HE was once mentioned in The Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most prolific actor, but Jan Leighton may now be setting a different kind of record. At the age of 84 the veteran American character actor has decided to get a facelift.

Leighton’s belated attempt to pin back the sagging ravages of time reflects a new trend in American plastic surgery. Of the 1.2m men who underwent cosmetic treatments last year, almost 180,000 were in their sixties, seventies or eighties.

The grey generation is discovering vanity. Older men who traditionally succumb quietly to baggy jowls and drooping eyelids are increasingly seeking out surgeons’ scalpels to help extend their careers, keep up with their younger wives or simply make themselves look more handsome.

“There’s an awful lot of people in their sixties and seventies who think they are middle-aged, feel middle-aged, and who want to keep the jobs and lifestyle of a middle-aged person, but their face is not co-operating,” said Helen Fisher, an anthropologist specialising in human sexuality. “Demographers are now saying that middle age should last up to 85.”

In the past it was mainly women who were the subject of speculation in celebrity magazines about who might have had a facelift or breast enhancement. These days, however, the gossip columns are full of reports that Michael Douglas, the veteran Hollywood actor, has had a facelift in order to please his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones. The whole of Italy was transfixed by reports last year that Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, had undergone plastic surgery.

Leighton said that as an actor “you can be passed over just like that by virtue of your grey hair or bags beneath the eyes”. With a nip behind his ears and a tuck under his chin, he hopes to keep acting for several more years.

A recent study by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that Botox injections — for smoothing wrinkles — were the most common treatment sought by men. Other procedures included nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction, hair transplants and facelifts.

The trend has spread across the Atlantic. “We are now seeing people who 20 years ago would not have dreamt of having cosmetic surgery,” Adrian Richards, a London consultant surgeon, was recently quoted as saying. “The only problem is having the general anaesthetic, but nowadays we often see older people who are fitter and healthier than someone in their forties.”

Dr Edward Lack, director of a Chicago surgery, agreed. “Men are living longer than ever before and are active into their eighties,” he said. “A person who looks and feels arthritic is not going to fit into today’s society. Cosmetic surgery is a great way for men to feel youthful again and to look masculine in a masculine world.”

Another study found 50% of men believe a youthful appearance is “an important factor in professional success”; and a poll of older executives concluded that 94% were afraid of missing out on a job opportunity because of their age.

“In the old days people said you needed to wear a power suit to make an impact in business,” one surgeon added. “Now you need a power face.”

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