:A-list
{{short description|Person at the very top of their field}}
{{other uses|A-list (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}
An A-list actor is a major movie star, or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry.
The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List, which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide, and has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. American entertainment journalist James Ulmer, the guide's creator, has also developed a version including directors, the Hot List of Directors.{{cite news |url=http://www.ulmerscale.com/aboutHL.html |title=About The Ulmer Scale |publisher=The Ulmer Scale|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214005830/http://www.ulmerscale.com/aboutHL.html |archive-date=December 14, 2011 }} The Ulmer scale categorizes the lists into A+, A, B+, B, C, and D listings. Similarly, in India, there is three-tier strategy, tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3, which are based on the saleability and box office collection capability of a star.{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/what-does-three-tier-strategy-mean-for-tamil-heroes/article27465870.ece | title=What's the story behind star-rating meter in Kollywood? | newspaper=The Hindu | date=June 4, 2019 | archive-date=June 17, 2023 | access-date=June 17, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617100148/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/what-does-three-tier-strategy-mean-for-tamil-heroes/article27465870.ece | url-status=live }}
Popular usage
In popular usage outside the film industry, an A-list celebrity is any person with an admired or desirable social status.[http://www.ask.com/reference/dictionary/ahdict/176077/a+list American Heritage Dictionary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013214727/http://www.ask.com/reference/dictionary/ahdict/176077/a%2Blist |date=October 13, 2007 }} Even socialites with popular press coverage and elite associations have been termed as A-list celebrities. Similarly, less popular persons and current teen idols are referred to as B-list celebrities – and the ones with lesser fame as C-list ones.[http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1481579897/B_list.html Encarta] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316012858/http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1481579897/B_list.html |date=2010-03-16 }}, [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/B-list Webster's New Millennium Dictionary]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100316012858/http://uk.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1481579897/B_list.html Archived] October 31, 2009. In 2000, Entertainment Weekly interpreted a C-list celebrity as "that guy (or sometimes that girl), the easy-to-remember but hard-to-name character actor".{{cite magazine|first=Erin |last=Podolsky |title=C-list celebrities – Three sites with information on 'that one guy' you see in movies from time to time |url=https://ew.com/article/2000/11/10/c-list-celebrities/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=November 10, 2000 |access-date=April 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425112407/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C278510%2C00.html |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status=live }}
The D-list is for someone whose celebrity is so obscure that they are generally only known for appearances as celebrities on panel game shows and reality television. In the late 20th century, D-listers were largely ignored by the news industry; for example, Paul Lynde, by this point in his career best known for being on the daytime game show Hollywood Squares, went largely unnoticed by the supermarket tabloids, and his homosexuality (which would have drawn attention for bigger celebrities) went largely unreported.{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/news/tv-stars-of-the-1970s|title=TV Stars Who Ruled the 70s|access-date=14 June 2017|archive-date=May 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501190925/http://www.biography.com/news/tv-stars-of-the-1970s|url-status=dead}} Kathy Griffin, an American comedian who became widely known for her frequent appearances on such programs, used the term in a tongue-in-cheek manner for her 2005 TV special The D-List and her 2005 TV series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. The term "D-list" is derived from the lowest rating used for the Ulmer scale. Other successive letters of the alphabet beyond D, as in the terms E-list and Z-list, are sometimes used for exaggeration or comic effect but effectively have the same meaning as D-list.{{cite web|last1=Blalock|first1=Meghan|title=The 50 Most Infamous D-List Celebrities of All Time|url=http://stylecaster.com/d-list-celebrities/|website=stylecaster.com|publisher=stylecaster.com|access-date=2 September 2016|archive-date=August 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831031913/http://stylecaster.com/d-list-celebrities/|url-status=live}}