Actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An actor, actress, or player (see terminology) is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in film, television, live theatre, or radio, and can occasionally denote a street entertainer. Besides playing dramatic roles, actors may also sing or work only on radio or as a voice actor. Actor may also refer to a combatant: somebody taking part in a war, armed struggle, or conflict.
An actor usually plays a fictional character. In the case of a true story (or a fictional story that portrays real people) an actor may play a real person (or a fictional version of the same). Occasionally, actors appear as themselves, as in John Malkovich's performance in the film Being John Malkovich.
The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 BC (probably on 23 November, 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 known person to speak words as a character in a play. 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 honour of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians. Theatrical legend to this day maintains that Thespis exists as a mischievous spirit, and disasters in the theatre are sometimes blamed on his ghostly intervention.
Actors were traditionally not people of high status, and in the Early Middle Ages travelling acting troupes were often viewed with distrust. In many parts of Europe, actors could not even receive a Christian burial, and traditional beliefs of the region and time period held that this left any actor forever condemned. However, this negative perception was largely reversed in the 19th and 20th centuries as acting has become an honored and popular profession and art. Part of the cause is the easier popular access to dramatic film entertainment and the resulting rise of the movie star — as regards both their social status and the salaries they command. The combination of public presence and wealth has profoundly rehabilitated their image.
In the past, only men could become actors in some societies. In the ancient Greece and Rome [5] and the 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 generally played by men or boys. The British prohibition was ended in the reign of Charles II who enjoyed watching female actors (actresses) on stage.
I remember the moment i knew our country was being run by people who lie.
Nancy Reagan was smiling and waving at me... looking like a girl on prom night... so genuinely happy.
She was waving at about 1000 street protestors and the 100 or so police that were holding the crowd tight against the buildings walls for security reasons.
She thought we were all adoring fans... admirers.
2000 of us were illegally, unconstitutionally arrested in ten days because her and the Republicans were holding a convention there in N.Y.C. ...
our freedom of expression, religion and political opinions were treated with 22 hours of barbed wire, shitty food and chemical filth from the old bus repair depot floor they had decided to lock us into.
And Nancy was sure we loved her and it made her so happy.
Which means she was an actress with deceptive, treasonous directors.
