Today (9/8) is National Actor’s Day, a day set aside to celebrate the work that actors all over the world give us in telling stories and entertaining us. Actors’ Day aims to show appreciation for actors in our lives by showcasing their history and how they have influenced people’s lives.
According to Days of the Year, actors began way back in 534 BC. During that year, Thespis stepped onto the stage at the Theatre Dionysus to become the first known performer to speak a character’s words and express their story.
Because of Thespis, actors today are sometimes commonly referred to as Thespians. Of course, today’s actors are currently on strike.
Here are a couple of fun facts about the acting profession:
- Acting, since the times of Ancient Greece, has become an art form, a form of entertainment that has transcended time.
- During its time of Catholic influence in the Middle Ages, it attempted to deem acting as a dangerous, immoral, and pagan art form, which lowered its popularity significantly.
- The Renaissance period then brought it back and transformed it again with morality plays, and then came William Shakespeare in the 1700s, who solidified theater acting in its place.
- Actors were all male until the late 19th century, when women began to appear in plays and movies in their own right.
- Since then, acting has become a highly respected art form, as famous actors worldwide play characters from plays, books, and scripts through theater plays, Broadway shows, and films.
In honor of Actors’ Day, we focus on five country music superstars who have had significant success in the acting profession. We know that many country singers over the years, like Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Bill Ray Cyrus, Willie Nelson, and even Blake Shelton, have dabbled in acting, but these five stood out.