# Actors that can't sing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611 "2009-07-28T22:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/21 "2009-07-29T05:35:59Z")
> [@Ludy](#): > > I will never understand why people cast Meryl Streep in singing roles. Sure Pierce Brosnan was bad in Mama Mia, but shouldn’t the lead in a musical at least know how to sing? Meryl Streep has actually had vocal training. Her voice may not be to your tastes, but she can sing. My vote would be for Marlon Brando. He was painful and ridiculous in “Guys and Dolls” surrounded by incredible talent. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/22 "2009-07-29T05:37:52Z")
Julia Roberts sang terribly in Everyone Says I Love You. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/23 "2009-07-29T05:42:11Z")
“The Student Prince” is the classic example of the movie overdub. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Student\_Prince\_(film)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Student_Prince_(film)) That doesn’t prove that Edmund Purdom couldn’t sing but certainly not on the level of Mario Lanza. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/24 "2009-07-29T05:49:33Z")
Cathrine Zeta Jones…she was horrible in Chicago…she was SCREAMING rather then singing. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/25 "2009-07-29T06:02:54Z")
[Grammar Nazi] Actors **who** can’t sing [/GN] ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/26 "2009-07-29T06:10:29Z")
Not a musical episode, but Lee Majors sang two songs for the two-part introductory of the Bionic Woman, a spinoff of his Six Million Dollar Man series. [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4874583061887176318](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4874583061887176318) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/27 "2009-07-29T06:12:53Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > Rex Harrison in _My Fair Lady_ is one of the classic examples of a great actor who can’t sing. But his way of speaking the lyrics has so defined the character of Henry Higgins that it’s difficult for me to imagine an actor actually singing them! And Richard Burton in _Camelot._ ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/28 "2009-07-29T06:49:44Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Speaking of Buffyverse actors, David Boreanaz is a lousy singer - and has no problem with proving that on screen. I came here to post that. I can’t find a link to a clip, but his singing at the wake/funeral in Bones 4x21 “The Double Death of the Dearly Departed” is pretty horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/29 "2009-07-29T12:37:27Z")
I was watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade once and they had John Ratzenberger come up and “sing” something. It was hypnotically bad. Really, I cannot describe it. Might be on YouTube if someone cares to search; I can’t at work. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/30 "2009-07-29T15:10:12Z")
I think people have mentioned it on this very board and elsewhere, but **Clint Eastwood** singing at the end of _Gran Torino_ just made everyone go “what the hell is that?” ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/31 "2009-07-29T15:11:49Z")
> [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](#): > > Sarah Chalke, while not awful, was the weakest link in the Scrubs musical episode. That’s what I came in to say. Wow. Everyone else was at least passable. I did enjoy watching Zach Braff (J.D.) visibly strain to reach a high note in _Guy Love_, only to have Donald Faison (Turk) top him without effort. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/32 "2009-07-29T15:21:33Z")
Jack Nicholson and Oliver Reed were particularly bad in **Tommy**. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/33 "2009-07-29T15:34:18Z")
I was pleasantly surprised by how well everyone sang in [Romance & Cigarettes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368222/). Even James Gandolfini was halfways decent! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/34 "2009-07-29T15:54:54Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Stephen Fry says he’s tone deaf and can’t sing worth a lick. IIRC all of the lines he’s had to sing on _A Bit of Fry and Laurie_ and _Jeeves & Wooster_ he just speaks instead - which is funny. I do remember him on the British Who’s line is it Anyway in a singing skit or two. He always did it just talking in a deliberately arrhythmic style. And very funny because it is him. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/35 "2009-07-29T16:01:28Z")
Dammit, Just missed the edit window. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ImETcDeq7eU/hqdefault.jpg "Whose Line UK 1x03 - Having a Baby Rap") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImETcDeq7eU) Found a rap of it. Unfortunately watching it now, it is one of the most painful skits the show ever showed. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/36 "2009-07-29T16:01:52Z")
Not an actor but worth noting - I once sat through a performance of Lil’ Abner with Joe Namath singing the lead role. They said that he was singing but you couldn’t tell it. The only thing that helped was that his voice was so bad that it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/37 "2009-07-29T16:04:40Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Julia Roberts sang terribly in Everyone Says I Love You. I read an article that stated that Woody Allen got everyone signed up to be in his movie and only _then_ did he tell them it was a musical - surprise! Julia Roberts was dreadful, but as stated upthread apparently Drew Barrymore was so impossibly bad they had to dub in her song vocals with someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/38 "2009-07-29T16:51:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Stephen Fry says he’s tone deaf and can’t sing worth a lick. IIRC all of the lines he’s had to sing on _A Bit of Fry and Laurie_ and _Jeeves & Wooster_ he just speaks instead - which is funny. Despite that, this is possibly the funniest impression of Michael Jackson I’ve ever seen: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJW\_yTbYGoI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJW_yTbYGoI) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/39 "2009-07-29T16:56:43Z")
I didn’t think Kidman or MacGregor were so great in **Moulin Rouge**. Every time Woody Allen made one of the actresses sing in his earlier films (I haven’t seen the newer ones), they were pretty much sucky. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/40 "2009-07-29T17:01:07Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Cathrine Zeta Jones…she was horrible in Chicago…she was SCREAMING rather then singing. She wasn’t half as horrible in Chicago as Richard Gere was. My good God, he was diabolical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611.md?page=3)