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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Actors.jpg|right|frame]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Century 15th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : one that acts : doer
*2 a : one who [[represents]] a character in a [[dramatic]] production
:b : a [[Theater|theatrical]] performer
:c : one who behaves as if acting a part
*3 : one that takes part in any affair
==Description==
An '''actor''' is a person who acts in a [[dramatic]] [[Play|production]] and who works in [[film]], television, [[theatre]], or radio in that capacity. The ancient [[Greek]] word for an "actor," ὑποκριτής (hypokrites), means [[literally]] "one who [[interprets]]"; in this sense, an actor is one who [[interprets]] a [[drama]]tic character.
==Terminology==
The word actor refers to a person who acts regardless of [[sex]], while actress refers specifically to a [[female]] person who acts; therefore a female can be referred to by either term. 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 [[groups]] assert that the word is sexist. [[Gender]]-neutral usage of actor has re-emerged in modern English, especially when referring to [[male]] and [[female]] performers [[collectively]], but actress remains the common term used in major acting awards given to female recipients and is common in general usage.
The gender-neutral term "player" was common in [[film]] in the early days of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code Motion Picture Production Code] with regards to the cinema of the United States, 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_West_Players East West Players]).
==History==
The first recorded case of an actor [[performing]] took place in 534 BC (though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the [[Greek]] performer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis 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, 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 [[ghost]]ly intervention.
Actors were [[traditionally]] not people of high [[status]], and in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages Early Middle Ages] travelling acting troupes were often viewed with distrust. In many parts of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe 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 [[honor]]ed and popular profession and art.[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor]]
[[Category: Theatre]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Century 15th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : one that acts : doer
*2 a : one who [[represents]] a character in a [[dramatic]] production
:b : a [[Theater|theatrical]] performer
:c : one who behaves as if acting a part
*3 : one that takes part in any affair
==Description==
An '''actor''' is a person who acts in a [[dramatic]] [[Play|production]] and who works in [[film]], television, [[theatre]], or radio in that capacity. The ancient [[Greek]] word for an "actor," ὑποκριτής (hypokrites), means [[literally]] "one who [[interprets]]"; in this sense, an actor is one who [[interprets]] a [[drama]]tic character.
==Terminology==
The word actor refers to a person who acts regardless of [[sex]], while actress refers specifically to a [[female]] person who acts; therefore a female can be referred to by either term. 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 [[groups]] assert that the word is sexist. [[Gender]]-neutral usage of actor has re-emerged in modern English, especially when referring to [[male]] and [[female]] performers [[collectively]], but actress remains the common term used in major acting awards given to female recipients and is common in general usage.
The gender-neutral term "player" was common in [[film]] in the early days of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code Motion Picture Production Code] with regards to the cinema of the United States, 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_West_Players East West Players]).
==History==
The first recorded case of an actor [[performing]] took place in 534 BC (though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the [[Greek]] performer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thespis 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, 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 [[ghost]]ly intervention.
Actors were [[traditionally]] not people of high [[status]], and in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages Early Middle Ages] travelling acting troupes were often viewed with distrust. In many parts of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe 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 [[honor]]ed and popular profession and art.[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor]]
[[Category: Theatre]]
