Jeanine Basinger (born February 3, 1936, Ravenden, Arkansas ) is an American film historian who was the Corwin-Fuller professor of film studies at Wesleyan University and the founder and curator of the university's cinematic archives.
31-457: An A-list actor is a major movie star , or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry . The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List , which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide, and has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. American entertainment journalist James Ulmer , the guide's creator, has also developed a version including directors,
62-410: A film star or cinema star ) is an actor who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies . The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and whose names are used to promote movies, for example in trailers and posters. The most prominent movie stars are known in the industry as bankable stars . In the early days of silent movies ,
93-399: A marquee . Promotion in advertising led to the release of stories about these personalities to newspapers and fan magazines as part of a strategy to build brand loyalty for their company's actors and films. By the 1920s, Hollywood film company promoters had developed a "massive industrial enterprise" that "...peddled a new intangible—fame." Early Hollywood studios tightly controlled who was
124-411: A movie star, as only they had the ability to place stars' names above the title; according to film historian Jeanine Basinger , this was done "only for economic reasons". Hollywood "image makers" and promotional agents planted rumors, selectively released real or fictitious biographical information to the press, and used other gimmicks to create glamorous personas for actors. Publicists thus "created"
155-444: Is located, in 1960 as marketing director of American Education Publications , then owned by the university and later sold to Xerox . In the late 1960s, art professor John Frazer recruited her into helping him set up the university's first "serious film course" at a time when it was, according to Sam Wasson , unclear what that meant. This soon evolved into her teaching a class at Wesleyan on her own, beginning in 1969, despite lacking
186-524: Is often conferred or withheld, just as love is, for reasons and on grounds other than 'merit'." According to Sofia Johansson the "canonical texts on stardom" include articles by Boorstin (1971), Alberoni (1972) and Dyer (1979) that examined the "representations of stars and on aspects of the Hollywood star system". Johansson writes that "more recent analyses within media and cultural studies (e.g. Gamson 1994; Marshall 1997; Giles 2000; Turner, Marshall and Bonner 2000; Rojek 2001; Turner 2004) have instead dealt with
217-708: The Hot List of Directors . The Ulmer scale categorizes the lists into A+, A, B+, B, C, and D listings. Similarly, in India, there is three-tier strategy, tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3, which are based on the saleability and box office collection capability of a star. In popular usage outside the film industry, an A-list celebrity is any person with an admired or desirable social status. Even socialites with popular press coverage and elite associations have been termed as A-list celebrities. Similarly, less popular persons and current teen idols are referred to as B-list celebrities – and
248-464: The Philippines , their most recognizable thespian consisted of Nora Aunor , Vilma Santos , Sharon Cuneta , Maricel Soriano , Christopher de Leon , Joseph Estrada , Jose Padilla , Fernando Poe Sr. , Fernando Poe Jr. , Rudy Fernandez , Dolphy , Palito , Ramon Zamora , among many more. Philippines first international celebrity and sole in the movie star category was Ernesto dela Cruz under
279-434: The "enduring images" and public perceptions of screen legends such as James Dean , Judy Garland , Rock Hudson , Marilyn Monroe , and Grace Kelly . The development of this " star system " made fame "something that could be fabricated purposely, by the masters of the new 'machinery of glory'." However, regardless of how "...strenuously the star and their media handlers and press agents may ... try to 'monitor' and 'shape' it,
310-408: The 20th century. Other, more recent movie stars include Romalis Syafril, Erra Fazira , Rosyam Nor , Shaheizy Sam and Maya Karin , from Malaysia; Nicholas Saputra , Vino G. Bastian, Dian Sastrowardoyo , Tora Sudiro , and Iko Uwais , from Indonesia; Claudine Baretto, Piolo Pascual , John Lloyd Cruz , Jericho Rosales , Aga Muhlach , Kristine Hermosa, Dingdong Dantes , and Bea Alonzo , from
341-480: The 21st century; Mona Zaki , Ahmed Ezz , Menna Shalabi , Ahmed El Sakka , Karim Abdel Aziz , Sherif Mounir , Nelly Karim , Mohamed Henedi , Mohamed Saad , Donia Samir Ghanem , Ahmed Helmy , Ghada Adel , Khaled El-Nabawy , Ruby , Maged el-Kedwany and many more considered Egyptian Cinema movie stars. Movie stars enjoy considerable prominence in Asia. In Asian film industries, many movies often run on
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#1732790063083372-647: The Hindi film industry, commonly known as Bollywood , has its own set of rules in this respect. There are often superstars in this region who command premium pay commensurate with their box office appeal. Some mainstream Indian movie stars, like the Khans of Bollywood ( Aamir Khan , Shah Rukh Khan , Salman Khan ,), Madhubala , Raj Kapoor , Nargis , Mithun Chakraborty , Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai gained international fame across Asia and Eastern Europe . For example, Bollywood films were popular in
403-850: The National Center for Film and Video Preservation, and one of the Board of Advisors for the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers. On February 11, 2005, she was named to the board of directors of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures . She is an advisor to Martin Scorsese 's film foundation, produced an American Masters special on Clint Eastwood, and was head consultant and producer of PBS 's American Cinema: 100 Years of Filmmaking , as well as author of its companion volume. Basinger has been described as "one of
434-774: The Philippines; and a few from Singapore, such as Aaron Aziz and Adi Putra. Jeanine Basinger Jeanine Basinger was raised in Brookings, South Dakota . She first became interested in film at the age of 11 when she worked as an usher at The College Theater. She said that seeing the same film over and over gave her an understanding of "the way films... [affect] the audience, ... where they work and where they don't." She attended and received her BS and MS from South Dakota State University . Basinger first arrived in Middletown, Connecticut , where Wesleyan University
465-604: The Soviet Union , more so than Hollywood films and occasionally even domestic Soviet films . Indian actors like Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Mithun Chakroborty were household names in the Soviet Union, with films such as Awaara (1951) and Disco Dancer (1982) drawing more than 60 million viewers in the country. The Hindi film actors Raj Kapoor and Aamir Khan also became very popular in China, with films such as Awaara , 3 Idiots (2009), and Dangal (2016), one of
496-669: The art department and other established departments. It evolved into a formal department in 2000, with its own faculty and with Basinger as chair, a role she relinquished in 2016 before retiring in 2020, by which time that department had evolved into the College of Film and the Moving Image. Basinger is also a trustee emeritus of the American Film Institute , a member of the Steering Committee of
527-522: The idea of a pervasive, contemporary, ' celebrity culture '." In the analysis of the celebrity culture, "fame and its constituencies are conceived of as a broader social process, connected to widespread economic, political, technological and cultural developments." In the 1980s and 1990s, entertainment companies began using stars for a range of publicity tactics including press releases, movie junkets, and community activities. These promotional efforts are targeted and designed using market research, to increase
558-412: The media and the public always play a substantial part in the image-making process." According to Madow, "fame is a 'relational' phenomenon, something that is conferred by others. A person can, within the limits of his natural talents, make himself strong or swift or learned. But he cannot, in this same sense, make himself famous, any more than he can make himself loved." Madow goes on to point out "fame
589-849: The most important film scholars alive today." Among other accomplishments, she is credited with having built Wesleyan's Film Studies program into one of the ten best film schools in the world. "A shockingly disproportionate number of Hollywood movers and shakers" are graduates of the program. Graduates include Akiva Goldsman , Joss Whedon , Michael Bay , Paul Weitz , Laurence Mark , Paul Schiff , Gary Walkow, Alex Kurtzman , Bruce Eric Kaplan , Toby Emmerich , Nick Meyer , Marc Shmuger , Rick Nicita , Bradley Fuller , Dana Delany , Stephen Schiff , Rodger Grossman , Toni Ross , Bradley Whitford , Sam Wasson , Domenica Cameron-Scorsese , Liz Garcia , Jon Turteltaub , Owen Renfroe , Jeffrey Lane , Ed Decter , Zak Penn , Jeremy Arnold and Miguel Arteta . She has appeared in numerous documentaries and in
620-400: The names of the actors and actresses appearing in them were not publicized or credited because producers feared this would result in demands for higher salaries. However, audience curiosity soon undermined this policy. By 1909, actresses such as Florence Lawrence and Mary Pickford were already widely recognized, although the public remained unaware of their names. Lawrence was referred to as
651-415: The news industry; for example, Paul Lynde , by this point in his career best known for being on the daytime game show Hollywood Squares , went largely unnoticed by the supermarket tabloids , and his homosexuality (which would have drawn attention for bigger celebrities) went largely unreported. Kathy Griffin , an American comedian who became widely known for her frequent appearances on such programs, used
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#1732790063083682-435: The ones with lesser fame as C-list ones. In 2000, Entertainment Weekly interpreted a C-list celebrity as "that guy (or sometimes that girl), the easy-to-remember but hard-to-name character actor ". The D-list is for someone whose celebrity is so obscure that they are generally only known for appearances as celebrities on panel game shows and reality television . In the late 20th century, D-listers were largely ignored by
713-631: The particular talents and appeal of the most popular movie stars of the studio. Egypt 's famous movie stars in the 20th century include Youssef Wahbi , Fatima Rushdi , Leila Mourad , Anwar Wagdi , Naguib El-Rihani , Taheyya Kariokka , Ismail Yassine , Faten Hamama , Salah Zulfikar , Shadia , Soad Hosny , Shoukry Sarhan , Rushdy Abaza , Nadia Lutfi , Ahmed Mazhar , Sanaa Gamil , Ahmed Zaki , Nour El Sherif , Mervat Amin , Adel Emam , Naglaa Fathi , Yousra , Mahmoud Abdel Aziz , Hussein Fahmy , Sherihan , Mahmoud Yassin and Samir Ghanem . In
744-418: The predictability of success of their media ventures. In some cases, publicity agents may create “provocative advertisements” or make an outrageous public statement to trigger public controversy and thereby generate "free" news coverage. Movie studios employed performers under long-term contracts. They developed a star system as a means of promoting and selling their movies. "Star vehicles" were filmed to display
775-743: The pseudonym Weng Weng , who in 1981 with his hit film the action comedy film For Your Height Only , became the world's first and shortest leading man standing at 2 foot 9 while even with a short lived career the international success of the film has not been topped locally. Indonesia 's movie stars consist of Rima Melati , Deddy Mizwar , Christine Hakim , Rano Karno , and many more. Malaysia 's most renown film celebrities are P. Ramlee , Yusof Haslam , Jins Shamsuddin , Michelle Yeoh , Eman Manan, Alex Komang, etc. Singapore 's most famous included Fauziah Ahmad Daud, Nordin Ahmad, Saadiah, and others are also considered Singaporeans movie stars of
806-569: The term in a tongue-in-cheek manner for her 2005 TV special The D-List and her 2005 TV series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List . The term "D-list" is derived from the lowest rating used for the Ulmer scale. Other successive letters of the alphabet beyond D, as in the terms E-list and Z-list , are sometimes used for exaggeration or comic effect but effectively have the same meaning as D-list . Movie star A movie star (also known as
837-660: The top 20 highest-grossing films in China . The film industry of the Malay Archipelago (also known as Nusantara ) consists primarily of film industries which made the cinema of Malaysia , Indonesia , the Philippines , and Singapore . Over the past century, these four cinemas have collaborated on a number of projects. A number of actors from this region have become some of the most sought-after movie stars in southeast Asia, commonly in Malay -speaking countries. Many of these movie star have acted in all four countries In
868-420: The usual academic credentials. Basinger eventually received the title of Professor of Film Studies, and later an endowed chair as Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies. In 1970, she and then-student Laurence Mark established a student-run film series that eventually became the country's longest-lasting such series. She was a pioneer of taking Hollywood film seriously as a subject of academic study, teaching
899-620: The weight of the star's crowd pulling power more than any other intrinsic aspect of film making. A number of Chinese film actors have become some of the most popular movie stars in Eastern Asia , and several are also well known in the Western world. They include Jackie Chan , Jet Li , Chow Yun-fat , Stephen Chow , Sammo Hung , Gong Li , Ziyi Zhang , Maggie Cheung , and the late Bruce Lee . The Indian film industry consists of various regional cinema industries. One regional cinema,
930-428: The work of Clint Eastwood as early as 1971. Because of Basinger, Wesleyan increasingly became seen as a place for Hollywood figures to deposit their archives; among those who have done so are Elia Kazan , Frank Capra , and eventually the aforementioned Clint Eastwood. Under her leadership, by 1990 film had become a standalone program and major at Wesleyan separate from the art department, cross-listing courses with
961-665: The “Biograph Girl” because she worked for D. W. Griffith 's Biograph Studios , while Pickford was "Little Mary." In 1910, Lawrence switched to the Independent Moving Pictures Company , began appearing under her own name, and was hailed as "America's foremost moving picture star" in IMP literature. Pickford began appearing under her own name in 1911. The Independent Moving Pictures Company promoted their "picture personalities", including Florence Lawrence and King Baggot , by giving them billing , credits and