noun performer, player, artiste, leading man or lady, Thespian, luvvie (informal), trouper, thesp (informal), play-actor, dramatic artist, tragedian or tragedienne You have to be a very good actor to play that part.

Usage: The use of actress is now very much on the decline, and women who work in the profession invariably prefer to be referred to as actors.

Quotations
"An actor's a guy who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening" [Marlon Brando]
"Actors should be treated like cattle" [Alfred Hitchcock]
"I'm an actor. An actress is someone who wears boa feathers" [Sigourney Weaver]

Actors

Male  Woody Allen (U.S.), Fred Astaire (U.S.), Richard Attenborough (English), Jean-Louis Barrault (French), John Barrymore (U.S.), Alan Bates (English), Warren Beatty (U.S.), Jean-Paul Belmondo (French), Alan Bennett (English), Dirk Bogarde (English), Humphrey Bogart (U.S.), Charles Boyer (French), Kenneth Branagh (English), Marlon Brando (U.S.), Mel Brooks (U.S.), Richard Burbage (English), Richard Burton (Welsh), Glen Byam Shaw (English), James Cagney (U.S.), Michael Caine (English), Simon Callow (English), Robert Carlyle (Scottish), Jim Carrey (U.S.), Charlie Chaplin (English), Maurice Chevalier (French), Colley Cibber (English), John Cleese (English), George Clooney (U.S.), Sean Connery (Scottish), Peter Cook (English), Gary Cooper (U.S.), Kevin Costner (U.S.), Noel Coward (English), Michael Crawford (English), Tom Cruise (U.S.), James Dean (U.S.), Robert De Niro (U.S.), Gerard Depardieu (French), Vittorio de Sica (Italian), John Dexter (English), Leonardo DiCaprio (U.S.), Kirk Douglas (U.S.), Michael Douglas (U.S.), Clint Eastwood (U.S.), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (U.S.), Douglas Fairbanks Snr. (U.S.), Fernandel (French), WC Fields (U.S.), Albert Finney (English), Errol Flynn (Australian), Henry Fonda (U.S.), Harrison Ford (U.S.), Jean Gabin (France), Clark Gable (U.S.), David Garrick (English), Mel Gibson (Australian), John Gielgud (English), Cary Grant (English - U.S.), Alec Guinness (English), Gene Hackman (U.S.), Tom Hanks (U.S.), Oliver Hardy (U.S.), Rex Harrison (English), Dustin Hoffman (U.S.), Bob Hope (U.S.), Anthony Hopkins (Welsh), Michael Hordern (English), Leslie Howard (English), Trevor Howard (English), Rock Hudson (U.S.), Barry Humphries (Australian), John Hurt (English), Jeremy Irons (English), Henry Irving (English), Derek Jacobi (English), Al Jolson (U.S.), Boris Karloff (English), Edmund Kean (English), Buster Keaton (U.S.), Harvey Keitel (U.S.), Gene Kelly (U.S.), John Kemble (English), Ben Kingsley (English), Burt Lancaster (U.S.), Charles Laughton (English - U.S.), Stan Laurel (English - U.S.), Bruce Lee (U.S.), Christopher Lee (English), Harold Lloyd (U.S.), Bela Lugosi (Hungarian), Ewan McGregor (Scottish), Ian McKellen (English), Steve McQueen (U.S.), William Macready (English), James Mason (English), Raymond Massey (Canadian), Marcello Mastroianni (Italian), Bernard Miles (English), John Mills (English), Robert Mitchum (U.S.), Dudley Moore (English), Robert Morley (English), Sam Neill (N.Z.), Paul Newman (U.S.), Jack Nicholson (U.S.), Liam Neeson (Irish), David Niven (English), Gary Oldman (English), Laurence Olivier (English), Peter O'Toole (Irish-British), Al Pacino (U.S.), Gregory Peck (U.S.), Donald Pleasence (English), Anthony Quayle (English), Anthony Quinn (U.S.), Ronald Reagan (U.S.), Robert Redford (U.S.), Michael Redgrave (English), Fernando Rey (Spanish), Ralph Richardson (English), Paul Robeson (U.S.), Edward G Robinson (U.S.), Tim Roth (English), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Austrian - U.S.), Paul Scofield (English), Peter Sellers (English), Sam Shepard (U.S.), Sylvester Stallone (U.S.), Konstantin Stanislavsky (Russian), James Stewart (U.S.), Donald Sutherland (Canadian), Jacques Tati (French), Spencer Tracy (U.S.), John Travolta (U.S.), Peter Ustinov (English), Rudolph Valentino (Italian-U.S.), Max Von Sydow (Swedish), John Wayne (U.S.), Johnny Weissmuller (U.S.), Orson Welles (U.S.)

Female  Yvonne Arnaud (French), Peggy Ashcroft (English), Tallulah Bankhead (U.S.), Brigitte Bardot (French), Ingrid Bergman (Swedish-U.S.), Sarah Bernhardt (French), Clara Bow (U.S.), Fanny Brice (U.S.), Glenn Close (U.S.), Claudette Colbert (French-U.S.), Joan Crawford (U.S.), Bette Davis (U.S.), Geena Davis (U.S.), Judy Davis (Australian), Judi Dench (English), Catherine Deneuve (French), Marlene Dietrich (German), Faye Dunaway (U.S.), Edith Evans (English), Jane Fonda (U.S.), Jodie Foster (U.S.), Greta Garbo (Swedish), Ava Gardner (U.S.), Judy Garland (U.S.), Lillian Gish (U.S.), Joyce Grenfell (English), Jean Harlow (U.S.), Audrey Hepburn (Belgian - U.S.), Katharine Hepburn (U.S.), Wendy Hiller (English), Holly Hunter (U.S.), Isabelle Huppert (French), Glenda Jackson (English), Jian Qing (Chinese), Diane Keaton (U.S.), Grace Kelly (U.S.), Fanny Kemble (English - U.S.), Nicole Kidman (Australian), Jessica Lange (U.S.), Gertrude Lawrence (English), Vivien Leigh (English), Lotte Lenya (Austrian), Margaret Lockwood (English), Jennifer Lopez (Puerto Rican), Sophia Loren (Italian), Siobhan McKenna (Irish), Shirley MacLaine (U.S.), Melina Mercouri (Greek), Liza Minnelli (U.S.), Helen Mirren (English), Marilyn Monroe (U.S.), Jeanne Moreau (French), Michelle Pfeiffer (U.S.), Mary Pickford (U.S.), Joan Plowright (English), Vanessa Redgrave (English), Julia Roberts (U.S.), Flora Robson (English), Ginger Rogers (U.S.), Margaret Rutherford (English), Susan Sarandon (U.S.), Delphine Seyrig (French), Sarah Siddons (English), Simone Signoret (French), Maggie Smith (English), Meryl Streep (U.S.), Barbra Streisand (U.S.), Janet Suzman (South African), Elizabeth Taylor (English - U.S.), Shirley Temple (U.S.), Ellen Terry (English), Emma Thompson (English), Sybil Thorndike (English), Sigourney Weaver (U.S.), Raquel Welch (U.S.), Mae West (U.S.), Billie Whitelaw (English), Kate Winslet (English), Peg Woffington (Irish)

1. A theatrical performer: