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David Bowie

Known for: Acting

Born 08/01/1947

Died 2016-01-10

Place of birth London, England, UK

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).

Filmography

Series ★ 7,6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Self

1962

Series ★ 6,9

Saturday Night Live

Self - Musical Guest

1975

Series ★ 6,6

Top of the Pops

Self (archive footage)

1964

Series ★ 7,4

Die Harald Schmidt Show

Self

1995

Series ★ 7,3

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Self - Musical Guest

1993

Series ★ 5,5

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Self

2003

Series ★ 8,3

Twin Peaks

Phillip Jeffries (archive footage)

1990

Series ★ 6,8

The Dick Cavett Show

Self - Guest

1968

Series ★ 5,9

Later... with Jools Holland

1992

Series ★ 6,8

Champs-Elysées

Self

1982

Series ★ 5,6

Wetten, dass..?

Self

1981

Series ★ 4,0

Exclusiv - Das Star-Magazin

self

1994

Series ★ 7,7

SpongeBob SquarePants

Lord Royal Highness (voice)

1999

Series ★ 5,7

Sacrée soirée

Self (Clip) (archive footage)

1987

Series ★ 5,7

Sacrée soirée

Self - Tin Machine

1987

Series ★ 7,2

Omnibus

Self

1967

Series ★ 7,2

Omnibus

1967

Series ★ 7,8

MTV Video Music Awards

Self

1984

Series ★ 6,0

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

Self

1975

Series

Parkinson

Self - Guest / Performer

1998

Film ★ 8,2

The Prestige

Tesla

2006

Series ★ 7,1

TFI Friday

1996

Series ★ 7,2

Theatre 625

1964

Series ★ 6,9

Dream On

Sir Roland Moorecock

1990

Series ★ 6,1

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

Self - Guest

2001

Series ★ 7,8

Extras

David Bowie

2005

Series

Système 2

Self

1975

Series ★ 6,2

The Hunger

The Host

1997

Series ★ 8,0

Musikladen

Self

1972

Series ★ 6,7

Where Are They Now?

Self

1999

Series

Unsere kleine Show - Musik zur blauen Stunde

Self

1969

Series ★ 10,0

The BRIT Awards

Self

1977

Film ★ 7,4

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

Phillip Jeffries

1992

Film ★ 7,3

Labyrinth

Jareth

1986

Series ★ 8,0

Auf los geht's los

Self

1977

Series ★ 7,0

Ready Steady Go!

Self

1963

Series ★ 7,6

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything

Self (archive footage)

2021

Film ★ 6,4

Arthur and the Invisibles

Maltazard (voice)

2006

Film ★ 6,2

Zoolander

David Bowie

2001

Series

ECHO-Verleihung

Self

1992

Film ★ 7,2

The Last Temptation of Christ

Pontius Pilatus

1988

Film ★ 7,3

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Celliers

1983

Series ★ 6,0

Comic Relief

1988

Series ★ 7,0

Cher

Self

1975

Series ★ 9,2

Seven Ages of Rock

Self

2007

Series

4-3-2-1 Hot and Sweet

Self

1966

Series ★ 10,0

The Frame

John Blaylock

2013

Series ★ 5,9

This Is Pop

Self (archive footage)

2021

Film ★ 6,5

The Man Who Fell to Earth

Thomas Jerome Newton

1976

Film ★ 7,3

Christiane F.

David Bowie

1981

Film ★ 6,7

The Hunger

John Blaylock

1983

Series

Number One!

Self (archive footage)

2009

Film ★ 6,5

Into the Night

Colin Morris

1985

Film ★ 7,9

Bowie: The Final Act

Self (archive footage)

2025

Series ★ 6,5

Il était une fois Champs-Élysées

Self (archive footage)

2022

Film ★ 6,6

Basquiat

Andy Warhol

1996

Series ★ 8,0

Full Stretch

David Bowie

1993

Film ★ 7,8

Jim Henson Idea Man

Self (archive footage)

2024

Film ★ 7,2

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces

Phillip Jeffries

2014

Film ★ 8,0

Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror

Self (archive footage)

2025

Film ★ 5,8

Bandslam

David Bowie

2009

Series ★ 7,2

70 Years of Youth Revolt

Self (archive footage)

2020

Series

Young Music Show

1978

Film ★ 7,6

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

Self (archive footage)

2025

Film ★ 7,4

Moonage Daydream

Self (archive footage)

2022

Film ★ 7,0

Mickey: The Story of a Mouse

Self (archive footage)

2022

Film ★ 7,8

Live Aid

Self

1985

Film ★ 8,4

The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

Self

1992

Film ★ 6,4

LOLA

Self - Singer (archive footage)

2023

Film ★ 6,4

SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis

Lord Royal Highness

2007

Film ★ 5,5

Absolute Beginners

Vendice Partners

1986

Film ★ 7,4

Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA

Jack Celliers (archive footage)

2017

Film ★ 7,3

The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story

Self (archive footage)

2019

Film ★ 7,1

David Bowie: The Last Five Years

Self (archive footage)

2017

Film ★ 4,0

2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Self

2021

Film ★ 6,2

Enigma

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

2025

Film ★ 5,1

The Concert for New York City

Self

2001

Film ★ 6,9

The Filth and the Fury

Self (archive footage)

2000

Film ★ 5,6

Yellowbeard

The Shark (uncredited)

1983

Film ★ 7,5

Why Are We Creative?

Self

2018

Film ★ 6,8

The Velvet Underground

Self (voice)

2021

Film ★ 6,8

Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

Self (archive footage)

2023

Film ★ 7,3

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Self / Ziggy Stardust

1983

Film ★ 7,2

Zappa

Self (archive footage)

2020

Film ★ 8,7

Thriller 40

Self (archive footage)

2023

Film ★ 6,9

Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special

Self

1999

Film ★ 5,0

Just a Gigolo

Paul Ambrosius von Przygodski

1978

Series

David Bowie - Best Of

2002

Film ★ 7,3

WHAM!

Self (archive footage)

2023

Film ★ 5,3

Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas

Self

1977

Film ★ 7,7

David Gilmour: Remember That Night

Self - Guest Artist

2007

Film ★ 6,7

Freddie Mercury: The Final Act

Self (archive footage)

2022

Series ★ 7,0

Personne ne bouge !

Self

2012

Series

Hits That Missed at the BBC

Self (archive footage)

2024

Film ★ 7,0

The Lost Weekend: A Love Story

Self (archive footage)

2023

Film ★ 10,0

Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s

Self - Narrator (voice)

2002

Series ★ 8,0

Discovering Music

Self (archive footage)

2013

Film ★ 7,5

Cher: The Farewell Tour

Self (archive footage)

2003

Film ★ 5,2

August

Cyrus Ogilvie

2008

Film ★ 6,8

Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock

Self - Musician (archive footage)

2017

Film ★ 7,7

Luther: Never Too Much

Self (archive footage)

2024

Film ★ 7,5

David Bowie: Five Years

Self (archive footage)

2013

Film ★ 8,3

Queen: Champions of the World

Self

1995

Film ★ 7,0

Imagine: John Lennon

Self

1988

Film ★ 5,9

Soul Boys of the Western World

Self (archive footage)

2014