Some professional activities, by the nature of being high-paid, highly exposed, and difficult to get into, are likely to confer celebrity status. For example, movie stars and television actors with lead roles on prime-time shows are likely to become celebrities, as are popular rock stars. High-ranking politicians, national television reporters, daytime television show hosts, supermodels, astronauts, successful major-league athletes and chart-topping pop musicians are also likely to become celebrities. A few humanitarian leaders such as Mother Teresa have even achieved fame because of their charitable work.

While some film and theatre directors, producers, artists, authors, trial lawyers and journalists are celebrities, the vast majority are not, or they garner much less celebrity than their professional importance in the business might seem to warrant. Some people in these professions strive to avoid celebrity, while others seek it, by appearing on talk shows and high-profile events, such as film openings.

Individuals with their own television show (or sections of television shows) often become a celebrity: this includes doctors, chefs, gardeners, and interior decorators on shows like Trading Spaces and While You Were Out. However fame based on one program may often prove short-lived after a program is discontinued.

An individual can achieve celebrity on the basis of their profession, accomplishments, or notoriety, without necessarily having any family or social connections to aid them. However, there are families where the entire family is considered to have celebrity status. In Europe, all members of royal families are celebrities, especially when they are associated with a real or perceived scandal. As well, in Europe and in the US, there are artistic 'dynasties', where several members of a family are associated with a profession-typically music or acting.

Examples include the Barrymore, Cassidy (David and Shaun Cassidy), the Osmonds, the Winans, Osbournes, Quintanilla, Redgrave, Sheen/Estevez, Stiller, Voight, Jackson and Baldwin families. For politicians, there are the Bushes, Clintons, and most notably, the Kennedys. Other dynasties include some "sports families", where multiple members are involved in professional sports.

In the 1970s, academics began analyzing the phenomenon of celebrity and stardom. According to Sofia Johansson the "canonical texts on stardom" include articles by Boorstin (1971), Alberoni (1972) and Dyer (1979) that examined the "representations of stars and on aspects of the Hollywood star system." Johansson notes that "more recent analyses within media and cultural studies (e.g. Gamson 1994; Marshall 1997; Giles 2000; Turner, Marshall and Bonner 2000; Rojek 2001; Turner 2004) have instead dealt with the idea of a pervasive, contemporary, ‘celebrity culture’." In the analysis of the 'celebrity culture,' "fame and its constituencies are conceived of as a broader social process, connected to widespread economic, political, technological and cultural developments."

In Bob Greene’s article “The new stardom that doesn't require paying any dues,” he argues that for “most of man's history...people of talent would work to create something--something written, something painted, something sculpted, something acted out--and it would be passed on to audiences.” With the rise of reality TV shows, Greene points out that audiences have been turned into the creators. He argues that the “alleged stars of the reality shows "Survivor" and "Big Brother,"have become famous not for doing, but merely for being.”

Greene says that “You simply have to be present, in the right place at the right time.” Whereas “...public[ly famous] people were once defined as such based upon the fact that their remarkable skills had brought them to the attention of the public,” Greene states that with reality TV, “one can become a public person just by being a person, in public.”

Celebrities often have fame comparable to that of royalty. As a result, there is a strong public curiosity about their private affairs. Celebrities may be resented for their accolades, and the public may have a love/hate relationship with celebrities, asking "do celebrities deserve their fame?" Due to the high visibility of celebrities' private lives, their successes and shortcomings are often made very public. Celebrities are alternately portrayed as glowing examples of perfection, when they garner Grammy awards and Oscars, or as decadent or immoral if they become associated with a Hugh Grant-like sex scandal.

Tabloid magazines and talk TV shows bestow a great deal of attention on celebrities. To stay in the public eye and obtain new revenue streams, celebrities are increasingly participating in business ventures such as celebrity-branded items, such as books, clothing lines, perfume, and household items.

Some people suggest that some celebrities are not famous for their accomplishments, but merely for their fame and presumed fortune (e.g. Paris Hilton).