Lee Grant Laughs Last

Afterward, in a panel discussion led by the Turner Classic Movies host Alicia Malone, Grant talked about how her directing career came to be. “I was in a movie called ‘Shampoo,’ ” Grant said. The audience cheered. “And Warren Beatty turned to me and said, ‘Lee, you’re forty-nine.’ ” Never mind that she went on to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as a Republican housewife smitten with Beatty’s horndog hairdresser. “He was saying, ‘So long, baby! This is Hollywood!’ And I was really fifty.” The next day, she got a call from the American Film Institute. “They said, ‘Do you know any actors who would like to take a directing workshop?’ And I go, ‘Me!’ ”