Performer given gold by a court (5)
I believe the answer is:
actor
'performer' is the definition.
(actor is a kind of performer)
'gold by a court' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'court' becomes 'ct'.
'a'+'ct'='act'
'or' put after 'act' is 'ACTOR'.
'given' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for actor that I've seen before include "Gielgud, say" , "Film star" , "eg Anthony Hopkins" , "Theatrical performer" , "Cruise, e.g." .)