One of the most memorable of the many memorable lines uttered by the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey occurs during Season Two when word comes that her granddaughter, Lady Edith, is considering a career as a journalist. "When may she expect an offer to appear on the London stage?" snaps the old lady.
That disparaging comment reflects an attitude, held for centuries in England and inherited by the United States, that the acting profession was one of the lowest of the low – indeed, barely a step above criminal and prostitute. It held in Shakespeare's time, and lingered into the 20th century, into and beyond the Edwardian era.
The irony in the case of the fictional Dowager Countess is that she is played by Dame Maggie Smith. That honorific, which corresponds to the male Sir, denotes that the bearer is a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE), an honor bestowed upon actors for their "services to drama." For a man, it's called a knighthood. The notable performers who've received the honor include Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir Michael Redgrave, Sir Alec Guinness, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Elton John. The female ranks have included Dame Judi Dench, Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Judith Anderson, and opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland. Lower on the hierarchy are respected performers who haven't been around as long. Kate Winslet gets the letters CBE appended to her name, having been honored as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, a lower rank that doesn't merit the title Dame but still represents a type of formal recognition we don't have in the U.S.
The founders of the United States expressly rejected the class distinctions reflected in those titles, and such honorifics have never taken hold in America. Nevertheless, the acting profession stateside has undergone a similar status lift, though, sadly, in the U.S. men have a much easier time breaking into the honored-actor corps than women do. The American public venerates their most accomplished actors almost as much as the British do their own. Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, and Meryl Streep are just a few of those admitted to the (informal) pantheon after long and distinguished careers.
Article comments
1 - Victor Lana
Jon, you hit on something here. I think actors are now America's royalty too. Perhpas they will replace the monarchs in jolly old England one day as well, the Sirs and Dames rising to Kings and Queens. We've already had an actor president and I'll wager many more are to follow. Can anyone say President Affleck? I think Jen Garner would make one smashing First Lady too!
2 - Jon Sobel
Fred Thompson had a brief presidential run, too. Al Franken's in the Senate. Glenda Jackson is a member of the British Parliament.
3 - Dr Dreadful
Yes, Jon, you are on the mark with your observation that the broadcast media have contributed to the status elevation of the acting profession.
In the UK, it also has a lot to do with the popularization of the honours system that occurred during the 20th century. Before that, the only way you could get an honour was if you were a senior military officer (there's still a separate honours system for the armed forces) or had rendered some distinguished service to the Crown - which, under the rigid class system that prevailed before the two world wars, you would only have the opportunity to do if you were part of the Establishment, i.e. a member of the aristocracy or landed gentry or moved in the upper echelons of commerce.
Nowadays, while the above-mentioned classes of people do still get honoured, the emphasis of the system is on public service. The most humble of individuals, for example a long-serving charity worker, teacher, nurse or even a garbage collector, can receive recognition: they just have to be nominated. But the criterion is also commonly understood to include those who have risen to prominence in the fields of entertainment, broadcasting or sport. (For example, David Beckham, Andy Murray, Jessica Ennis and Bradley Wiggins are all inductees of the Order of the British Empire.)
I think that Americans invented the star system to fill that void: over time, it has expanded from the silver screen to Broadway, television, music, professional sports and, to a lesser extent, the written word.