A cold man performed (5)
I believe the answer is:
acted
'performed' is the definition.
(acting is a kind of performing)
'a cold man' is the wordplay.
'cold' becomes 'C' (eg on taps).
'man' becomes 'ted' (Ted is a man's name).
'a'+'c'+'ted'='ACTED'
(Other definitions for acted that I've seen before include "appeared on stage" , "Behaved like thespian" , "Played a role" , "Performed (in a play)" , "exerted influence" .)