A great while ago the world began

[sovay]

So it turns out I have a surprising number of songs by actors on my computer. Specifically, actors who are not also widely or significantly known as singers—I recognize this is a subjective as well as fuzzy criterion, and I've obviously waived it a couple of times in this post, but on the whole I have tried to exclude parallel careers as musicians or steady work in musicals or operas, because otherwise I'll be here all evening. So no Theodore Bikel, no Marlene Dietrich, no David Hemmings; no Yul Brynner or Glynis Johns or Jerry Orbach; Angela Lansbury is right out. I glossed the prospective post to spatch as "songs by people you didn't even know could sing, and some of them can't, but that's not the point here." Have a thoroughly random selection.

Jennifer Beals, "One Girl in a Million" (Blood & Concrete: A Love Story, 1991)

Curt Bois, "Guck doch nicht immer nach dem Tangogeiger hin" (1930)

David Collings, "Denzil's Song (Midnight Is a Place)" (Midnight Is a Place, 1977)

Hans Conried, "Dressing Song" (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, 1953)

Tom Courtenay, "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" (The Lads, 1963)

Bernard Cribbins, "Right Said Fred" (7", 1962)

Shelley Duvall, "He Needs Me (Demo)" (Popeye, 1979)

Chiwetel Ejiofor, "These Boots Are Made for Walking (Medley)" (Kinky Boots, 2006)

John Goodman, "People Like Us" (True Stories, 1986)

Ed Harris, "You'll Never Leave My Heart" (Appaloosa, 2008)

Walter Huston, "September Song" (Knickerbocker Holiday, 1938)

Samuel L. Jackson, "Black Snake Moan" (Black Snake Moan, 2007)

Scarlett Johansson, "Yesterday Is Here" (Anywhere I Lay My Head, 2008)

Ben Kingsley, "The Wind and the Rain" (Twelfth Night, 1996)

Yaphet Kotto, "Have You Ever Seen the Blues" (7", 1967)

Hardy Krüger, "Blind Date (I'm a Lonely Man)" (Blind Date, 1959)

Elsa Lanchester, "I'm Glad to See Your Back" (Songs for a Shuttered Parlor, 1958)

Jessica Lange, "Life on Mars?" (American Horror Story: Freak Show, 2014)

Peter Lorre & Nora Gregor, "Ja, die Polizei" (Was Frauen träumen, 1933)

Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman, "Kinky Boots" (7", 1964)

Robert Mitchum, "Walker's Woods" (That Man Robert Mitchum Sings, 1967)

Anthony Perkins, "Never Will I Marry" (Greenwillow, 1960)

Alan Rickman & Lindsay Duncan, "If Love Were All/Someday I'll Find You" (Private Lives, 2002)

Jason Robards & Norman Wisdom, "Perfect Gentleman" (The Night They Raided Minsky's, 1968)

George Sanders, "Some Enchanted Evening" (audition record, 1949)

Lea Thompson & Cherry Bomb, "Howard the Duck" (Howard the Duck, 1986)

Edward Woodward, "Soldiers of the Queen" (Breaker Morant, 1980; incomplete but essential)

All right, plus honorable mentions for musical theater:

Shelley Berman, "Right Girls" (A Family Affair, 1962)

Melvyn Douglas & Jack MacGowran, "Daarlin' Man" (Juno, 1959)

Barry Humphries, Sonia Frasier & Paul Whitsun-Jones, "That's Your Funeral" (Oliver!, 1960)

Dwayne Johnson, "You're Welcome" (Moana, 2016)

Roddy McDowall, "The Seven Deadly Virtues" (Camelot, 1960)

Roger Rees, "Love Who You Love" (A Man of No Importance, 2002)

We are off to the Brattle for the Tom Hanks double feature of A League of Their Own (1992) and That Thing You Do! (1996). At least the second of which involves singing, so I may return with more names. Anyone else want to volunteer favorites in the meantime?

Comments

[lauradi7dw]

For Rickman, I would have gone with this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XIJNUsaFuVQ
I saw Private Lives in London, and hated most of it.

[sovay]

I saw Private Lives in London, and hated most of it.

I saw it in New York and really enjoyed it, but most germanely to this post, it's how I found out Alan Rickman could sing. I saw Truly, Madly, Deeply later.

[coraline]

Jackie Chan (and Ani Difranco) recorded "Unforgettable"

And Peter Sellers did 'Hard Day's Night" (ok it's more of a spoken word piece, but it's... something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLEMncv140s)

and RDJ recorded a whole album of jazz which I enjoy, but my favorite recording of his is his duet with Sting at Sting's birthday concert: "Driven to Tears" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1crxmBTxRlM

Sellers

[lauradi7dw]

Peter Sellers performed in variety theatre on ukulele and voice, including impersonations of George Formby. He also studied drums. This is nice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkIrvY32FpU
although it's not as good as the Carthy/Swarbrick cover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2AiQjTCYck

Re: Sellers

[sovay]

Peter Sellers performed in variety theatre on ukulele and voice, including impersonations of George Formby.

I have always appreciated that he contributed ukulele and funny voices to Steeleye Span's "New York Girls." According to Mainly Norfolk, "The band still have a version that is entirely swamped with manic Goon Show interruptions." I hope they release that someday.

Re: Sellers

[lauradi7dw]

At this time of year, I guess they’d be walking backwards for Christmas.

[sovay]

and RDJ recorded a whole album of jazz which I enjoy, but my favorite recording of his is his duet with Sting at Sting's birthday concert

Thank you! I am somehow not surprised he can sing, but it had never occurred to me and I'd certainly never heard him. That's great.

[davidgillon]

I'm quite fond of 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' from Armageddon. Ben Affleck can't sing*, Michael Clarke Duncan's voice is so deep you can't tell if he can't sing, and then Steve Buscemi and Ken Hudson Campbell kick in, and they can sing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3JWFklREK8&list=RDZ3JWFklREK8

*Or is acting at being really bad.

And probably safe to guess Sean Bean can't sing (or at least can't sing as well as John Tams can)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fy3tSim3to
(Vid is quite brutal in places)

[sovay]

Ben Affleck can't sing*, Michael Clarke Duncan's voice is so deep you can't tell if he can't sing, and then Steve Buscemi and Ken Hudson Campbell kick in, and they can sing.

Oh, thank God Armageddon has a reason to exist, because the science sure isn't it. That's delightful.

[davidgillon]

because the science sure isn't it

Yep!