An A-list actor is a major

movie star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress 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 w ...

, or one of the most

bankable In the film industry, a bankable star is an actor (movie star) "capable of guaranteeing box-office success simply by showing up in a movie." The bankability of an actor includes their films' box office track record, professional demeanor, and othe ...

actors in a

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

. 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 James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragg ...

, the guide's creator, has also developed a version including directors, the ''Hot List of Directors''. The Ulmer scale categorizes the lists into A+, A, B+, B, C, and D listings.

Popular usage

In popular usage outside the film industry, an A-list

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

is any person with an admired or desirable social status. Even

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

s 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 the ones with lesser fame as C-list ones. In the year 2000, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' interpreted a C-list celebrity as "that guy (or sometimes that girl), the easy-to-remember but hard-to-name

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

". The D-list is for a person whose celebrity is so obscure that they are generally only known for appearances as celebrities on

panel game show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

s and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

. In the late 20th century, D-listers were largely ignored by the entertainment news industry; for example,

Paul Lynde Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was well ...

, by this point in his career best known for being on the daytime game show ''

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...

'', went largely unnoticed by the

supermarket tabloid Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...

s, and his homosexuality (which would have drawn attention for bigger celebrities) went largely unreported.

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...

, an American comedian who became widely known for her frequent appearances on such programs, used the term in a tongue-in-cheek manner for her 2005 TV special ''

The D-List ''The D-List'' is the first stand-up comedy special by stand-up comedian Kathy Griffin on Bravo and her third special overall. It was televised and recorded live from the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Á ...

'' 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''.

References

{{reflist, 2 Celebrity Cinema of the United States Film and video terminology

Popular usage

See also

References