2 Fitzgerald was wrong. Americans do have second acts. And, if they're smart and have a good agent, third and fourth and fifth acts. It's become the American way to reinvent ourselves. This is especially true for those in the public eye.
Musicians become actors.
Actors metamorphasize into politicians. Politicians become do gooders. Second acts aren't just for celebrities anymore. We can take the lessons learned from the stars and apply it to our own lives helping us transform from wall street brokers to artists, computer programmers to teachers, and murderers to evangelists. Kenny Rogers' agent knew this.