There’s a terrible truth for many women in the picture business: Aging typically takes its toll and means fewer and less desirable roles.

O’Hara is pointing to a long-standing double standard in commercial filmmaking: women’s perceived “bankability” and desirability are often tied to youth, while men are more readily allowed to age into authority roles. The “terrible truth” is not about individual talent but about an industry structure that narrows opportunities as actresses grow older—reducing both the quantity of parts and the quality (less complex, less central, or more stereotyped roles). Coming from a major star of Hollywood’s studio era, the remark also reads as testimony: even celebrated actresses can be constrained by ageism, making the problem systemic rather than exceptional.