celebrity

A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin adjective celeber meaning famous or celebrated. more...

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While fame is generally considered a necessary precondition for celebrity status, it is not always sufficient. There has to be a level of public interest in the person, which may or may not be connected to the reason they are famous. Many celebrities are only so for a certain amount of time, perhaps after appearing on a television program or doing something to cast them into the public eye, such as rowing the Atlantic Ocean or being the first to do something. There are also specialist celebrities, who are only celebrities to those who enjoy a particular subject and so consider them a celebrity.

A public figure such as a politician or CEO may be famous, but they may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is piqued. For example Virgin Director Richard Branson was famous as a CEO, but he did not become a global celebrity until he attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon. On the other hand, mass entertainment personalities such as soap opera actors or music stars are likely to become celebrities even if the person deliberately avoids media attention.

A famous definition of celebrity comes from the cultural theorist Daniel Boorstin. In his book,The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, he cynically describes celebrities as people well known for their “well-knowness”.

Central Celebrites

A small number of celebrities can be considered 'global', in that their fame has spread across the English-speaking world and even into non-English-speaking cultures. These celebrities are often prominent political figures, Hollywood actors, globally successful pop musicians and sports stars. A few examples of internationally-known celebrities include politicians Vaclav Havel, Nelson Mandela and Hugo Chavez; actors Tom Cruise, Ian McKellen, Gérard Depardieu, Will Smith and in Indian Cinema, Chiranjeevi; actresses Drew Barrymore, Meryl Streep, Halle Berry, Emma Watson and Julia Roberts; pop singers Robbie Williams, Britney Spears, Shakira, Michael Jackson and Madonna; and sports stars Yao Ming, David Beckham and Tiger Woods.

The rise of international celebrities in acting and popular music is due in large part to the massive scope and scale of the US media industries, which has enabled US media firms to dominate the English-speaking film, television, and popular music markets. The reach of US entertainment products is further extended by large-scale illegal copying of Hollywood movies and US popular music, which makes inexpensive pirated versions of US DVDs and CDs available throughout South America and Asia.

Read more at Wikipedia.org