Movie star

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

For other uses, including various songs titled “Movie Star”, see: Movie star (disambiguation).

Movie star Tobey Maguire greets fans at the Spider-Man 3 premiere in Queens

A movie star (cine star or film star) is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters. The most widely known, prominent or successful actors are sometimes called “superstars” by writers and journalists.

Hollywood, first years

Lillian Gish was one of the first female movie stars, working from 1912 to 1987

In the early days of silent movies the names of the actors and actresses appearing in movies were not publicized or credited as they are now. Some of these performers had to help build the sets, clean up and perform other chores around the studio. As the movie-going public became more interested in the performers who attracted their attention, however, the curiosity to know more about them made the movie studios and producers rethink their policy. As the demand increased, they began publicizing the names of their leading women and men, and bill them in the credits of their movies, such as (in the USA) Florence Lawrence, referred to as the “first movie star”, who was previously known only as the “Biograph Girl”, because she worked for Biograph Studios, and the “IMP Girl” because she worked for the Independent Moving Pictures Company, and Mary Pickford, who was previously known as “Little Mary”.

By 1909, IMP began promoting their “picture personalities”, such as Florence Lawrence and King Baggot, by giving them billing/credits and a marquee. Promotion in advertising led to the release of stories about these personalities to newspapers and fan magazines as part of a strategy to build “brand loyalty” for their company's actors and films. By the 1920s, Hollywood film company promoters had developed a “massive industrial enterprise” that “…peddled a new intangible—fame.” ^[1]

Hollywood “image makers” and promotional agents planted rumors, selectively released real or fictitious biographical information to the press, and used other “gimmicks” to create personas for actors. Then they “…worked [to] reinforce that persona [and] manage the publicity.” Publicists thus “created” the “enduring images” and public perceptions of screen legends such as Rock Hudson, Marilyn Monroe, and Grace Kelly. The development of this “star system” made “fame…something that could be fabricated purposely, by the masters of the new ‘machinery of glory’.” ^[1] However, regardless of how “…strenuously the star and their media handlers and press agents may…try to ‘monitor’ and ‘shape’ it, the media and the public always play a substantial part in the image-making process.” ^[1] According to Madow, “fame is a ‘relational’ phenomenon, something that is conferred by others. A person can, within the limits of his natural talents, make himself strong or swift or learned. But he cannot, in this same sense, make himself famous, any more than he can make himself loved.”

Madow goes on to point out “fame is often conferred or withheld, just as love is, for reasons and on grounds other than ‘merit’.” According to Sofia Johansson the “canonical texts on stardom” include articles by Boorstin (1971), Alberoni (1972) and Dyer (1979) that examined the “representations of stars and on aspects of the Hollywood star system”. Johansson notes “more recent analyses within media and cultural studies (e.g. Gamson 1994; Marshall 1997; Giles 2000; Turner, Marshall and Bonner 2000; Rojek 2001; Turner 2004) have instead dealt with the idea of a pervasive, contemporary, ‘celebrity culture’.” In the analysis of the celebrity culture, “fame and its constituencies are conceived of as a broader social process, connected to widespread economic, political, technological and cultural developments.” ^[2]

In the 1980s and 1990s, entertainment companies began using stars for a range of publicity tactics including press releases, movie junkets, and community activities. These promotional efforts are targeted and designed using market research, to increase the predictability of success of their media ventures. In some cases, publicity agents may create “provocative advertisements” or make an outrageous public statement to trigger public controversy and thereby generate “free” news coverage.^[1] Movie studios employed performers under long-term contracts. They developed a star system as a means of promoting and selling their movies. “Star vehicles” were filmed to display the particular talents and appeal of the most popular movie stars of the studio.

The last of the greats

With the loss of Bette Davis in 1989 and Katharine Hepburn and Gregory Peck in 2003, there are very few of the Hollywood Greats still alive. Dorothy Janis, Barbara Kent and Mickey Rooney are the last three surviving stars from the silent era, Joan Fontaine and sister Olivia De Havilland are the last two main 1930s actresses, and Lauren Bacall, Gloria Stuart and Maureen O'Hara are some of the last from the 1940s.

Glamour UK voted Katharine Hepburn and Lauren Bacall amoungst the women they consider to be the 40 Most Iconic Movie Goddesses of all time.

Treatment outside the U.S.

Movie stars in other regions too have their own star value. For instance, in Asian film industries, many movies often run on the weight of the star's crowd pulling power more than any other intrinsic aspect of film making.

India

The Indian film industry has its own set of rules in this aspect and there are often superstars in this region, who often command premium pay commensurate with their box office appeal. Among them, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan,Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Kamal Hassan, Dr.Raj Kumar, Vishnuvardhan, Mohanlal and Mammootty are arguably the most popular movie stars in Southern Asia. Among them, Rajinikanth has proven to become the second highest paid actor in Asia (after Jackie Chan) as of 2007.

China

Chinese movie stars well-known in the West include Bai Ling, Joan Chen, Maggie Cheung, and the late Bruce Lee, who are also some of the most popular movie stars in Eastern Asia.

See also

Film portal

References