David Bowie
Acting
🎂 1947-01-08
David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in popular music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists. In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, releasing eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Born and raised in South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. “Space Oddity” became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single “Starman” and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted radically towards a sound he characterized as “plastic soul,” initially alienating many of his UK devotees but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single “Fame” and the album Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. The following year, he further confounded musical expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low (1977), the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that would come to be known as the Berlin Trilogy. Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes,” its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and “Under Pressure,” a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let's Dance, with its title track topping both UK and US charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. Bowie also continued acting; his roles included Major Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), the Goblin King Jareth in Labyrinth (1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped concert touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar (2016).
Cast credits(248)
Self
1962
Self - Musical Guest
1975
Phillip Jeffries (archive footage)
1990
Self
1984
Self
1967
Self
1982
Tesla
2006
Self
1981
Self
1995
Self
1975
Self - Musical Guest
1993
Self
1998
Self (Clip) (archive footage)
1987
Self - Tin Machine
1987
Self - Guest
1968
The Host
1997
David Bowie
2005
Phillip Jeffries
1992
Self
1966
Jareth
1986
Self
1972
David Bowie
2001
Maltazard (voice)
2006
Self
1999
John Blaylock
1983
Sir Roland Moorecock
1990
Self (archive footage)
2024
John Blaylock
2013
Self (archive footage)
2022
Self
1977
Self (archive footage)
2004
Self
2025
Self - Guest
2001
Self
2021
Self (archive footage)
2009
David Bowie
1981
Self
2024
Self
1992
Self
1975
Self
2018
Pontius Pilatus
1988
Self
2019
Self (archive footage)
2000
Self (archive footage)
2021
Celliers
1983
Self
1975
Self
2000
Self
1992
Colin Morris
1985
Self
1996
Self (archive footage)
2021
Self (archive footage)
2024
Self (archive footage)
2023
Phillip Jeffries
2014
Self
2007
David Bowie
2009
Self
1967
Self (archive footage)
2023
The Shark (uncredited)
1983
Self - Narrator (voice)
2017
Self (voice)
2021
self
1994
Self
2016
Self (archive footage)
2016
Self
1963
Self
1995
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self
2001
Thomas Jerome Newton
1976
Paul Ambrosius von Przygodski
1978
Self
1988
Cyrus Ogilvie
2008
Self
2021
Self (archive footage)
2017
Jareth (archive footage)
1994
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self (archive footage)
2020
Self (archive footage)
2024
Self (archive footage)
2022
Self
2007
Andy Warhol
1996
Self
1995
Self
1986
Vendice Partners
1986
Mr. William Rice
2000
Older James (re-released version) (uncredited)
1984
2004
Self (uncredited)
1997
Self (archive footage)
2020
Self (archive footage)
2014
Self (archive footage)
2020
Jack Celliers (archive footage)
2017
Self
1977
Self (archive footage)
2019
Self (archive footage)
2023
Self (archive footage)
1998
Self (archive footage)
2021
Lord Royal Highness
2007
Self (archive footage)
2022
Self
1988
Self (archive footage)
2020
Soldier
1969
Self
2011
Vic / Screaming Lord Byron
1984
Self
1973
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2025
Self
1980
Jack Sikora
1998
Self
2004
Self (archive footage)
2023
Self - Singer (archive footage)
2023
Self
1983
David Bowie
1993
Self
2005
Self
2002
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self (archive footage)
2005
Self
1999
Monte
1991
(archival footage)
2025
Self (archive footage)
2022
Self
1986
Self
1997
Self
2005
Self
2020
Self
2002
Bernie
1999
Self
2011
Self
2006
Self
2012
Self
1969
Self - Interviewee
2003
Self (archive footage)
2023
Self (archive footage)
2013
Self (archive footage)
2008
Self / Ziggy Stardust (archive footage)
2012
self
1996
Self
2003
Self
1985
Self
2016
Self
2015
Self (archive footage)
2017
Self - Interviewee
1997
Self
2003
Self
1985
Self - Vocals
2000
Self
1975
Self - Lead Vocals / Guitar
1984
Self (archive footage)
2024
Self - Guest Artist
2007
Self
1996
Self
2009
1978
The Boy
1969
Baal
1982
Self
2010
Self (archive footage)
Self (archive footage)
2016
Self (archive footage)
2016
Self
1975
Self
2004
Self
1984
Self / Ziggy Stardust
1983
Self
1969
Self
2012
Self
1995
Self - Narrator (voice)
2002
Self (archive footage)
2002
Self
1998
Self
2016
Self
2010
Self (archive footage)
2014
Self (archive footage)
1983
Self (archive footage)
2019
1989
Self (archive footage)
2013
Self
1985
Self
2003
Self (archive footage)
2019
Self
2016
Singer
2018
Celliers (archive footage)
1985
Self
2015
Self - Musician (archive footage)
2017
Self (archive footage)
2012
Self - Vocals
2018
Self
2004
Self (archive footage)
2002
1985
Self
2001
Self - Keyboard, Vocals
1978
Self
2005
Self
2015
Self - Performer (archive footage)
2012
Self - Vocals, Saxophone
1983
Self
1978
Self
1997
Self
2002
Self
1998
Self
2021
Self
2020
Self
2003
Self
2002
Guitar, Saxophone, Vocals
2024
Self
2007
Self (archive footage)
2004
2006
Self
2006
Self (archive footage)
1991
Self
2003
Self (archive footage)
2010
Self / Harpie
1974
Self
2016
Self
1990
2013
Self
2003
Himself (voice)
1976
Self
2021
Self - Singer, Songwriter
2006
Self
1993
Self
1998
Self
2000
Self - Singer, Songwriter
2007
Self
1984
Self (Archival/Voice)
2019
Self
1983
Self
1983
Narrator (voice)
2024
Self
1997
Cloud
1970
Self
1999
Self
1997
David Bowie
2023
1978
Self - Singer, Songwriter
2007
Self - Singer, songwriter
2012
Self
2005
Self
2002
Self
2002
Self
2006
Self - Keyboard, Vocals
1978
Self - Singer, Songwriter
2007
Self (archive footage)
2016
Self (archive footage)
2015
2015
Self
2016
