histrion

Other forms: histrions

Definitions of histrion

1. noun

   a theatrical performer
   synonyms: actor, player, role player, thespian

   examples:

   Allen Stewart Konigsberg

   United States filmmaker and comic actor (1935-)

   Fred Astaire

   United States dancer and cinema actor noted for his original and graceful tap dancing (1899-1987)

   Maurice Barrymore

   United States actor; husband of Georgiana Emma Barrymore and father of Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore (1847-1905)

   Lionel Barrymore

   United States actor; son of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Barrymore (1878-1954)

   John Barrymore

   United States actor; son of Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Barrymore (1882-1942)

   Humphrey DeForest Bogart

   United States film actor (1899-1957)

   John Wilkes Booth

   United States actor and assassin of President Lincoln (1838-1865)

   Richard Burbage

   English actor who was the first to play the leading role in several of Shakespeare's tragedies (1567-1619)

   Richard Burton

   Welsh film actor who often co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor (1925-1984)

   James Cagney

   United States film actor known for his portrayals of tough characters (1899-1986)

   Maurice Chevalier

   French actor and cabaret singer (1888-1972)

   Frank Cooper

   United States film actor noted for his portrayals of strong silent heroes (1901-1961)

   Sir Noel Pierce Coward

   English dramatist and actor and composer noted for his witty and sophisticated comedies (1899-1973)

   Hume Blake Cronyn

   Canadian actor who frequently played character parts with his wife Jessica Tandy (1911-2003)

   Harry Lillis Crosby

   United States singer and film actor (1904-1977)

   James Byron Dean

   United States film actor whose moody rebellious roles made him a cult figure (1931-1955)

   Robert De Niro

   United States film actor who frequently plays tough characters (born 1943)

   Gerard Depardieu

   French film actor (born in 1948)

   John Drew

   United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)

   Douglas Elton Fairbanks

   United States film actor noted for his swashbuckling roles (1883-1939)

   Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

   United States film actor; son of Douglas Elton Fairbanks, (1909-2000)

   Henry Fonda

   United States film actor (1905-1982)

   William Clark Gable

   United States film actor (1901-1960)

   David Garrick

   English actor and theater manager who was the foremost Shakespearean actor of his day (1717-1779)

   Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson

   Australian actor (born in the United States in 1956)

   Arthur John Gielgud

   English actor of Shakespearean roles who was also noted for appearances in films (1904-2000)

   Cary Grant

   United States actor (born in England) who was the elegant leading man in many films (1904-1986)

   Harley Granville-Barker

   English actor and dramatist and critic and director noted for his productions of Shakespearean plays (1877-1946)

   Sir Alec Guinness

   English stage and screen actor noted for versatility (1914-2000)

   Thomas J. Hanks

   United States film actor (born in 1956)

   Reginald Carey Harrison

   English actor on stage and in films (1908-1990)

   John Hemminge

   English actor who edited the first folio of Shakespeare's plays (1556-1630)

   Dustin Hoffman

   versatile United States film actor (born in 1937)

   Sir Anthony Philip Hopkins

   Welsh film actor (born in 1937)

   Leslie Howard Stainer

   English actor of stage and screen (1893-1943)

   Asa Yoelson

   United States singer (born in Russia) who appeared in the first full-length talking film (1886-1950)

   William Henry Pratt

   United States film actor (born in England) noted for his performances in horror films (1887-1969)

   Edmund Kean

   English actor noted for his portrayals of Shakespeare's great tragic characters (1789-1833)

   Joseph Francis Keaton

   United States comedian and actor in silent films noted for his acrobatic skills and deadpan face (1895-1966)

   Eugene Curran Kelly

   United States dancer who performed in many musical films (1912-1996)

   Charles Laughton

   United States film actor (born in England) (1899-1962)

   Lee Yuen Kam

   United States actor who was an expert in kung fu and starred in martial arts films (1941-1973)

   Jack Lemmon

   United States film actor (1925-2001)

   Harold Clayton Lloyd

   United States comic actor in silent films; he used physical danger as a source of comedy (1893-1971)

   Laszlo Lowestein

   United States actor (born in Hungary) noted for playing sinister roles (1904-1964)

   Bela Ferenc Blasko

   United States film actor (born in Hungary) noted for portraying monsters (1884-1956)

   Alfred Lunt

   United States actor who performed with his wife Lynn Fontanne in many stage productions (1893-1977)

   E. G. Marshall

   United States actor (1914-1998)

   Steve Martin

   United States actor and comedian (born in 1945)

   James Neville Mason

   English film actor (1909-1984)

   Robert Mitchum

   United States film actor (1917-1997)

   Dudley Stuart John Moore

   English actor and comedian who appeared on television and in films (born in 1935)

   Paul Leonard Newman

   United States film actor (born in 1925)

   Baron Olivier of Birghton

   English actor best know for his Shakespearean roles (1907-1989)

   Peter Seamus O'Toole

   British actor (born in Ireland in 1932)

   Sidney Poitier

   United States film actor and director (born in 1927)

   Charles Robert Redford

   United States actor and filmmaker who starred with Paul Newman in several films (born in 1936)

   Sir Ralph David Richardson

   British stage and screen actor noted for playing classic roles (1902-1983)

   Edward Goldenberg Robinson

   United States film actor noted for playing gangster roles (1893-1973)

   George C. Scott

   award-winning United States film actor (1928-1999)

   Peter Sellers

   English comic actor (1925-1980)

   Francis Albert Sinatra

   United States singer and film actor (1915-1998)

   Otis Skinner

   United States actor (1858-1942)

   Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky

   Russian actor and theater director who trained his actors to emphasize the psychological motivation of their roles (1863-1938)

   James Maitland Stewart

   United States film actor who portrayed incorruptible but modest heros (1908-1997)

   Israel Strassberg

   United States actor and film director (born in Austria) who was a leader in developing method acting in the United States (1901-1982)

   Erich von Stroheim

   United States film actor (born in Austria) (1885-1957)

   Spencer Tracy

   United States film actor who appeared in many films with Katharine Hepburn (1900-1967)

   Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree

   English actor and theatrical producer noted for his lavish productions of Shakespeare (1853-1917)

   Peter Alexander Ustinov

   British actor and playwright (1921-2004)

   Duke Wayne

   United States film actor who played tough heroes (1907-1979)

   George Orson Welles

   United States actor and filmmaker (1915-1985)

   types:

   actress

   a female actor

   barnstormer, play-actor, playactor, trouper

   an actor who travels around the country presenting plays

   character actor

   an actor who specializes in playing supporting roles

   comedian

   an actor in a comedy

   ham, ham actor

   an unskilled actor who overacts

   heavy

   an actor who plays villainous roles

   ingenue

   an actress who specializes in playing the role of an artless innocent young girl

   leading man

   actor who plays the leading male role

   mime, mimer, mummer, pantomimer, pantomimist

   an actor who communicates entirely by gesture and facial expression

   plant

   an actor situated in the audience whose acting is rehearsed but seems spontaneous to the audience

   reenactor

   a person who enacts a role in an event that occurred earlier

   scene-stealer

   an actor who draws more attention than other actors in the same scene

   movie actor, screen actor

   an actor who plays a role in a film

   lead, principal, star

   an actor who plays a principal role

   extra, spear carrier, supernumerary

   a minor actor in crowd scenes

   tragedian

   an actor who specializes in tragic roles

   standby, understudy

   an actor able to replace a regular performer when required

   upstager

   a selfish actor who upstages the other actors

   walk-on

   plays a small part in a dramatic production

   comedienne

   a female actor in a comedy

   co-star

   one of two actors who are given equal status as stars in a play or film

   film star, movie star

   a star who plays leading roles in the cinema

   icon, idol, matinee idol

   someone who is adored blindly and excessively

   leading lady

   actress who plays the leading female role

   starlet

   a young (film) actress who is publicized as a future star

   TV star, television star

   a star in a television show

   tragedienne

   an actress who specializes in tragic roles

   type of:

   performer, performing artist

   an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience