Actors - David Bowie

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	Actors - David Bowie

David Bowie (born David Robert Hayward-Jones on 8 January, 1947) is an English rock singer, musician and actor.

Overview

He is commonly known as the chameleon of pop, predicting trends and adjusting his style and persona, while holding on to his own ideas and creativity. A multi-instrumentalist, he is famous for playing guitar, keyboard and saxophone; but also plays harmonica, drums, cello, marimba, bass guitar, koto and stylophone. He first rose to prominence with the heady, 1969 folk rock single "Space Oddity" but is perhaps best known for the single "Fame" from Young Americans (1975), and the flamboyant, androgynous glam rock of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
(1972), and Aladdin Sane
(1973).

Subsequent albums have explored blue-eyed soul, electronica and new wave, often predating these genres' popularity or even the point at which they were defined as genres. The so-called "Berlin Trilogy", although receiving mixed commercial success at the time, is seen by many today as masterful and groundbreaking. After slumping sales in the mid- to late-1970s, Bowie again gained commercial success in the early 1980s with his hit single "Ashes to Ashes" and the album it came from, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
(1980). He reached his commercial peak with his singles "Modern Love," "China Girl" and "Let's Dance", the latter the title track of his very successful 1983 album. Many fans and neutral observers will argue that Bowie's consistency as a songwriter decreased afterwards.

Bowie has had a profound influence on rock music from the 1970s to the present. In the cable music network VH1's 2000 list of the 100 greatest artists of rock and roll, Bowie ranked seventh. In the British Broadcasting Corporation's list of 100 greatest Britons, Bowie ranked 29. He has sold an estimated 136 million albums in his career and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In addition to his musical career, Bowie has had success as an actor, starring in The Man Who Fell to Earth
(1976), The Hunger
(1983), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
(1983), Labyrinth
(1986), The Last Temptation of Christ
(1988) and Basquiat
(1996).

History

1947 to 1967: Early years

David Robert Jones was born in Brixton, London on 8 January, 1947, at this time his family home was at 40 Stansfield Road, although it is not known whether he was born at home or in hospital. It has been suggested that he may have been born as far away as Doncaster Royal Infirmary (see discussion page). He lived in Brixton until he was six years old, when his family moved to Bromley in Kent (now part of Greater London). He lived with his parents until he was eighteen.

Popular legend has it that in the spring of 1962, Bowie and his schoolmate, George Underwood, got into a fight over a girl which resulted in Bowie's peculiar eye condition. Underwood struck Bowie, who then hit his head sharply on the ground. At first, it appeared that Bowie would suffer only the usual bruises of a school yard fight but soon internal swelling developed, posing the threat of permanent blindness. Bowie was forced out of school for eight months so that doctors could conduct operations in attempts to repair his potentially blinded eye. Doctors could not fully repair the damage, leaving his pupil permanently dilated.

As a result of the injury, Bowie has faulty depth perception and his left eye, although naturally blue, now usually appears to be brown or green, a condition known as heterochromia. Bowie has stated that although he can see with his injured eye, his color vision was mostly lost and a brownish tone is constantly present. In any case, the difference between his eyes added an exotic element to his looks that would become a signature of his image.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for David Bowie ]

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Actors - David Bowie

Overview

History

1947 to 1967: Early years

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