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A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. Such a role needs not be filled by an actor: short appearances by film directors, politicians, athletes, musicians, and other celebrities are common. These roles are generally small, and most of them non-speaking. The director Alfred Hitchcock enjoyed inserting himself, often as an impassive stander-by, in scenes of his films.

Originally, the phrase cameo role referred to a famous person who was playing no character but him or herself. Like a cameo brooch - a low-relief carving of a person's head orbust - the actor or celebrity is instantly recognizable. More recently, "cameo" has come to refer to any short appearances, whether as a character or as oneself.

Cameos are often uncredited due to their brevity or because of a perceived mismatch between the celebrity’s stature and the film or TV show in which he or she is appearing. Many are publicity stunts. Others are acknowledgements of an actor’s contribution to an earlier work, as in the case of many film adaptations of TV series, or of remakes of earlier films. Others honor artists or celebrities known for work in a particular field.

A cameo can establish a character as being important without having much screen time. Examples of such cameos are Sean Connery in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves or Ted Danson in Saving Private Ryan.

Cameos are also common in novels and other literary works. “Literary cameos” usually involve an established character from another work who makes a brief appearance in order to establish a shared universe setting, to make a point, or to offer homage. Balzac was an originator of this practice his his Comedie humaine. Sometimes a cameo features a historical person who "drops in" on fictional characters in a historical novel, as when Benjamin Franklin shares a brew with Phillipe Charboneau in The Bastard< by John Jakes. A cameo appearance can also be made by the author of a work in order to put a sort of personal "signature" on a story. An example from the thriller genre includes Clive Cussler, who made appearances in his own novels as a "rough old man" who advised action hero Dirk Pitt. An example in the comic book genre is John Byrne’s resplendent use of cameos in Marvel Comics’ Iron Fist #8, which features appearances by Byrne himself, Howard the Duck (on a poster), Peter Parker and MJ Watson, Sam McCloud, Fu Manchu, and Wolverine.

At the apex of the technique stands Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This acclaimed novel is, among many other things, a tour de force of literary cameos.

Martin Scorsese appears briefly in an uncredited role in this scene from his feature film Taxi Driver.

Mike Todd’s film Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) was studded with cameo roles: (John Gielgud as an English butler, Frank Sinatra playing piano in a saloon), and others: the stars in "cameo roles" were pictured in oval insets in posters for the film, and gave the term wide circulation outside the theatrical profession. Notably, the 2004 film version of the story directed by Frank Coraci also features a large number of cameos.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, an "epic comedy", also features cameos from nearly every major comedian alive at the time, including the Three Stooges.

Directors often appear in cameo roles to add a personal "signature" on a film. The cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock in thirty-seven of his films helped popularize the term among general audiences. Often whimsical, the cameos became so well publicized that audiences began watching for them. Hitchcock began placing the cameos early in each film so audiences could then give their full attention to the story. Director Sam Raimi has followed Hitchcock's example in many of his films, as well as providing cameo roles for his brother Ted Raimi and friend Bruce Campbell.

Other directors are also known for casting themselves in cameo roles in their films. M. Night Shyamalan appears in some of his movies, such as The Village, in which he is shown in the glass reflection of the sheriff (who is only otherwise filmed from behind, hiding his face), and also as a shady fan Bruce Willis searches at a stadium in Unbreakable. In The Sixth Sense, he is shown to be the doctor at the hospital and has a brief appearance in a short scene with the child’s mother.

Likewise, Peter Jackson appears in a brief cameo in all three Lord of the Rings movies: as a peasant eating a carrot in Bree in Fellowship of the Ring; as a Rohan warrior defending the keep in The Two Towers and a pirate captain in The Return of the King. All three were non-speaking, "blink and you miss him", appearances.

Actors Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider have appeared in cameo roles in most of each other's comedy movies (The Water Boy, Mr. Deeds, The Animal etc.). They usually contribute one line of dialogue or just a funny expression. Schneider's famous cameo line has been the poor man saying "You can do it!" in three of Sandler's films.

Remakes and sequels occasionally feature actors from the original films. The 1998 TV movie Moby Dick, which stars Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab, features a cameo by Gregory Peck, who had memorably portrayed Ahab in John Huston's 1956 film version of the same story. The 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead features cameos by Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger and Tom Savini, stars of the original Dawn of the Dead. Vin Diesel made a short appearance at the end of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift where he challenges to race Shawn, Lucas Black, the then Drift king.

Films based on actual events occasionally include cameo roles of the people portrayed in them. In the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner makes a cameo in the end. 24 Hour Party People, a film about Tony Wilson has a cameo by the real Tony Wilson. In the film Apollo 13, James Lovell (the real commander of that flight) appeared at the end, shaking hands with Tom Hanks (the actor who was portraying Lovell).

In a similar vein, cameos sometimes feature persons noted for accomplishments outside the film industry, usually in ways related to the subject or setting of the film. October Sky (1999), set in 1950s Appalachia, featured photographer O. Winston Link in a brief appearance portraying a steam locomotive engineer. Link became famous in the 1950s for chronicling the last days of regular steam locomotives service in the region. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), set in Depression-era rural South, featured cameos by country "roots" music notables such as Alison Krauss, Robert Stanley, Gillian Welch, The Whites and the Fairfield Four. In the film The Last Mimzy, noted string theorist Brian Greene has a cameo as the Intel scientist. Stan Lee, founder of Marvel Comics, often makes cameo appearances in films and television shows based on Marvel characters, such as Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, as a man trying to get into the wedding, claiming he should be on the list of guests.

Other cameos simply spotlight celebrities. In the 2003 film Kill Bill, Samuel L. Jackson (who starred in director Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction) appears as Rufus, who plays the piano at the bride's wedding. Ben Stiller made an appearance in Tenacious D's video for their song "Tribute". In the 2006 film Casino Royale, Richard Branson made a cameo appearance as a passenger being searched by security guards. The earlier version of Casino Royale had brief appearances from several stars, and uncredited cameos from Stirling Moss and Peter O'Toole. Unusually for the concept, both had lines. In the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards made a cameo as the father of Johnny Depp's character, Jack Sparrow. Richards was one of Depp's inspirations for the character.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a cameo appearance in the movie Talladega Nights as getting his shirt autographed by Ricky Bobby in victory lane

Miley Cyrus had a cameo in High School Musical 2, credited as "Girl At Pool" who dances along with the main characters to the closing song, All for One.

Spider-Man appeared for a second in the remake of the movie The Italian Job. When a segment of the street was detonated, we can see him among the panicking crowd.

Director Richard Donner appeared in the first Superman movie, which he directed, as a by-stander watching news reports of Superman's first night of heroics from a city street corner. Donner has a speaking part in the extended-length version of the film.

Sometimes a director appears in another director's film and then asks that director to reciprocate the gesture. For instance, director Cameron Crowe asked Steven Spielberg appear as himself during a party scene in Vanilla Sky (released in 2001). Then, in Spielberg's Minority Report (2002), Crowe appeared, although only visible from the eyes up, as a passenger reading a newspaper on the subway opposite Tom Cruise.

The video game Megaman ZX feature numerous cameos from the Megaman ZERO series, as well as an E-Tank (A container of energy robots "drink" to restore health) under a bus in the city.

• Bit part
• Extra
• Self-insertion
• List of Hitchcock cameo appearances
• List of directors who appear in their own films