He paints bad actor (8)

I believe the answer is:

thespian

'actor' is the definition.
('thespian' can be a synonym of 'actor')

'he paints bad' is the wordplay.
'bad' indicates an anagram.
'he'+'paints'='hepaints'
'hepaints' is an anagram of 'THESPIAN'.

(Other definitions for thespian that I've seen before include "Tragic actor" , "Stage-player" , "Player" , "He paints (anag)" , "Relating to the theatre" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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