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World known actors who started as singers


Zhivko

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I am not sure if we have this in the archive, but i taught it would be really cool. I was going through my collection and i found some hidden albums that i hid for a reason. Now i remember why. I wanted to make a list of all the Actors who started as singers. I think it would be really fun to compound a list :)

Here is something to get you started:

Bruce Willis : 3 Albums (1987, 1989, 2001)

Eddie Murphy : 5 Albums (1982, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1993)

Let's see how this will go :) Have fun!

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Zhivko, I hate to be a jerk, but Bruce Willis was already acting in 1982 or '83 on the TV show "Moonlighting". He was doing all kinds of work as an actor before he released an album.

As for Murphy, he had already accomplished himself as a star comedian and was part of the "Saturday Night Live" cast.

Again... I'm sorry for being a spoil-sport. Great idea though! :thumbsup:

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Ray, stop being a jerk. :mad:

;)

Reba McEntire started as a country singer and is now a pretty well-known actress. She was in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon, and had her own sit-com for a few years.

Alanis Morrisette was a singer first, then she got some acting gigs in a movie with Ben Affleck, which I can't remember the name of (she played God) and then in "Weeds."

Rick Springfield... I can't remember which he was first. He had a long-running gig on a day time soap (General Hospital??) before he busted out with "Jessie's Girl."

Mark Wahlberg was Marky Mark before he became an acting force to be reckoned with.

Will Smith was also an accomplished rapper before he started on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and everything thereafter.

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I know Tone Loc released a couple albums before starting his acting career. Whether he went back to rapping for money, I'm not sure. But his acting career gradually gained momentum.

Ice-T is another rapper that found acting, currently on the series "Law & Order: SVU". He does still work on his music though, albeit sparingly with his acting schedule taking up much of his time.

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Will Smith and Mark Wahlberg were my first thoughts as well.

Cher also did some acting, or Barbra Streisand, right?

Was Frank Sinatra a singer or an actor first?

I guess many pop starlets did act in a few films after they became famous, just like rap / hip-hop artists, including good ones like Mos Def...

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Ludacris has also started acting. And Tupac acted in a couple movies.

This opens an interesting question:

Of all the rappers-turned-actors, whom do you think is the best actor? Or the top three best?

For me it'd be this:

1. Will Smith

2. Mos Def (he was amazing on Dexter last year)

3. Ice-T (I love his character on SVU, though I don't think Ice-T necessarily has the best skills, he plays that character well.)

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Madonna did a string of cheesy films in the 80's, though I liked her in A League of Their Own.

Justin Timberlake has had quite a few roles, like Social Network and Bad Teacher.

Obviously you've never seen Vanilla Ice in the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Classic.

He appeared as himself in the recent Adam Sandler movie "That's My Boy" and was in most of the movie. It seems he's just doing acting now and not music anymore.

And now P!nk!

I did not know she did any acting.

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Alanis Morrisette was actually an actor BEFORE she became a singer. She was a featured regular on the Nickelodeon kids' show, "You Can't Do That On Television" when she was eleven or twleve. Cool show, by the way.

And there are A LOT of singers that later starred in movies or TV shows. And although the title of the thread is "Actors Who Started As Singers", it appears that Zhiv was going for just the opposite....Actors who later tried their hand at singing.

And I don't count all the rap singers who later became actors. Most of them were actors to begin with.

I will add a few singers that I've seen in movies that, I don't believe, have been mentioned yet.

Chris Isaak - "The Informers", "Silence of the Lambs", "That Thing You Do"

John Doe (X) - "Boogie Nights", "Brokedown Palace", "Roadside Prophets"

Adam Horovitz (Beastie Boys) - "A Kiss Before Dying", "Roadside Prophets" (with John Doe)

:afro: :afro: :afro: :rockon: :rockon: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Was this all? I expected at least 50 :)

The idea of the topic was to acknowledge that some of the world known artists had successful run in music industry. (3 Albums released should count as success)

The point that is missing here is that i was going for artists who would be immediately recognized as successful actors (despite their work in music).

Just like Will Smith - Is he better known as actor or rapper (singer)? Did he started as actor first and later became singer or it's the other way around?

How about Kevin Costner?

(A second Kevin Costner and Modern West album, Turn It On, was released in February 2010 in Europe and was supported by a European tour.)

I think there is still fish in the water :)

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