stage-door Johnny

American  

[steyj-dawr, -dohr] / ˈsteɪdʒˌdɔr, -ˌdoʊr /

noun

1. a man who often goes to a theater or waits at a stage door to court an actress.

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Etymology

Origin of stage-door Johnny

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

“I was — what did people of my father’s generation call it, a stage-door Johnny?” he said, recalling when he saw three ballets there a week.

From New York Times

Among the people he met then was a “stage-door Johnny” named Brian Epstein, who also wanted to be an actor but became famous as the manager of the Beatles.

From New York Times

She killed the stage-door Johnny�he couldn't get through the hundreds of girls outside the stage door .

From Time Magazine Archive

You went off and married that—whatever that stage-door johnny's name was—and it broke me all up.'

From Project Gutenberg