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Actors and their Fan SitesDateline: 23rd May, 1999 The Web site for RSC actor Guy Henry has gone. It's not because the Webmistress is unable to maintain it any longer, or because she is no longer a fan of the actor, but because she has been told he feels it is an invasion of his privacy. Now the site was not one of those with what I have called elsewhere a high slobber/drool factor. It was, in fact, a tribute to his performances. It contained a brief biography, which was taken from a theatre programme (i.e it was information which he had made publicly available), and scans of posters for three productions. There was nothing personal, nothing that was not generally known, nothing intrusive - nothing, in short, that was not already available from easily accessible sources. When I heard this, I was gobsmacked! An invasion of privacy? Anyone can get hold of an RSC programme or a poster. They are for sale in Stratford and elsewhere. To put them on the Web may be a breach of copyright - although I think a fair case could be made for it being very minor, given that this is advertising material we are talking about and the aim of such materal is to be disseminated as widely as possible - but an invasion of privacy? Nonsense! Sheer unmitigated rubbish! I am reminded of the reaction of some Webmasters/mistresses to critical comment on their sites. On a few occasions I have received angry or hurt emails from people who have created sites which I have criticised. But these people, actors and Web authors, have put themselves in the public eye and must therefore accept that the public have a right to comment upon them and what they do. I hold no brief for incursions into an actor's private life. Not only is an actor's lovelife a matter of supreme indifference to me, it is also no business of anyone but the people involved. If a Web site bases itself on this kind of private business of the actor, then I can well understand and sympathise with him or her if (s)he attempts to suppress it. I can also understand and sympathise with the embarassment which an actor can experience from the kind of sites which are barely disguised loveletters, but when a site bases itself upon a genuine admiration for the actor's talent and a desire to celebrate it, then it has every right to exist, even though the actor concerned may - with becoming modesty! - deprecate it. Official Sites There are actors, however, who have embraced the Web wholeheartedly, producing their own sites. There are many of these from actors who are just beginning their careers (a good example is Stuart Piper), or who are reasonably well-established but have yet to make a major impact in the business (Adam Barker is a one such). There are fewer major names who run their own sites (or who have someone run them for them). The best of these is undoubtedly the official Sir Ian McKellen site, which is one of the best actor sites on the Web. There are also official sites for Sir Anthony Hopkins (which, to be honest, is no better than many of the fan sites), Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff (in all honesty, a rather disappointing site), Christian Bale, and Anna Friel, (which tends to be very slow to load). Some of the official sites have gone rather overboard in embracing the commercial potential of the Net: both Ingrid Pitt's and Olivia Hussey's sites are much more aimed at merchandising than anything else. And there are some which are, really, pretty naff sites and not at all worthy of the actors they celebrate. Outstanding in this particular category is the official Sir Lawrence Olivier site which is far outshone by the unofficial one. Unofficially Official(-ish) Sites There is another category of sites which are run by fans but which have the approval of the actor concerned. Best known (and, I think, best) of the these is the Alan Bates site, but also highly recommended are those for Edward Woodward and Robson Green. (A fun-site of this nature is that devoted to Barry Humphries and, especially, the housewife megastar Dame Edna Everage.) Fan Sites The widest range of sites is found among those created by the fans of various actors. Here you will find sites which consist of nothing but pictures (all four of the sites devoted to Casualty actress Claire Goose, for instance, or Samantha Janus), whilst at the other end of the scale there are those sites which take a critical, thoughtful look at the life and work of their eponymous heroes. Amongst these are sites devoted to Dirk Bogarde, Kenneth Branagh, Jeremy Brett, Cary Elwes, Malcolm McDowell and Basil Rathbone. Looked at another way, you have sites which are high in the slobber/drool factor - usually (but not always!) produced by young girls - a kind of online version of the sort of thing teenage girls have scribbled on the backs of their school exercise books almost since schools began, and, at the other end of the scale, sites like Linda Green's excellent Favourite Actors and Actresses, which offers a basic introduction to the work of a whole series of Britain's best actors. The now defunct Guy Henry site fitted into that middle ground: an attempt to bring an actor who is not that well-known outside of a limited circle to the attention of a wider public. I would have thought he would be grateful that someone should take enough interest to help, albeit in a small way, to further his career. But as they say: there's now so funny as folk! Articles Indices: |
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