Life just as nifty at 50 for Annette Bening

Chicago Sun-Times, United States - She married one of the most elusive bachelors in Hollywood but never revealed how she caught him and how she keeps him.

In a town where gossip is a profession, she managed to quietly rear four children, including a daughter who is about to turn 17.

But Annette Bening's biggest stealth act was turning 50 in May without even grabbing a headline.

"Ah, 50 -- time just sneaks up on you," muses Bening from her home in Malibu, Calif. "In a way that number is a celebration. It's cool to think, 'Here I am. At 50. Here I am.' "