WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

matinee idol
    n 1: someone who is adored blindly and excessively [syn: idol,
         matinee idol]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

54 Moby Thesaurus words for "matinee idol":
   Roscius, actor, actress, antagonist, bad guy, barnstormer,
   character, character actor, character man, character woman,
   child actor, cosset, darling, diseur, diseuse, dramatizer,
   favorite, feeder, foil, fondling, heavy, histrio, histrion, idol,
   ingenue, jewel, juvenile, mime, mimer, mimic, minion, monologist,
   mummer, pantomime, pantomimist, pet, playactor, player, preference,
   protean actor, reciter, soubrette, spoiled child, stage performer,
   stage player, stooge, straight man, stroller, strolling player,
   theatrical, thespian, trouper, utility man, villain