nose, the triangular face - even the flair is there.

But Buchanan doesn't want to be compared to Bette Davis. And it's no wonder. Davis was known for playing crochety roles and for living up to her screen image in her private life.

Besides, ``she wasn't pretty,'' says Buchanan, who sits delicately with her feet tucked to the side and her hands clasped together in her lap.

And her personality couldn't be more different. She charms everyone, said her daughter-in-law.

And she laughs. She's teases and even jokes about not being able to hear the conversation.

``I can't hear you talk, but I know you're thinking,'' she said.

On her hand she wears a diamond ring her son and daughter-in-law gave her to replace her engagement ring, which was stolen a few years back.

And next to it, she wears a replica of Princess Diana's engagement ring from Prince Charles. She and a friend are fans of the princess, and she was wearing the ring for her friend's visit earlier that day.

Buchanan's poor hearing and eyesight keep her from enjoying TV or from doing much reading, so she often spends her days on the front porch.

The neighbor's cat, Pumpkin, keeps her entertained, and Buchanan counts the cars that pass her home the Winona section of Norfolk.

Would you believe 2,000 cars go by an hour? she asked.

``I never thought it would come to this,'' she said laughing.

This week, Buchanan will spend her time at a family birthday celebration in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her baby brother, Edward, 94, and his daughter will fly in from Texas; her son, Lee, and his wife, Marjorie; her four grandchildren; a niece; and three close family friends will be there to help cheer her on for the next century.

Pointing at her son and daughter-in-law, she said, ``I have every reason to be happy with those two and loving grandchildren. I don't mind growing old. I just don't like my children growing old.'' ILLUSTRATION: Scene from the Sentara TV commercial shows Louise

Buchanan blowing out birthday candles. The commercial will run

through December.

``I hate wearing my teeth,'' said Buchanan, who left them in their

box for her movie appearance.

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