Woman — old, as it happens (5)
I believe the answer is:
olive
'woman' is the definition.
(woman's name)
'old as it happens' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'as it happens' becomes 'live' (as in live television).
'o'+'live'='OLIVE'
(Other definitions for olive that I've seen before include "A Med. fruit-tree" , "This branch is offered in peace gesture" , "yellowish green" , "Mediterranean tree-fruit, nice in cocktail" , "Mediterranean tree-fruit - nice in martini" .)