He reveals why celebrity burst into life in the early 18th century, how it differs to ancient ideas of fame, the techniques through which it was acquired, how it was maintained, the effect it had on public tastes, and the psychological burden stardom could place on those in the glaring limelight. In this ambitious history, that spans the Bronze Age to the coming of Hollywood's Golden Age, Greg Jenner assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity's historical roots.
Whether it was the scandalous Lord Byron, whose poetry sent female fans into an erotic frenzy or the cheetah-owning, coffin-sleeping, one-legged French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who launched a violent feud with her former best friend or Edmund Kean, the dazzling Shakespearean actor whose monstrous ego and terrible alcoholism saw him nearly murdered by his own audience - the list of stars whose careers burned bright before the Age of Television is extensive and thrillingly varied. But the famous and infamous have been thrilling, titillating, and outraging us for much longer than we might realize. The result is not a comprehensive history Dead Famous focuses largely on the U.K.
Celebrity, with its neon glow and selfie pout, strikes us as hypermodern. Dead Famous is an exuberant exploration Jenner expands these vignettes, weaving academic theory and rich analysis into his tales of stardom’s past.
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