David Bowie: Musician, Actor and Cultural Icon
Posted by Leah on
1/13/2016 12:46:38 PM
On Sunday, January 10, 2016, musician, actor and all around superstar David Bowie, (also known as David Robert Jones) passed away peacefully among family and friends after an 18 month battle with liver cancer.
Of my favorite “Bowie-inspired” memories, some I’ll never forget happened at work. I was a chef at a restaurant and in the kitchen was a stereo to listen to as we worked. At least twice a month the other chef, Brian, and I decided to have “Bowie Night”, during which, for our whole 8 hour shift we’d listen to nothing but Bowie tunes. This irritated the dishwasher to no end, since he liked rap and nothing else, but we didn’t care. It didn’t matter how busy we got, I just couldn’t get mad or irritated listening to Bowie. Those nights were the most fun I had at work!
Although Bowie is more than well known for his musical career, during which he released a total of 91 albums, (27 studio albums, 9 live albums, 49 compilation albums, 6 extended plays (EPs)), I will always remember him most for his film roles.
Besides having his music included in 454 film soundtracks to date, Bowie also has 40 acting credits to his name. His acting career began in 1967, just before the release of his first album, with roles in a few short films and TV shows. His film career didn’t truly take off until 9 years later, in 1976, with the film The Man Who Fell to Earth. In it Bowie plays a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to retrieve water in hopes of saving his dying planet. After playing smaller roles in a few German films, in 1983 Bowie got a bigger break, playing the male lead in The Hunger, along with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon.
In 1986 Bowie played what has come to be his defining acting role, as Jareth the Goblin King in the Jim Henson film Labyrinth. This was my introduction to Bowie. I was 4 years old. Although it does include some scenes that to some children are scary, I never had a problem with them (my nieces and nephew on the other hand refuse to watch it because they’ve deemed it too scary!). Labyrinth quickly became my favorite movie, and every time I had friends over, or was just bored I watched it. To this day Labyrinth remains my favorite film of all time and I make sure to watch it at least once a year. I can recite most of the words to it, and every now and again I play Dance Magic Dance, my favorite song from the film, really loud and dance around my living room, (much to the annoyment of my husband!).
After Labyrinth, Bowie’s acting career took off. He was able to land memorable roles in the Martin Scorsese film The Last Temptation of Christ, the film Basquiat, Mr. Rice’s Secret, Zoolander, The Prestige, August and many other films and TV shows.
But Bowie was more than just an actor or musician. He was and will always be a pop culture icon. He was quoted as saying “I suppose, for me as an artist, it wasn't always just about expressing my work; I really wanted, more than anything else, to contribute in some way to the culture that I was living in.” I’d say, given the overabundance of heartfelt messages and various tributes I’ve seen on TV, online and on the radio, that David Bowie certainly contributed to not only our culture, but to culture worldwide. He will be greatly missed.