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BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,wlisk Date: 04 Dec 07 - 01:25 PM And don't forget the late Hoyt Axton. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Big Al Whittle Date: 04 Dec 07 - 12:14 PM i think Martin Carthy told me one time that he'd done an acting gig at Stratford playing with the RSC. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Jack Blandiver Date: 04 Dec 07 - 11:25 AM Did anyone see Martin Carthy in that BBC2 (?) play - oh, must be twenty years back at least... Picked up on Napoleonic themes in folk songs, young girls dressing as men to follow their loves into battle... I'm not saying he was bad though, just that he was an acting musician. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Flash Company Date: 04 Dec 07 - 10:14 AM The late Jerry Orbach had quite a long career on the musical stage, before going on to playing a wisecracking cop in 'Law & Order' FC |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,pattyClink Date: 03 Dec 07 - 02:27 PM Bobby Short did a fine episode of In the Heat of the Night. Robert Goulet did an extraordinary job in another one. Who knew? |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Dec 07 - 07:00 PM Well I'm glad someone finally noticed Levant. I did name him ages ago in this thread (on Nov. 29. I said he was clever, but always seemed to paly some version of himself). I liked him in all of the films he appeared in. :) SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST Date: 02 Dec 07 - 03:37 PM I second the vote for Judy Garland as best.
Thanks. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Don Firth Date: 02 Dec 07 - 02:25 PM An American in Paris. Marvelously entertaining movie! It was years ago that I saw it (Hmm! I'll have to check NetFlix), but among many outstanding scenes, I recall two in particular that featured Oscar Levant. Scene in a sidewalk café: Gene Kelly, a handsome young French friend of his, and Oscar Levant are sitting at a table. Kelly and the Frenchman are both going into romantic rhapsodies about the marvelous young woman each of them has just met. They are both madly in love! And, being good friends, they are both very happy for each other. Levant, in the meantime, follows the conversation with apprehension. He knows what they don't: they're both talking about the same young woman—Leslie Caron. While nervously listening and fearing the impending revelation, he gets all mixed up between the cup of coffee he's drinking and the cigarette he's smoking. The collisions and the dunkings are absolutely hilarious! Another great scene is a dream sequence. Levant, in his reverie, is playing Gershwin. He's at the piano, of course. As the camera pans through the orchestra, one notices that it's Levant playing all the instruments—even the big cymbal clash. At the end (beautifully played, incidentally; Levant was an excellent pianist), an enthusiastic audience member is clapping wildly and shouting "Bravo! Bravo!" The camera pans up to the box, and it's Oscar Levant. Gotta love the guy!! Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: bankley Date: 02 Dec 07 - 12:43 PM "Nine to Five" was more fun than "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Janie Date: 02 Dec 07 - 12:33 PM I thought Dolly Parton did a decent job with her acting in "Steel Magnolias." I haven't seen her other flicks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: bobad Date: 02 Dec 07 - 12:18 PM Having watched the Peter Sellers movie "The Party" last evening I would have to nominate Claudine Longet for the title of worst actor and singer. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: bankley Date: 02 Dec 07 - 09:22 AM besides Levant could play the hell out of the 88s, he and Gershwin had a friendly competition going on in the 'chops' dept. Talk about getting up close and personal to a master... those were the days.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Sorcha Date: 01 Dec 07 - 10:04 PM At least in Alices Restaurant, Arlo was being Arlo. There was that god awful TV series he was in....I think he played an angel....once was all I could stand to watch. Just too painful. And honestly, how many 'film personas' can actually ACT? I can name a bunch that I don't think can. John Wayne, Chuck Norris, Arnold, most of the 'chop socky/hit em up' fellas. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST Date: 01 Dec 07 - 06:32 PM Glen Campbell gets my vote as the worst musician actor. Ricky Nelson second. I thought Hoagy did pretty well in "Old Buttermilk Sky" too. Bing Crosby is my pick as the best. DougR |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 01 Dec 07 - 04:18 PM John, I reread your post and saw that I did indeed misinterpret it. By parsing the sentence I realize that you were saying Mr. ford was in "Best Years of Our Lives" and a Randolph Scott oater. It was the clause that through me off. Sorry if I offended. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: pdq Date: 01 Dec 07 - 04:08 PM Oscar Lavant quotes (a few of many): "The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue." "I'm a self-made man. Who else would help?" "I don't drink; I don't like it--it makes me feel good." "I was once thrown out of a mental hospital for depressing the other patients." "There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line." |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Rog Peek Date: 01 Dec 07 - 03:42 PM John Leyton did a few films including "Von Ryan's Express" and of course "The Great Escape". I thought he gave a good pretty account of himself as 'Willie the Tunnel King' amoung a pretty distinguished group of actors. Rog |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 01 Dec 07 - 03:21 PM Lorre, Allen & Lewis wouldn't have stood a chance. In fact Allen probably would have melted away from Levant's acerbic torts and retorts. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Little Hawk Date: 01 Dec 07 - 02:37 PM Geez! What an unsavoury and nasty little man. I must confess that I was pretty much unaware of Oscar Levant until now. He looks like a man who would have fit right in on a desert island with only Peter Lorrie, Woody Allen, and Jerry Lewis there for company. The four of them together around the campfire every night. Just think what that would have been like! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: catspaw49 Date: 01 Dec 07 - 01:13 PM Thnaks Don for the exact quote. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Don Firth Date: 01 Dec 07 - 12:41 PM "I may not be the handsomest man in the world, but behind this flabby exterior, you will find a distinct lack of character." --Oscar Levant in An American in Paris Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: catspaw49 Date: 01 Dec 07 - 12:39 PM Oscar Levant......He came up earlier too. I enjoyed him in almost any format, perhaps on talk shows above all else. Oscar Levant had one of the greatest love/hate relationships of all time......with himself. Tragically happy and wonderfully sad, he found himself a great joy and an impossibilty to live with. His wit was like a highly charged rapier, quick, powerful, and slashing. It could attack anyone anywhere, including himself. Of Marilyn Monroe he said something like since Marilyn had converted to Judaism, Arthur Miller could eat her. Of himself, he once said that underneath his flabby exterior was an enormous lack of character. This was really my kind of guy! If you can, read The Unimportance of Being Oscar. There are several things on YouTube including a complete show with Fred Astaire, but TRY THIS for a quick taste of Oscar Levant. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 01 Dec 07 - 10:11 AM Oh how I loved Oscar Levant! No matter the movie, or character name, he was always neurotic, chain-smoking, drinking, sarcastic Oscar Levant. He played pretty good piano too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: bankley Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:12 AM and Oscar Levant..... a contemporary of George Gershwin |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: bankley Date: 01 Dec 07 - 08:10 AM Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Jim Nabors |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Richard Bridge Date: 30 Nov 07 - 05:29 PM 100 |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: mrdux Date: 30 Nov 07 - 05:17 PM Dexter Gordon was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award -- and won a handful of other Best Actor awards -- for his role as a jazz sax player in 'Round Midnight (1986)(loosely based on sort of a combination of Bud Powell and Lester Young). A pretty amazing performance, and a pretty decent movie. Hoagy Carmichael had a fairly prolific acting career. My favorite role was as Cricket, the laconic, wisecracking piano player in To Have and to Have Not (1944), in which he had at least one fun scene with Lauren Bacall. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 30 Nov 07 - 05:10 PM I have re-read the offending sentence several more times. If you take out the parenthetic phrase, and the apositive [is that the right term?] descriptor 'sans mustache' then the sentence reads: "Tennessee Ernie Ford was in 'Best Years of Our Lives", and a Randolph Scott oater." I do not see any way to interpret that as indicating that BYOL is a Randolph Scott movie. Had there been no 'and' in the sentence ...different meaning as per NeilD. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Severn Date: 30 Nov 07 - 04:51 PM Now, we've previously paid tribute to Levon Helm and Cissy Spaceck in "Coal Miner's daughter. In the early part of the movie in the original hometown, you'll find amongst the locals a bunch of people, prformers amd otherwise, connected with the operations of June Appal Records. I recognized Nimrod Workman and his daughter in the crowd, so I checked the credits at the end in the theatre and some more showed up. Any of you who know the June Appal people or have the movie, check it out. You couldn't look much more strikingly Appalachian than Nimrod! |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: PoppaGator Date: 30 Nov 07 - 04:40 PM JOTSC, if you had added a single word ~ "and, sans moustache, in a Randolph Scott oater" ~ it would have been more clear that you were talking about two different movies. Adding a second additional word, "also," would have made doubly sure that you'd be correctly understood. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 30 Nov 07 - 04:23 PM To Guest,NeilD: I don't believe that what I wrote indicates that 'Best Years...' is a Randolph Scott western. Please read again. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Nov 07 - 03:27 PM There are also a few actors known mostly for dramatic or comedic roles (in contrast to musicals) who are damned fine musicians. James Mason, Jack Lemon, SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 30 Nov 07 - 03:14 PM Roger Daltrey is a decent actor. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 30 Nov 07 - 02:47 PM Furry Lewis was in "Smokey and the Bandit" as well. He mainly sang and played guitar on his front porch. Not exactly what ya'd call "acting". |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Big Al Whittle Date: 30 Nov 07 - 01:05 PM Jerry Reed was in Smokey and the Bandit. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 30 Nov 07 - 01:04 PM I think John is thinking of a different movie because he describes "Best Years of Our Lives" as a Randolph Scott oater. It's not. It is actually a very fine film starring Frederick March about men returning from WWII. It does, however, fit this category because it features Hogie Carmichael as a tavern owner. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: PoppaGator Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:27 AM Geez, I just watched "Best Years of Our Lives" a few evenings ago, and failed to notice Tennessee Ernie's appearance. Dang! |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Folk Form # 1 Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:21 AM Joe Strummer in Mystery Train. Not much of a actor and not much of a singer, if truth be told. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 30 Nov 07 - 11:17 AM Sheb Wooley was also one of the bad guys in 'High Noon' Johnny Cash did several dramatic turns on TV in TV westerns in their day. And, later, 'Little Houses on the Prairie' and TV movies. Merle Travis was an NCO in 'From Here to Eternity'. Tennessee Ernie was in 'Best Years of Our Lives' (well really only as a singer), and, sans mustache, a Randolph Scott oater. Dick Haymes did lots of 20th musicals in the '40s. Johnny Johnston, a band singer of the 40s, wanting to become a dramatic actor, passed on singing the title song to 'Unchained' in which he was a co-star. Bad career move! Everyone except him has had a hit with 'Unchained Melody', and his dramatic career ended there too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: PoppaGator Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:24 AM Hey ~ I liked "Hootenanny Hoot" when I stumbled upon in on TCM a year or so ago. Just as in other pop-music quickie productions of that era, the plot was stupid and irrelevant, and the non-musician actors were a bunch of no-talent nobodies. But the movie included plenty of uninterrupted performances of songs, all of which were at least interesting, and most of them pretty good. I was particularly struck that Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two were presented as a "folk group." Other performers in the film were more representative of the early-folk-scare-era: The Brothers Four, Judy Henske...I should remember more names, but can't at the moment. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Midchuck Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:08 AM I thought the 1984 movie of "Dune" was mostly junk. But Sting NAILED the character of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. IMO. Peter |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Becca72 Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:32 AM Speaking of Chevy Chase...I believe he was the drummer in Steely Dan (or one of their offshoot groups) in the very early 70s. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,number 6 Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:31 AM The Dave Clark 5 ... in "Catch us if you can" ... just a pop group playiung a pop group .. silly period flick, but all in fun. Paul Jones .... in "Privilege" ... ok, part in a what could have been an interesting movie. biLL |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Peter Kasin Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:17 AM Right, Severn, Bikel! Knew I'd forget one or two. Chanteyranger |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Wesley S Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:11 AM Didn't one of the Clancy Brothers show up in a few movies? |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Roger the Skiffler Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:05 AM Adam Faith in "Never let Go" -dreadful acting. Improved some later on tv (not much of a singer either!). RtS No actor & dreadful singer myself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: fat B****rd Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:02 AM I enjoyed Artie Garfunkel in "Bad Timiing" but Jagger was bloody awful in "Ned Kelly" |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: GUEST,Neil D Date: 30 Nov 07 - 08:48 AM Johnny Nash was an accomplished actor years before he wrote and recorded "I Can See Clearly Now". |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Big Al Whittle Date: 30 Nov 07 - 08:31 AM Fred Astaire made some good films not dancing. My favourite was Ghost Story. The most 'got it wrong' was probably Paul Simon in One Trick Pony - what does HE know about being an unsuccessful musician! |
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Subject: RE: BS: BEST/WORST--- Musicians as Actors From: Severn Date: 30 Nov 07 - 08:16 AM Then Theo Bikel gets to stay home with his Oscar and Tony nominations, Chanteyranger? But then, an album called "An Actor's Holiday" tells you his favorite side of the fence, I guess. |
