Actor

Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming.

An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity. The ancient Greek word for an actor, ὑποκριτής (hypokrites), when rendered as a verb means "to interpret;"^[1] in this sense, an actor is one who interprets a dramatic character.^[2]

Terminology

The word actor refers to one who acts, while actress refers specifically to a female who acts. The Oxford English Dictionary states that originally "'actor' was used for both sexes". The English word actress does not derive from the Latin actrix, probably not even by way of French actrice; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, actress was "probably formed independently" in English. As actress is a specifically feminine word, some feminists assert that the word is sexist. Gender-neutral usage of actor has re-emerged in modern English,^[3] especially when referring to male and female performers collectively, but actress remains a commonly used word.

The gender-neutral term player was common in film in the early days of the Production Code, but is now generally deemed archaic. However, it remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a theatre group or company (such as the East West Players).

History

Two actors performing during a theatric play.

The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 BC (probably on 23 November^{[citation needed]}, 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 or story. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were only known to be told in song and dance and in third person narrative. In honour of Thespis,a 6th century B.C poet, 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.^{[citation needed]} The combination of public presence and wealth has profoundly rehabilitated their image.^{[citation needed]}

In the past, only men could become actors in some societies. In the ancient Greece and Rome ^[4] 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(Victor Andersen) was ended in the reign of Charles II who enjoyed watching female actors (actresses) on stage.

Techniques

As opposite sex

Historically, acting was considered a man's profession; so, in Shakespeare's time, for instance, men and boys played all roles, including the female parts. However when an eighteen year Puritan prohibition of drama was lifted after the English Restoration of 1660, women began to appear on stage. The first occurrence of the term actress in the OED being by Dryden in 1700.

In Japan, men (onnagata) took over the female roles in kabuki theatre when women were banned from performing on stage during the Edo period. However, some forms of Chinese drama have women playing all the roles.

In modern times, women sometimes play the roles of prepubescent boys. The stage role of Peter Pan, for example, is traditionally played by a woman, as are the principal boy and dame in British pantomime. This is uncommon in film, however, except in animated films and television programmes, where boys are sometimes voiced by women. For example, in The Simpsons the voice of Bart Simpson is provided by Nancy Cartwright. Opera has several "pants roles" traditionally sung by women, usually mezzo-sopranos. Examples are Hansel in Hänsel und Gretel, and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro.

Having an actor dress as 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 overt cross-dressing, such as Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The movie A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum stars Jack Gilford dressing as a young bride. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon famously posed as women to escape gangsters in the Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot. Cross-dressing for comic effect was a frequently used device in most of the thirty Carry On films. Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams each appeared in a hit comedy film in which they played most scenes dressed as a woman.

Several roles in modern plays and musicals are played by a member of the opposite sex (rather than a character cross-dressing), such as the character Edna Turnblad in Hairspray — played by Divine in the original film, Harvey Fierstein in the Broadway musical, and John Travolta in the 2007 movie musical. Occasionally the issue is further complicated through a woman acting as a man pretending to be a woman, like Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria, or a woman acting as a woman pretending to be a man, like Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love.

Acting awards

• Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, for American film
• Cannes Film Festival Awards, international French festival for world wide films and documentaries
• Volpi Cups at the Venice Film Festival, the oldest Film Festival in the world.
• Golden Globe Awards for American film and television
• Emmy Awards for American television
• Genie Awards for Canadian film
• Gemini Awards for Canadian television
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for film and television; also known as BAFTA
• Tony Awards for the theatre (specifically, Broadway theatre)
• European Theatre Awards for the theatre
• Laurence Olivier Awards for the theatre (named in honour of actor Sir Laurence Olivier)
• Screen Actors Guild Awards for American actors in film and television
• Indian National Film Awards for the Indian cinema.
• Filmfare Awards honors excellence in the Indian Film Industry (Bollywood) - limited to Hindi language films only.
• Goya Awards for Spanish film.
• San Sebastián International Film Festival Spanish film festival Celebrated in San Sebastián.
• César Awards for French film.
• AFI Awards for Australian film.
• Berlinale German film festival in Berlin (Golden and Silver Bear)
• Piala Citra (Citra Award) for Indonesian film.
• IFTA's for the Irish Film and Television
• Kids Choice Awards for Nickelodeon and TV channels based on kids.