David Bowie

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1947-01-08

Deathday 2016-01-10 (69 years old)

Place of Birth Brixton, London, England, UK

Also Known As David Robert Jones , Tin Machine, David Jones, Davie Jones, デヴィッド・ボウイ, Девід Бові

David Bowie

Biography

David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), 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 characterised 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).

Known For

Actor

Are We Not Men?

as Self (archive footage)

Discovering Music

as Self (archive footage)

2025
Twiggy

as (archival footage)

2024
Eno

as Self (archive footage)

2024
TIME

as HIMSELF

2024
Jim Henson Idea Man

as Jareth (archive footage)

2024
My Way

as Self (archive footage)

2024
Devo

as Self (archive footage)

2024
Hits That Missed at the BBC

as Self (archive footage)

2023
Dear Bowie

as David Bowie

2023
Thriller 40

as Self (archive footage)

2023
WHAM!

as Self (archive footage)

2023
The Lost Weekend: A Love Story

as Self (archive footage)

2023
LOLA

as Self - Singer (archive footage)

2023
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV

as Self (archive footage)

2022
Moonage Daydream

as Self (archive footage)

2022
Mickey: The Story of a Mouse

as Self (archive footage)

2022
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées

as Self (archive footage)

2021
The Velvet Underground

as Self (voice)

2021
Moby Doc

as Self

2021
The Dancing Man of L.A.

as Self (archive footage)

2021
2021
This Is Pop

as Self (archive footage)

2020
Zappa

as Self (archive footage)

2020
2020
70 Years of Youth Revolt

as Self (archive footage)

2019
My Music: A Classic Christmas

as Self (archive footage)

2019
David Bowie: Finding Fame

as Self (archive footage)

2018
Glastonbury 2000

as Self - Vocals

2017
Der Reichstag

as Self (archive footage)

2017
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda

as Jack Celliers (archive footage)

2017
Glam Rock at the BBC

as Self (archive footage)

2017
Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock

as Self - Musician (archive footage)

2017
Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story

as Self - Narrator (voice)

2017
Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait

as Self (archive footage)

2017
Bowie at the BBC

as Self (archive footage)

2017
David Bowie: The Last Five Years

as Self (archive footage)

2016
Bowie: The Man Who Changed the World

as Self (archive footage)

2016
2016
Burden

as Self (archive footage)

2016
2015
David Bowie: On the Rock Trail

as Self (archive footage)

2014
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered

as Self (archive footage)

2014
Soul Boys of the Western World

as Self (archive footage)

2014
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces

as Phillip Jeffries

2013
David Bowie Is Happening Now

as Self (archive footage)

2013
David Bowie: Five Years

as Self (archive footage)

2013
The Frame

as John Blaylock

2012
Vanilla Ice Archive

as Self (archive footage)

2012
David Bowie at the BBC

as self (performer)

2012
David Bowie & The Story of Ziggy Stardust

as Self / Ziggy Stardust (archive footage)

2012
The Genius of David Bowie

as Self - Performer (archive footage)

2011
2009
Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany

as Self (archive footage)

2009
Bandslam

as David Bowie

2008
Kings of Glam

as Self (archive footage)

2008
August

as Cyrus Ogilvie

2007
SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis

as Lord Royal Highness

2007
2007
David Bowie - The Plastic Soul Review

as Self - Singer, Songwriter

2007
David bowie - Up Close and Personal

as Self - Singer, Songwriter

2007
David Bowie - Music in Review

as Self - Singer, Songwriter

2007
2006
Arthur and the Invisibles

as Maltazard (voice)

2006
The Prestige

as Tesla

2006
David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust

as Self - Singer, Songwriter

2005
The Work of Director Mark Romanek

as Self (archive footage)

2005
TV Party

as Self

2005
2005
Extras

as David Bowie

2004
Live Aid

as Self

2004
The Nomi Song

as Self (archive footage)

2004
2003
The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch

as Self - Interviewee

2002
Supergroups

as Self

2002
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s

as Self - Narrator (voice)

2002
David Bowie: Best of Bowie

as Self (archive footage)

2001
Zoolander

as David Bowie

2000
Mr. Rice's Secret

as Mr. William Rice

2000
2000
The Filth and the Fury

as Self (archive footage)

1998
Gunslinger's Revenge

as Jack Sikora

1998
A Bing Crosby Christmas

as Self (archive footage)

1998
Parkinson

as Self

1997
Nine Inch Nails: Closure

as Self (uncredited)

1997
David Bowie: An Earthling at 50

as Self - Interviewee

1997
The Hunger

as The Host

1996
Basquiat

as Andy Warhol

1994
The World of Jim Henson

as Jareth (archive footage)

1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien

as Self - Musical Guest

1993
Full Stretch

as David Bowie

1992
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

as Special Agent Phillip Jeffries

1992
1991
Queen: Greatest Flix II

as Self (archive footage)

1990
Dream On

as Sir Roland Moorecock

1990
Twin Peaks

as Phillip Jeffries

1990
Twin Peaks

as Phillip Jeffries (archive footage)

1988
1986
Labyrinth

as Jareth

1986
Absolute Beginners

as Vendice Partners

1985
Live Aid

as Self

1985
Tokyo Melody: A Film About Ryuichi Sakamoto

as Celliers (archive footage)

1985
Into the Night

as Colin Morris

1985
Video AID

as Self

1984
David Bowie: Jazzin' for Blue Jean

as Vic / Screaming Lord Byron

1984
Ricochet

as Self

1984
David Bowie: Serious Moonlight

as Self - Lead Vocals / Guitar

1983
1983
1983
Yellowbeard

as The Shark (uncredited)

1983
1983
The Hunger

as John Blaylock

1983
1982
Baal

as Baal

1982
1981
Christiane F.

as David Bowie

1981
1978
Just a Gigolo

as Paul Ambrosius von Przygodski

1978
1977
1976
Fame

as Himself (voice)

1976
The Man Who Fell to Earth

as Thomas Jerome Newton

1975
Night Lunch

as Self

1975
1975
Saturday Night Live

as Self - Musical Guest

1975
Cher

as Self

1975
Système 2

as Self

1974
Diamond Dogs Demo Video

as Self / Harpie

1972
Musikladen

as Self

1969
1969
The Image

as The Boy

1969
1968
The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest

1963

Sound

2024
2022
2019
The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!

as Original Music Composer

2018
Lazarus

as Original Music Composer

2018
Lazarus

as Music

2017
2001
1986
Labyrinth

as Songs

1986
When the Wind Blows

as Main Title Theme Composer

1982
Cat People

as Theme Song Performance

1982
1979
Radio On

as Songs

1976
Fame

as Music

Writer

Producer

2007
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

as Executive Producer

1994
Magic Hunter

as Executive Producer

Director

2006
Best of Bowie

as Director