The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word ASTAIRE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
A
S
T
A
I
R
E
More clues leading to the result ASTAIRE
- One enthralled by a celebrated English dancer
- A way to move up valuable ultimately for dancer Fred
- Tears spilled about first-class dancer
- Old Hollywood actor moving east to absorb atmosphere
- A step taken by theme’s essential character to become a film star
- Step into A&E, Fred!
- Dancer giving a hard look to the audience
- Artiste, for a time active dancing?
- Hollywood 3 appearing in a new satire
- Dancer’s picked up one-step?
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Old Hollywood actor" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old hollywood actor = astaire.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.