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Encyclopedia > Film actor
Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming.

An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role in an artistic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in movies, television, live theatre, or radio, and can occasionally denote a street entertainer. Besides playing dramatic roles, actors may also sing or dance or work only on radio or as a voice artist. A female actor may be known as an actress, although an increasingly large group prefer the term "actor" because of its gender-neutrality. Download high resolution version (480x640, 105 KB)Actors in period costume, resting between takes whilst on location filming in London. ... Download high resolution version (480x640, 105 KB)Actors in period costume, resting between takes whilst on location filming in London. ... For legal meaning of acting, see Acting (law). ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of the entertainment industry. ... An American family watching television in the 1950s. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... Radio broadcasts have been a popular entertainment since the 1910s though popularity has declined some since television became widespread. ... A voice actor (or voice artist) is a person who provides voices for computer and video games, puppet shows, amusement rides, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, stop motion, and animation works (including cartoons, animated feature films, animated shorts), and radio and television commercials. ...


See: List of male movie actors, List of female movie actors (A-K) and List of female movie actors (L-Z), List of male theater actors and List of female theater actors This is an alphabetical list of notable male movie actors. ... This is an alphabetical list of notable female movie actors. ... This is an alphabetical list of notable female movie actors. ... This is an alphabetical list of notable male theater actors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. ... This is an alphabetical list of notable female theater actors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. ...


For information on the artistic craft, see acting For legal meaning of acting, see Acting (law). ...


However, the word actor can be used in more general terms - for example in the analysis of policy, an interested person, party, group or an organization is often known as an actor. A policy is a plan of action for tackling political issues. ...

Contents

History

The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 B.C. (probably on November 23rd, though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the Greek performer Thespis stepped on to the stage at the Theatre Dionysus and became the first person to speak words as a character in a play. The machinations of storytelling were immediately revolutionized. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were told in song and dance and in third person narrative, but no one had assumed the role of a character in a story. In reverence to Thespis, actors are formally referred to as thespians. Theatrical myth to this day maintains that Thespis exists as a mischievous spirit, and disasters in the theatre are sometimes blamed on his ghostly intervention. Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC Events and Trends 538 BC - Babylon occupied by Jews transported to Babylon are allowed to return to... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... Greece, officaly called the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. ... Thespis of Icaria (6th century BC) is claimed to be the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor in a play. ... This page is about musical songs. ... For the computer game, see Myth (computer game). ...


During the Rennaissance, and for much of the subsequent century, deceased actors were buried at a crossroads, with a bowl and, in some cases, a stake through the heart, in much the same manner as a Vampire. They were also often distrusted because of their apparent supernatural ability to take on the persona of another individual.


Term

In the past, the term "actor" was restricted to men. Women did not begin performing commonly until the 17th century. When they did the term "actress" was used. In the ancient and medieval world, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to go on the stage, and this belief continued right up until the 17th century, when in Venice it was broken. In the time of William Shakespeare, women's roles were played by men or boys, though there is some evidence to suggest that women disguised as men also (illegally) performed. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Venice is known for its waterways and gondolas Gondola. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...


Today, the term "actor" is often used to refer to both men and women, as some consider the term "actress" to be sexist. However, the term actress also remains in common use. Sexism is discrimination between people based on their Sex rather than their individual merits. ...


An actor usually plays a fictional character. In the case of a true story (or a fictional story that involves a real person) an actor may play a real person (or a fictional version of the same), possibly him- or herself. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ...


See also: gender-specific job title, non-sexist language A gender-specific job title is a the name of a job that also specifies or implies the gender of the person performing that job, such as fireman or stewardess. ... Gender-neutral language (gender-generic, gender-inclusive, non-sexist, or sex-neutral language) is language that attempts to refer neither to males nor females when discussing an abstract or hypothetical person whose sex cannot otherwise be determined, as opposed to more traditional language forms, which may use male or female...


Actresses in male roles

Women actors sometimes play the roles of prepubescent boys, because in some regards a woman has a closer resemblance to a boy than does a man. The role of Peter Pan, for example, is traditionally played by a woman. The tradition of the principal boy in pantomime may be compared. An adult playing a child occurs more in theater than in film. The exception to this is voice actors in animated films, where boys are generally voiced by women. Opera has several 'pants roles' traditionally sung by women, usually mezzo-sopranos. Examples are Hansel in Hansel und Gretel, and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ... Peter Pan is a fictional character created by J. M. Barrie, and the name of a stage play, a childrens book, and various adaptations of them. ... In pantomime, the principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boys clothes. ... Pantomime may refer to two different types of performing arts. ... Animation refers to the process in which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result. ... This article is about opera as an art form. ... A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role) is a role in which an actress appears in male clothes (breeches being tight-fitting knee-length pants, the standard male garment at the time breeches roles were introduced). ... A mezzo-soprano (meaning medium soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker (or lower) vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that... Hansel und Gretel is an opera by Engelbert Humperdinck (Humperdinck himself described it as a fairy opera. ... Le Nozze di Figaro, is a comic opera composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Beaumarchais. ...


Mary Pickford played the part of Little Lord Fauntleroy in the first film version of the book. Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Year of Living Dangerously, in which she played the part of a man. Mary Pickford (April 8, 1892 - May 29, 1979) was a motion picture star, known as Americas Sweetheart and the girl with the curl. ... Little Lord Fauntleroy is a novel by American (English-born) author Frances Hodgson Burnett, published in 1886. ... Linda Hunt (born April 2, 1945 in Morristown, New Jersey, USA) is an American actress. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1982 films | Australian films | Indonesia | Best Supporting Actress Oscar (film) ...


Having an actor play the opposite sex for comic effect is also a long standing tradition in comic theatre and film. Most of Shakespeare's comedies include instances of cross dressing, and both Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams appeared in hit comedy films where they were required to play most scenes dressed as men dressed as women. A better example would probably be Divine in all of his roles. Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is one of the dominant American film actors of the late twentieth century. ... Robin Williams performing in Iraq. ... Divine with dogs Harris Glenn Milstead (October 19, 1945 Towson, Maryland - March 7, 1988) was better known by his drag persona Divine. ...


Techniques of acting

Actors employ a variety of techniques that are learnt through training and experience. Some of these are:

  1. The rigorous use of the voice to communicate a character's lines and express emotion. This is achieved through attention to diction and projection through correct breathing and articulation. It is also achieved through the tone and emphasis that an actor puts on words
  2. Physicalisation of a role in order to create a believable character for the audience and to use the acting space appropriately and correctly
  3. Use of gesture to complement the voice, interact with other actors and to bring emphasis to the words in a play, as well as having symbolic meaning

Acting awards

Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... An Emmy Award. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award® but is formally the Antoinette Perry Award is an annual American award celebrating achievements in theater, including musical theater. ... The Laurence Olivier Awards, previously known as The Society of West End Theatre Awards, were renamed in honour of British actor Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier in 1984, having first been established in 1976. ...

See also

A movie star is a celebrity who is well known for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. ... This article is about stunt performance. ...

Suggested reading

  • Letters to a Young Actor by Robert Brustein (Basic Books, 0465008062, 2005).

  Results from FactBites:
 
William Holden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1177 words)
Following this breakthrough film he played a series of roles that combined good looks with cynical detachment, including the prisoner of war entrepreneur in Stalag 17 (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor), the wandering braggard in Picnic and the ill-fated prisoner in The Bridge on the River Kwai.
He also played a number of sunnier roles in light comedy, such as the dashing architect in The Moon is Blue, the tutor in Born Yesterday and Humphrey Bogart's younger, playboy brother in Sabrina.
According to Suzanne Vega, Holden is the actor mentioned in the lyrics of her song "Tom's Diner" (and has said a story about his death was on the New York Post's front page the day she wrote it):
  More results at FactBites »


 

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