Former matinee idol Brendan Fraser, with the lead actor win for his wrenching turn as a morbidly obese man in “The Whale,” reached the climax of a his own comeback story.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2023-03-12/oscars-2023-everything-everwhere-wins-best-picture

“He’s talking about Xi like a matinee idol, the Hollywood look, the look, the brains, all of it.”

Source: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/joe-scarborough-goes-off-on-trump-praising-dictators-to-tucker-carlson-speaks-to-his-lust-for-authoritarian-power/

He was always possessed of a movie star charisma, not to mention a pronounced chin and matinee idol good looks.

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/1175985/harry-hamlin-resolved-a-clash-of-the-titans-struggle-by-locking-himself-in-his-trailer/

It was stated by Jean Franco, a professor of political science at UP Diliman, in a 2013 article that Rogelio dela Rosa, a matinee idol in the 1950s, was the first film star to become a senator in 1958.

Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1791352/senate-decorum-being-redefined-as-celebrity-pols-bring-crassness