Dunn and Cropper were part of the MGs, but Murphy was not.
Cropper played on a lot of Stax hits, including the original Sam & Dave version of “Soul Man.”
So, on both the Sam & Dave version AND on the Blues Brothers remakes, when the singer shouts “Play it, Steve,” it’s THE Steve Cropper playing.
Dudley Moore was well known as an actor and a superb musician throughout his career.
For those of you who don’t know this, Kelsey Grammar, David Hyde Pierce and Bebe Neuwirth are all accomplished musical theatre actors.
ETA: Sunday’s Simpsons was a rerun of the one where Sideshow Bob did opera. That night I dreamed that I ran into Kelsey minus the stage makeup but still in the clown costume. He explained he just came from doing the show.
Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees was actually an actor since childhood (“Circus Boy” title role and a number of non-repeating roles) who was hired to portray a drummer/singer in a band. He turned out to have a fairly good singing voice – singing lead on two #1 hits would, I think qualify. He also wrote several eminently forgettable songs. Perhaps the most interesting thing about him, though, is that he tested for the part of Arthur Fonzarelli in a new show spinning off the fame of American Graffiti called “Happy Days.” (Insert obligatory “jumping the shark” reference here. ;))
Speaking of actors in musical theater, there is also Neil Patrick Harris of Doogie Howser fame. (This not counting his participation in the excellent Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog of course)
I totally forgot my favorite one! Brandon Cruz, the kid from The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and later the lead singer for the Dead Kennedys and now Dr. Know!
What a second…not a big Dead Kennedy’s fan, did he pick up after Jello Biafra? That’s very cool!
ETA: Yeah, right there in the link. That is still really awesome, though. Do you like him on vocals?
Bill Mumy has recorded both under his own name and as half of Barnes and Barnes.
Then there’s good ol’ Doctor Kildare.
Jeremy Irons was in the Original London Cast of Godspell, along with David Essex, Marti Webb, Julie Covington and Gay Sopher, all of whom made their marks in musicals.
Nobody seems to remember the name of the casting agent who spotted all that young talent.
For sure. I live in Nashville and have had the chance to play with some world class musicians. It’s amazing what they bring out of you and how much better everything is.
I couldn’t remember his name but I know my daughter loves the band
John Barrowman, Captain Jack on Doctor Who & Torchwood is a fine example of your first group. The “Captain Jack Harkness” episode of Torchwood featured a WWII style swing band; he took to the mike between scenes: Anything Goes.
More for musicals fans: The cast of Mad Men has twice presented a musical revue. Robert Morse (of course) & Bryan Batt are Broadway vets. Other cast members seemed glad of the opportunity to show what else they could do.
More shows ought to have “musical episodes.”
Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander has a beautiful tenor voice, very surprising when you think about how annoying his George voice is. He won a Tony for Jerome Robbins’s Broadway.
What? No! Didn’t a “Let’s put on a show!” episode used to be de rigeur for TV shows? It’s bad enough in comedies, but hopelessly contrived in dramas. It’s okay if one Buffy does it through magic and one Six Feet Under does it in a dream sequence, but if everybody starts doing it … gah! Please, keep musicals away from my dramas.
Hayden Pannetiere put out this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFm6aJuoS70
Speaking of music videos found on Youtube, Hillary Duff (of Lizzie Maguire fame) started making music a few years back, and came out with this one a few months ago: (NQSFW)
Absolutely, and a lot of the people in this thread fall into that catagory. This is especially true of middle-aged and older actors, especially if they are from the New York area, like Jason Alexander and Christopher Walken, because they were expected to sing and dance as well as act if they wanted to find enough work to keep them out of the hospitality industry.
A lot of people who haven’t seen “Pennies From Heaven” would would be surprised at Walken’s dancing skills.
Are we counting Jim Henson, whose muppets Kermit and Ernie were well established before each hit the Top 40 (Kermit with “It’s Not Easy Being Green” and “Rainbow Connection”, Ernie with “Rubber Ducky”)?
Jamie Foxx probably has some of the catchiest hip-hop songs out now.
