

Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity - wallflower
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/books/review/wilde-in-america-by-david-m-friedman.html

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antman
The first modern celebrity was probably Lord Byron, decades earlier than Oscar
Wilde.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron)
Ill conceived association of Oscar Wilde's fame with Kim Kardashian's and
others to promote a book.

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milesf
Actually the first modern celebrity, as defined as someone who drew large
crowds and media coverage, was George Whitefield, predating both Oscar Wilde
and Lord Byron.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Whitefield)

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vinceguidry
The article author tried to draw a distinction between mere fame and
celebrity. Celebrity, as he defined, had no underlying 'reason', the celebrity
had no 'claim' to fame, he decided he was going to be famous and managed to
conjure up that image of his own accord, using a combination of wily trickery
and applied psychology.

The canonical example is Paris Hilton.

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olavk
But Oscar Wilde was an accomplished writer and playwright. Some of his plays
have become classics and are still played around the world. While a celebrity
due to his charm and extravagant demeanor, he wasn't just famous for being
famous.

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CurtMonash
The argument is that he was a famous celebrity BEFORE he wrote any of that
great stuff.

