# 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:** 3
**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, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/41 "2009-07-29T17:45:22Z")
> [@Dublin11](#): > > She wasn’t half as horrible in Chicago as Richard Gere was. My good God, he was diabolical. And of course both were shown up by Zellweger and especially Queen Latifah, who should’ve won the Oscar that Zeta-Jones got. Ewan McGregor was iffy in _Moulin Rouge_ but he and Renee Zellweger had an adorable musical number at the end of _Down With Love_ that was so good that it’s now on my iPod. He acquitted himself quite nicely there. Speaking of being shown-up in a cast full of great singers, Amanda Bynes, adorable as she is, was outpaced in _Hairspray_. She was the weak link. ---
**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, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/42 "2009-07-29T17:47:01Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > 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?” He also sang in \*Paint Your Wagon, \*rivaling Lee Marvin as worst singer in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/43 "2009-07-29T20:36:36Z")
> [@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! In the movie he recited almost all of the lyrics, singing a few notes here and there. On the original cast album (so I presume on the stage) he really did sing about half of the lyrics, switching to speech for emphasis IIRC. I heard this album once, and it was disconcerting for me because I had seen the movie before that. Audrey Hepburn was a worse singer, and they made the correct choice of dubbing her with Marni Nixon (who also dubbed Deborah Kerr’s songs in “The King and I”). You can hear Hepburn’s full-throated, somewhat harsh singing voice at the beginning and end of “Just You Wait, 'Enry 'Iggins”. On one of the DVDs you can view the undubbed “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” (And in “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” she sang “Moon River” in her own voice.) > [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > Can’t access You Tube…but see if you can find Lee Marvin singing in “Paint Your Wagon.” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xnbiRDNaDeo/hqdefault.jpg "Lee Marvin - Wandering Star") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnbiRDNaDeo) > [@panache45](#): > > And Richard Burton in _Camelot._ I’m usually very particular about singing voices, but IMO none of the above (except Hepburn) are bad singers. They’re just not professionally trained, and I’m okay with that for these roles in the context of a musical. They can carry a tune and keep time. It’s just that their spoken voice is also their singing voice. ---
**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, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/44 "2009-07-29T20:46:35Z")
I’ve always thought that Lee Marvin was magnificently awful. The soundtrack album does him far better justice! My sister and I grew up with parents who were total show tunes enthusiasts (I think they wanted me to be gay too 😉 ). We used to cackle our fool heads off to Lee Marvin’s Wandrin’ Star. That gravelly deep sound. Not having seen the movie as a little kid, I thought he was supposed to be a giant! To this day, that performance makes me smile. That’s some seriously legendary awful, right there! ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/45 "2009-07-29T20:55:02Z")
& Richard Harris in the film version of Camelot. That & the totally miscast Vanessa Redgrave wrecked the film version of 1 of my favourite musicals. Agree with everyone about Pierce Brosnan. He didn’t just wreck the film for me - SOS used to be my favourite Abba tune. & I agee with the poster who doesn’t like Streep’s voice. Trained or not, its just not pleasant to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/46 "2009-07-29T21:11:01Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Julia Roberts sang terribly in Everyone Says I Love You. She sang “She Moved Through The Fair” in _Michael Collins_. Her singing matched her Irish accent & her general acting in that otherwise pretty-good film. A Triple Threat! ---
**Author:** ![Liddle\_Lamsy\_Divey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Liddle\_Lamsy\_Divey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liddle_Lamsy_Divey)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/47 "2009-07-29T21:50:15Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > 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. The same thing happened to Christian Bale with _Newsies_, which, when he first signed on, was a drama. Later, it was changed to the So Bad It’s Awesome\* musical version. [And I’m free like the wind, like I’m gonna live forever…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si4L_VcpADg) \*YMMV and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/48 "2009-07-29T21:59:54Z")
Helena Bonham-Carter. And why is this the first post to mention her? ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/49 "2009-07-29T22:48:43Z")
I’ll one up you with Robin Williams, and share your surprise at him not having been mentioned earlier even though he was one of the leads in one of the most successful animated musical features of all time and has been a featured singer at the Oscars. He can perform the hell out of a song, but he sure can’t sing. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/50 "2009-07-29T23:25:52Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > I’ve always thought that Lee Marvin was magnificently awful. The soundtrack album does him far better justice! My sister and I grew up with parents who were total show tunes enthusiasts (I think they wanted me to be gay too 😉 ). We used to cackle our fool heads off to Lee Marvin’s Wandrin’ Star. That gravelly deep sound. > > Not having seen the movie as a little kid, I thought he was supposed to be a giant! > > To this day, that performance makes me smile. That’s some seriously legendary awful, right there! Lee Marvin scored a Number 1 single in Britain with his recording of “Wandrin’ Star.” ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/51 "2009-07-30T00:12:42Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > 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. While Donald Faison definitely is a better singer, I’m fairly certain J.D.'s “strain” was intentionally done for effect. And that’s definitely my favorite song of the musical. There’s even a youtube video of them singing part of the song live on Kimmel. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/52 "2009-07-30T01:04:14Z")
He wasn’t completely wretched, but there must have been a host of better singers available for casting as the lead in The Phantom of the Opera than Gerard Butler. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/53 "2009-07-30T01:19:02Z")
> [@maplekiwi](#): > > & Richard Harris in the film version of Camelot. That & the totally miscast Vanessa Redgrave wrecked the film version of 1 of my favourite musicals. This one. Go back and listen to Harris singing [MacArthur Park](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3JdzUUuH4) or even worse, [Didn’t We.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHX9mTxj5sk) Harris emotes, he emphasizes, he _sells_ – but one thing he doesn’t do is sing. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/54 "2009-07-30T02:52:06Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] In the movie he recited almost all of the lyrics, singing a few notes here and there. On the original cast album (so I presume on the stage) he really did sing about half of the lyrics, switching to speech for emphasis IIRC. I heard this album once, and it was disconcerting for me because I had seen the movie before that. [/QUOTE] The original cast recording was actually what I was basing my comment on. I guess I never noticed how different Harrison’s film performance is from the original cast recording. I’m ashamed to admit that I know the original cast recording so well because I love to sing in the car (when I’m by myself), and when I sing along with recordings of musicals, I sing ALL the parts… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/55 "2009-07-30T03:06:13Z")
> [@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? I agree. She was very weak. Like the American Idol performers prove every year how well a pro sings when they try and do their songs. She just showed how inferior her singing was. It was uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/56 "2009-07-30T03:13:31Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I agree. She was very weak. Like the American Idol performers prove every year how well a pro sings when they try and do their songs. She just showed how inferior her singing was. It was uncomfortable. once more. Hate to pile on here, but that movie’s tag line should have been “The singing will make you uncomfortable.” Bad performances all the way around, including Streep. My wife and I left and the usher caught us and said “there’s another song or two coming up!” We looked at each other and laughed. I said “sorry, we’ve had our fill”. hoo boy, that was bad. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/57 "2009-07-30T03:51:45Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Apparently he’s tone deaf, but I could just be making that up. > [@garygnu](#): > > Supposedly George Clooney tried to do the singing in _O Brother Where Are Thou_ himself, but was so bad that he personally supervised the destruction of the recordings. I read in an interview right after the movie came out that he said that his Aunt Rosemary [Clooney] got all the musical talent in the family. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/58 "2009-07-30T05:00:09Z")
I’ve thought Meryl Streep was a good singer ever since the first time I heard her perform in _Postcards From the Edge_, and I thought she was pretty good in _Mama Mia_. But a lot of commenters over at IMDb didn’t like her singing, either. Would anyone here who didn’t like her singing care to mention some other singers you **do** like, just so I can get an idea of what you consider good singing? Also, what do you think of Streep as an actress? (I agree that Pierce Brosnan’s singing was terrible.) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/59 "2009-07-30T05:16:09Z")
No one yet mentioned [Jeremy Hardy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMWc_gFYNoM)? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611/60 "2009-07-30T07:20:32Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Speaking of Buffyverse actors, David Boreanaz is a lousy singer - and has no problem with proving that on screen. If you think his singing is bad, you should see him [dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhcqBI-Porw&feature=related). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-that-cant-sing/504611.md?page=4)