This article is about male action heroes. For action heroines, see list of female action heroes.
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20161114055522im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Action_hero_montage.png/400px-Action_hero_montage.png)
Examples of actors who have played male action heroes:
Row 1: Sylvester Stallone · Arnold Schwarzenegger · Bruce Willis · Steven Seagal
Row 2: Dolph Lundgren · Jean-Claude Van Damme · Wesley Snipes · Jackie Chan
Row 1: Sylvester Stallone · Arnold Schwarzenegger · Bruce Willis · Steven Seagal
Row 2: Dolph Lundgren · Jean-Claude Van Damme · Wesley Snipes · Jackie Chan
The archetypal action hero is the protagonist of an action film or other entertainment which portrays action and adventure.[1] Other media in which such heroes appear include swashbuckler films, Westerns on television, old-time radio, adventure novels, dime novels, pulp magazines, and folklore.
Notes[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- Osgerby, Bill, Anna Gough-Yates, and Marianne Wells. Action TV : Tough-Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy Chicks. London: Routledge, 2001.
- Tasker, Yvonne. Action and Adventure Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2004.