Movie Star

Madow goes on to point out “fame 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 notes “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 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 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 the particular talents and appeal of the most popular movie stars of the studio.
• The last of the greats
With the loss of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in 2000, Katharine Hepburn, Bob Hope and Gregory Peck in 2003, Marlon Brando in 2004, Shelley Winters in 2006, Deborah Kerr 2007, Van Johnson and Paul Newman in 2008, Tony Curtis and Patricia Neal in 2010 and Jane Russell and Elizabeth Taylor in 2011, the number of stars is dwindling. Diana Serra Cary (Baby Peggy), Barbara Kent, Luise Rainer, Mickey Rooney and Dickie Moore are the last surviving stars from the silent era. Lupita Tovar, Maureen O'Hara, Deanna Durbin, Mary Carlisle, Shirley Temple, Jane Withers, Joan Fontaine and sister Olivia De Havilland are the last main 1930s actresses, and Marsha Hunt, Lauren Bacall, Esther Williams, Lizabeth Scott, Celeste Holm, Kirk Douglas, Eli Wallach and Nanette Fabray are some of the last from the 1940s. The 1950s saw the collapse of the old studio contract system. Some of the last stars from that decade are Eleanor Parker, Doris Day, Christopher Lee, Jerry Lewis, Gloria DeHaven, Gina Lollobrigida, Angela Lansbury, Jane Powell, Sophia Loren, Leslie Caron, Julie Andrews, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mitzi Gaynor and Gena Rowlands.