Creating The Stars: The Hollywood Star System (1910-1960)

Five Easy Steps to Becoming A Star!

1) Get discovered
The first step in creating a star was discovering talent. Studios established scouting departments that focused entirely on finding new actors. These scouts would go to theatres or radio shows to find professional or semi-professional young actors. They'd also go to night-clubs, dance studios, or even just restaurants to find attractive people they thought might look nice on the screen!

2) Get a screen test

Once the scout found someone they thought had either the talent or the looks (ideally both) to be a star, they’d invite them to the studio where they’d do a series of screen tests. The potential star would be photographed from different angles to see how they looked in print. The potential star would also sit in front of a camera and be directed to turn their head from side to side, up and down. They'd be asked to look directly in the camera, to smile, to laugh, and to frown. This let the studio know how their face and facial expressions looked on film.

3) Sign a contract
If the studio liked what they saw in the screen tests, they would offer the discovered talent a contract, usually promising to “make them a big star”.

The contract was the best way for studios to regulate or control (and exploit) their actors. Most contracts lasted seven years. This meant that for seven years, the actor was an employee of the studio. By adding an exclusivity clause, the actor could not appear in any other studio’s film unless their studio approved and agreed to "lend out" the actor for a specific project. 

After signing the contract, actors no longer had any choice of which movies they would be in or what types of roles they would perform. If an actor refused to appear in a certain movie, they were either suspended for a period of time or sent to a “lesser” studio as punishment.

Contracts also usually had morality clauses. This was a way for studios to (try to) discourage actors from any kind of potentially damaging behaviour including using drugs, having affairs, or gambling. These morality clauses effectively controlled both the public and private lives of actors. Even when at home or out doing normal day-to-day things, it was expected that the actors would dress nicely, style their hair, and behave in a proper and polite manner. In other words, they’d continue to present the ideal image audiences saw on the screen.

4) Build an image

More often than not, the image of the actor the studios promoted was either partially or entirely created by the studios and had little to do with the actor’s actual background, interests, personality or style.

Name
To begin, the actor’s name was evaluated. Actors needed a name that was memorable. It had to be something catchy and something that reflected the personality of the actor.
A name would be changed if it was:

• boring/very ordinary
• difficult to pronounce
• difficult to spell
• the same as or similar to another well-known person
• didn’t match the desired image

Actors and musicians today often change their names for the same reasons!

Appearance

A huge emphasis in Hollywood is, and always has been, on appearances (often in place of actual talent). During the era of the star system, professional stylists would help create a star's image by deciding:

• what style of clothing the actor would wear (both on and off set)
• what jewelry/accessories they would have
• how their hair would be styled/coloured
• how men would groom their facial hair
• what specific makeup women would wear

Even at this time, studios would suggest plastic surgery to fix "defects" in their image and would instruct actors to lose or gain weight, to develop muscle mass, or to alter their body shape through the use of extensive undergarments.

Presentation

Finally, the actors were required to complete an apprenticeship at the studio. This apprenticeship included:

• acting lessons
• speech lessons
• dancing lessons
• singing lessons
• media training
• table manners

5) Make Appearances

Once a studio had "groomed" a new actor into a particular image…what did they need to make that person a celebrity, or a star? PUBLIC RECOGNITION AND PUBLICITY

Studios aimed to get as much media exposure as possible for their actors. They wanted them in every newspaper, in every magazine, on every radio station, and in every theatre. BUT they wanted a consistent image across all these media.

To ensure a consistent image, the studios carefully managed their actors with the help of publicists. Publicists were in charge of controlling the actor’s exposure. They would create a press book for every film in which the actor performed. This press book included

• portraits
• movie posters
• advertisements for the movie

The publicist worked to get as many attractive, flattering pictures out in the public as possible. They would distribute pictures of their actors to theaters so they could be put up in the lobby. They would arrange for actors would make appearances at theaters, festivals, and award shows. They also started getting actors endorsement deals. Fan magazines were particularly useful media tools for promoting an actor.