Due to the overwhelming public interest in her, Sarah Bernhardt is widely considered to be the world's first celebrity, and is still revered today. It was Sarah Bernhardt, born in Paris in 1844, as well known in her lifetime as Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe or Lady Gaga in hers. Nowadays it may seem inconceivable that a stage actor could achieve this level of fame, but in the 19th century, before cinema, radio and the Internet, theater was the only game in town. Both the rich and the poor attended live performances several times a week.
London, New York and Paris attracted 18 million spectators a year. Small towns also had theaters, and major stars traveled to them; one of Bernhardt's many tours of the United States included a stop in Muskogee, Oklahoma. John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, also represented Ohio in the United States Senate for nearly 25 years. The original tennis bad boy amassed the highest combined men's total of the Open Era, with 77 singles titles and 78 doubles titles.
But his infamous tantrums are now part of the tennis legend. Simon Cowell and Emma Thompson also have their birthdays in 1959.New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has won six Super Bowls, more than any other player in NFL history. Many analysts consider him the best quarterback who ever played the game. Joining Brady at the 1977 birthday club is Shakira.
I think it's going to be interesting to see what happens to celebrity culture when it stops being a set of common reference points. But after spending a decade researching how the media, stars and the public have interacted for the past 200 years, I've come to see her as the godmother of modern celebrity. Bernhardt became the godmother of modern celebrity because her career coincided with several inventions that she shrewdly used to promote herself. Founding editor of Public Books, she is the author of The Drama of Celebrity (201), available in hardcover, e-book and audiobook at Princeton University Press.
I would say that Julius Caesar is the first true celebrity, although there have been other people of great power, fame, legend and infamy throughout history, Caesar was the first person to truly use fame as a vehicle of his power and as a political tool in a modern sense. Celebrities have always existed, but Bernhardt modernized celebrity by understanding that stars wield power in relation to equally powerful audiences and media. Well, having a leadership title with your name on it for the next 2000 years seems like something a celebrity would achieve. Years before his definitive rise to power, Caesar cultivated a cult of celebrity around him, using the old press to ingratiate himself with people, who in turn constantly talked about Caesar's latest events and scandals, some of which would put modern tabloids to the test.
Their spiritual progeny includes Madonna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, and any celebrity who has the audacity to flaunt their consummate ability to influence the media and enchant the public. In her book, she maintains that the French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1892) is the first modern celebrity model. Sharon Marcus, Orlando Harriman professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia, explores self-promotion and stardom in her new book, The Drama of Celebrity. Born to fame thanks to her famous parents Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Carrie Fisher demonstrated her brilliance as an actress and writer.
The author Truman Capote was known for his works Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood, but he was almost more famous for his oversized personality and celebrity stature. Even if someone wasn't really that good, a good catchy song about them could have turned them into a celebrity. .
