Dictionary
a theatrical performer a person who acts and gets things done "he's a principal actor in this affair" "when you want something done get a doer" "he's a miracle worker"
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Wikipedia
otheruses limitedgeographicscope An actor is a person who acting acts, or plays a role, in an artistic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in filmmovies, television, live Theatertheatre, or radio programmingradio, 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 some prefer the term "actor", using it as a gender-neutral term.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.
Etymology - "Actor" comes from Latin, from the noun ''actor'' from the Latin verbsLatin verb ''agere'' "to do, drive, pass time" + the affix ''-or'' "so./st. who performs the action indicated by the stem".
History - The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 530s BC534 B.C. (probably on 23 November, though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the GreeceGreek 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 Perspective (storytelling)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.However, this negative perception dramaticaly changed in 20th Century as acting became an honored and popular profession and art. Part of the reason is due to the rise of the popular appeal and access to dramatic film entertainment and the resulting rise of the movie star in social status and the large salaries they commanded. The combination of public presence and wealth had a profound rehabilitation to the image.In the past, only men could become actors. In the ancient and middle agesmedieval 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.
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, as heard in "The Simpsons". 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.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. 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 women. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon famously posed as women to escape gangsters in the Billy Wilder film ''Some Like It Hot''.
Techniques of acting - Actors employ a variety of techniques that are learned through training and experience. Some of these are:#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#Physicalisation of a role in order to create a believable character for the audience and to use the acting space appropriately and correctly#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 meaningShakespeare is believed to have been commenting on the acting style and techniques of his era when Hamlet gives his famous advice to the !players:Spea k? the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise: I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant; it out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid !it. Be? not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action; with this special observance: o'erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure. Now this overdone, or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve; the censure of the which one must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. O, there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly, not to speak it profanely, that, neither having the accent of Christians nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made men and not made them well, they imitated humanity so !abominably. O,? reform it altogether. And let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them; for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too; though, in the mean time, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered: that's villanous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Go, make you ready.
Acting awards - Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, for film Golden Globe Awards for film and television Emmy Awards for television Genie Awards for film Gemini Awards for television BAFTABritish Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for film and television Tony Awards for the theatre (specifically, Broadway theatre) European Theatre Awards for the theatre Laurence Olivier Awards for the theatre Screen Actors Guild Awards for film and television
See also - Movie star Stunt work :Category:Lists of actorsLists of actors Celebrities
Suggested reading - ''An Actor Prepares'' by Constantine Stanislavski (Theatre Arts Books, 0878309837, 1989) ''A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method'' by Lee Strasberg (Plume Books, 0452261988, 1990) ''Sanford Meisner on Acting'' by Sanford Meisner (Vintage, 0394750594, 1987) ''Letters to a Young Actor'' by Robert Brustein (Basic Books, 0465008062, 2005).Category:Actors*Category:Entertainment !occupationsbg:Актьорca:A ctorcs:Herecda:Skuespillerde:S chauspieleres:Actoreo:Aktorofr :Acteurgl:Actorko:배우id:Akt orit:Attore? (spettacolo)he:שחקן !קולנועlt:Aktoriusms:Pela konnl:Acteurja:俳優no:Skuesp illernn:Skodespelarpl:Aktorpt: Atorru:Актёрsk:Herecsl:Fi lmski? !igralecsr:Глумацfi:Näyt telijäsv:Skådespelarezh:演
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Websites
Studio Extras
We provide a service for anyone interested in TV Extra work or film Extra work in the United Kingdom. We also have the option of uploading your personal profile complete with photographs, where casting directors and agencies can search our database for free!
http://www.studioextras.co.uk/
The Voiceworks
International directory of professional voice talent. Each profile contains audio files, headshot, bio and full contact details. We are not an Agency.
http://www.thevoiceworks.com/
Lemonus Productions
Iowa based indie-filmmaking company. Check here for freshly squeezed films.
http://www.lemonus.com/
FilmAffinity
Rate movies and find recommended movies based on your ratings - Make lists of movies.
http://www.filmaffinity.com/
ACTORALIA
Base de datos de actores, actrices, presentadores, presentadoras y todo el mundo relacionado con la farándula
http://www.actoralia.com/
Holdon Log
Software and Log Books for Performers
http://www.holdonlog.com/
Atalaya-TNT
Atalaya es una compañía de teatro ubicada en sevilla, que además ha fundado un centro dedicado a la investigación teatral que es TNT.
http://www.atalaya-tnt.com/
www.MarkusWechsler.de
german Actor
http://www.markuswechsler.de/
Ed Wynne; Saxophonist, Vocalist, Song Writer
Ed Wynne; Saxophonist, Vocalist, Song Writer. This is the web-site for Los Angeles based entertainer Ed Wynne.
http://www.edwynne.com
John Graf Photography
Headshots,Portfolio,Modeling.
http://www.johngrafphotography.com/
Richard Chamberlain Artworks
Richard Chamberlain, acclaimed for his acting roles in SHOGUN and THETHORNBIRDS began his studies in college as an art major, and has recently begun to exhibit his work. His web site offers a peek into his other passion.
http://www.richard-chamberlain.com/
Art of Independent Film and Video Producing - VM Productions
VM-Productions makes Feodor Dostoevsky available to new generations by transforming his novella White Nights into a suspenseful Hollywood fable, in the movie Shades of Day Shades of Day is a site dedicated to the art of independent film and video making. We're developing and producing quality films and video based on original stories and the masterpieces of the world literature dealing with a variety of contemporary issues often neglected by the mainstream cinema (both by the studios and the independents).
http://www.shadesofday.com/
GoDesktop
Free Celebrity and entertainment download stuff, features wallpapers, screensavers, desktop themes and skins.
http://www.godesktop.com/
Cynthia Bain's Young Actor Studio
The best training for young actors in Los Angeles.
http://www.cynthiabain.com/
Yeeeah!
Your daily source for celebrity gossip and pop culture.
http://www.yeeeah.com/
Alex Kaplan Photography
New York & New Jersey Actor Headshots, Model Portfolios and Portrait Specialist
http://www.professionalheadshots.com
Tamil Media Network
tamil related websites.
http://www.tamil-media.com/
www.SkyMcDougall.com
Official website for Sky McDougall, Hollywood Actor and Voiceover Artist
http://www.skymcdougall.com/
Jeff Gardner ~ Broadway Actor
Official Website for veteran theatre actor & Vaudevillian Performer Jeff Gardner
http://www.jeffgardner.net/
VinXperience
Vin Diesel fansite with the latest news, images, articles and a busy message board.
http://www.vindiesel.hu
Joanne Baron / D.W. Brown Studio
Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Studio, 310/451-3311. The Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Studio is a studio for the working actor. The Studio has also coached award-winning actors Halle Berry, Robin Wright Penn, Mariska Hargitay, Nicollette Sheridan, Patrick Dempsey and Julia Stiles, as well as award-winning directors Sam Raimi, Martha Coolidge and Tom Shadyac. The Studio offers intensive long and short-term study to professional working and pre-professional beginning actors, writers, directors, and producers. The Studio’s programs include Meisner training scene study, audition technique, cold reading, on-set coaching, private coaching, and Alexander Technique classes. Flexible schedules are available throughout the training to support the working and auditioning actor. Artistic Director Joanne Baron offers an advanced scene study Master Class twice a year. For over 35 years the Studio has continued the legacy of the extraordinary training that Sanford Meisner taught to the likes of Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Dianne Keaton and Robert DuVall. Admission to the Studio is by interview only.
http://www.baronbrown.com/
Luciano Roffi
Web site of the italian actor Luciano Roffi
http://www.lucianoroffi.it/
mr. nicolai tegeler
homepage from the actor nicolai tegeler
http://www.nicolai-tegeler.de/
Canadian Actor Online
Resource site for actors and theatre, film and television industry personnel with links, news, and a discussion board.
http://www.canadianactor.com
Screen Actors Guild
Includes information for beginning actors, a member directory, and the SAG awards.
http://www.sag.org/
The ActorSource Home Page
Information for anyone from the beginning actor to the seasoned veteran on how to get started in the acting profession.
http://www.actorsource.com/
Avagant's Fanpage Directory
Entertainment directory focusing on Actress and Actor websites made and maintained by fans.
http://www.actressactor.com/
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