Want to Live to 100? Sleep

Your chances of reaching age 100 could be better than you think – especially if you get some additional sleep and improve your diet.

New research from UnitedHealthcare looks at centenarians and baby boomers, asking the former about the “secrets of aging success” and evaluating whether the latter are taking the necessary steps to celebrate a 100th birthday.

The primary findings: Many boomers are embracing lifestyles that could lead to a long and rewarding life – with two exceptions. More than seven in 10 centenarians – 71% – say they get eight hours or more of sleep each night. By contrast, only 38% of boomers say they get the same amount of rest. And when it comes to eating right, more than eight in 10 centenarians say they regularly consume a balanced meal, compared with just over two-thirds (68%) of baby boomers.

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The report – “100@100 Survey” – begins with some startling numbers. As of late 2010, the U.S. had an estimated 72,000 centenarians, according to the Census Bureau. By the year 2050, that number – with the aging of the baby-boom generation – is expected to reach more than 600,000. Meanwhile, an estimated 10,000 boomers each and every day – for the next decade – will turn 65.

How to reach 100? Centenarians point to social connections, exercise and spiritual activity as some of the keys to successful aging. Among surveyed centenarians, almost nine in 10 – fully 89% – say they communicate with a family member or friend every day; about two thirds (67%) pray, meditate or engage in some form of spiritual activity; and just over half (51%) say they exercise almost daily.

In each of these areas, baby boomers, as it turns out, match up fairly well. The same percentage of boomers as centenarians – 89% – say they’re in touch with friends or family members on a regular basis. Sixty percent of surveyed baby-boomers say spiritual activity is an important part of their lives, and almost six in 10 boomers (59%) exercise regularly. 

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Again, sleep and diet are the two areas where baby boomers come up short. Not surprisingly, the one area where boomers are more active is the workplace. Three-quarters (76%) of surveyed baby boomers say they work at a job or hobby almost every day; that compares with 16% of centenarians.

Finally, researchers turned to cultural affairs and asked centenarians and boomers to identify – from a list of 14 notable people (including President Obama, singer Paul McCartney and actors Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts) – their preferred dinner guest. The top choice among centenarians and boomers alike: the comedian Betty White.

 

Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Girlfriend Ola Ray Grateful For Opportunity

Michael Jackson, Ola Ray (photo: MCA/Universal / Courtesy: Everett Collection)

On Monday, it will be three years to the day that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died at the age of 50.

Ola Ray, the female lead in his iconic 1983 "Thriller" video, still can't forget the experience of working with him.

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Ray -- now 51 and living in Sacramento, Calif., with her teenage daughter -- landed the gig after Flashdance actress Jennifer Beals turned it down. She almost didn't get it after video director John Landis learned she had posed in a 1980 Playboy centerfold. But Jackson didn't seem to mind her racy past. "He seemed taken by the fact that I was a Playboy model," Ray told the Sunday Mirror.

The 13-minute horror short -- which the Guinness Book of World Records calls the most successful music video of all time, selling more than 9 million copies -- depicts the two on a date. It takes a very dark turn when the singer transforms into a werewolf.

 

From day one, Ray said she and Jackson had chemistry.

Ola Ray on ABC News."When we did the dancing, when he had to walk around me and flirt with me … That was when I was like 'Oh my God, like Ola, I could not believe I was the girl, I was the one chosen,'" she told ABC News in a 2010 interview.

Jackson was playful off-camera as well.

"He kept saying, 'I can't wait until I do the werewolf scenes so I can chase you,'" she told author Mark Bego for his book On The Road With Michael.

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Though the two flirted and shared some private time in his trailer on the set, she said they were never intimate because Jackson had eyes for someone else.

Ola Ray in "Playboy.""We had a working relationship, it was nothing other than that," she told ABC News. "He was into Brooke Shields."

  Ola Ray in "Playboy."

She and Jackson remained friends after making the video. Jackson even flew her to Germany to accept an award for "Thriller" — which she later got to keep.

"He wanted to send someone else to come pick it up [from me], but I told him, 'No. If you don't come pick it up yourself, then you're not going to get it,'" said Ray, who went on to land small roles in Beverly Hills Cop II, Gimme A Break! and Cheers. "He didn't come get it, so he called and told me it was mine. I could keep it."

The two had some drama: In 2009, a month before he died, she sued his estate for unpaid royalties (they ended up reaching a settlement in May 2012).

Ola Ray talking to reporters after Michael Jackson's death."Michael would always re-release Thriller in different packages so that I would get my royalties," she said in a statement after his death. "He really did his personal best to help me while he was alive. Unfortunately, the people handling his estate have not been acting according to his wishes since his death."

Ultimately, Jackson left an indelible mark on her life

"I have a huge poster of Michael, just of himself and then I have the 25^th Anniversary album," she said in the ABC News interview. "Then, I have a picture of us walking together in the video … I see Michael every morning when I wake up."