Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media. The term is synonymous with wealth (commonly denoted as a person with fame and fortune), implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognized by the general public. Celebrities are primarily individuals who work as film and television actors and actresses, athletes, musicians, and a host other media-based professions, particularly within the spheres of the sports and entertainment (e.g. music, film, television, radio, modeling, literature etc.).

Modern day celebrities are generally prominent media figures, especially within the fields of sports and entertainment, and to a lesser extent, politics and business. Though celebrities come from many different working fields and facets of everyday life, most celebrities are typically associated with individuals that come from the fields of sports and entertainment or a person who is a public figure in that is commonly recognizable in mass media.

Various careers are associated with celebrity status, predominantly within the fields of sports and entertainment that produce prominent athletes such as golfer Tiger Woods, hockey player Wayne Gretzky, or basketball player Michael Jordan or major entertainment figures such as models Sofía Vergara and Adriana Lima, authors J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter and Stephanie Meyer of Twilight, pop singers Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, radio personalities Don Imus and Howard Stern, political pundits Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, television talk show hosts Barbara Walters, Larry King and Oprah Winfrey, movie actresses Julia Roberts and Hilary Swank, television actors Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher, national television correspodents Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, and Meredith Viera or comedians Ellen Degeneres, Joan Rivers, Jay Leno and George Lopez.

While people may gain celebrity status as a result of a successful career in a particular field (primarily in the areas pertaining towards sports and entertainment, in other cases, people become celebrities due to media attention for their extravagant lifestyle or wealth (as in the case of a socialite) such as Paris Hilton, Ivanka Trump, or Kim Kardashian; for their connection to a famous person (as in the case of a relative of a famous person, such as Chaz Bono); or even for their misdeeds (as in the case of a well-known criminal such as Ronnie Biggs and Casey Anthony). Celebrities may be known around the world (e.g., pop star Michael Jackson), within a specific country (e.g., a top Australian rugby player); or within a region (e.g., a local TV news anchor).

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