and actor Robert De Niro are international celebrities for their respective
work. 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 verb
"celebrere" 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. Another example is Al Gore,
whose environmental crusade has elevated him to celebrity status. 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 a celebrity as “a person who is known for his well-
knownness . . . a human pseudo-event.”. |