On its original publication in 1980 this text was one of the first attempts to bring together all the various critical and theoretical approaches that have been made to the phenomenon of stardom, both inside and outside the cinema. Richard Dyer's commentary on these approaches and his own detailed work on stars such as Bette Davis and Jane Fonda aim to stimulate further work in this area of film studies. This revised edition features a new chapter by Paul McDonald which traces the developments in the study of "Stars" since the first appearance of Richard Dyer's text.