Markup View

Author: 69BookWorM69

Sep 20th 2012 at 7:13:16 AM

This must be revised for men and women both, since the stigma applied to both.  As I understand the history, many crimes were typically imputed to actors, including vagrancy, theft and prostitution. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor According to TheOtherWiki]]: "In many parts of Europe, actors could not even receive a Christian burial, and traditional beliefs of the region and time period held that this left any actor forever condemned." I don't suppose it helped that they didn't seem to work (at least, not as obviously as a farmer or a miller or a craftsman) and they dissembled (lied) regularly in their profession. The deception is also related to [[MakeUpIsEvil the old stigma of make up]] and that of wigs (see [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=tlswkndbcyxb0fg57qon4n4f Wigs Are Wrong]]).
 
* This stigma is a recurring theme in Edward Marston's Elizabethan Theatre mysteries which feature amateur detective Nicholas Bracewell, the book-holder (stage manager) for Lord Westfield's Men, one of Elizabethan London's leading theatrical companies. There are recurring mentions of the legitimacy the company gets from having a nobleman as a patron (indeed, they would have been regarded as common criminals without it), and some of the plots turn on the possible consequences of losing that patronage and/or the inn-cum-theatre where they regularly perform.

* In the film ''The King's Speech'', King George V remarks on this when discussing the importance of radio with Bertie after giving his 1934 Christmas address. The king tells Bertie to try reading the speech himself, and when Bertie refuses, he replies:
--> This devilsh device will change everything if you don't. In the past, all a king had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them. This family's been reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures. We've become ''actors''.