# Americans who are more popular or respected in Europe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272 "2015-06-23T19:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/21 "2015-06-23T23:39:44Z")
> [@chiquitita](#): > > That’s funny, because I think of Joe Dassin as a French person, not as an American, and as a singer of _variétés_ (light pop), not as a rock star. Yes, pop, but he was born and lived first 12 years of his life in NYC and LA, his parents were Americans, and he went to the University of Michigan for 6 years getting his degree in 1963. And AFAIR, he had record releases in the US, they just were not nearly as popular as in France (or USSR for that matter). (Just seeing his name makes me feel nostalgic). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/22 "2015-06-24T00:06:21Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I remember one time watching a Top Gear rerun and their Star in a Reasonably Priced Car was a country singer from the US called “Seasick Steve” - I had never heard of him. Just saw him on Later with Jools Holland. He plays blues on a three-string guitar, accompanied by a drummer. Kinda White Stripes-y, if Jack White looked like one of those Duck Hunter tv-show grandpas. I had never heard of him, but he was decent, so I looked him up. Yeah, he kinda blew up in the UK has has been touring consistently. Good for him. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/23 "2015-06-24T00:16:04Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I can’t remember the name but wasn’t there an American rock singer who hit it big in France, while being unknown in the US? And another one who was really popular in the USSR? > > Joe Dassin? He was very popular in the USSR as well. That’s who I was thinking of. And i also saw the episode of Top Gear with Seasick Steve, who I was completely unfamiliar with. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/24 "2015-06-24T01:12:07Z")
Isn’t Tina Turner much bigger over there? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/25 "2015-06-24T01:14:38Z")
There’s Eva Cassidy (although she’s now a little bit of a cult singer in the U.S.), who has sold something like eight times as well in the U.K. as in the U.S. (per capita), as well as selling better (per capita) in several other countries as well, and she did all this after her death: > **[Eva Cassidy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Cassidy)** > > Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by the 1996 live solo album titled Live at Blues Alley. Although she had been honored by the Washington Area Music Association, she was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, D.... This is in regards to South Africa rather than Europe, but Sixto Rodriguez has sold vastly better in South Africa than in the U.S. (although the movie about him isn’t totally accurate and he’s also now a little bit of a cult singer in the U.S. too): > **[Sixto Rodriguez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixto_Rodriguez)** > > Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (born July 10, 1942), known professionally as Rodriguez, is an American singer-songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. Though his career was initially met with little fanfare in the United States, he found success in South Africa, Australia (touring the country twice), and New Zealand. Unbeknownst to him for decades, his music was extremely successful and influential in South Africa, where he is believed to have sold more records than Elvis Presley, as well as other countri In ... > **[Searching for Sugar Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searching_for_Sugar_Man)** > > Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 documentary film about a South African cultural phenomenon, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, which details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, to find out whether the rumoured death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true and, if not, to discover what had become of him. Rodriguez's music, which had never achieved success in the United States, had become very popular in Sou... ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/26 "2015-06-24T01:29:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Just saw him on Later with Jools Holland. He plays blues on a three-string guitar, accompanied by a drummer. Kinda White Stripes-y, if Jack White looked like one of those Duck Hunter tv-show grandpas. I had never heard of him, but he was decent, so I looked him up. Yeah, he kinda blew up in the UK has has been touring consistently. Good for him. His first UK TV appearance was on Joolz Holland’s midnight New Year show. He was strikingly good in front of a bigger than average audience for Later. His obscurity made it feel good to root for him too 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/27 "2015-06-24T02:29:29Z")
Josephine Baker was a sensation in France in the 30s, and still seems to be known there today ( **The Triplets of Belleville** had a Baker-like character among the performances of other well known stars from the time). Elliott Murphy was anointed as the next Bob Dylan after his album _Aquashow_. He had little success in the US (\*Aquashow \*was a critical success but not a popular one), but carved out a career in Europe, where he’s currently based. Eddie Constantine was an American actor of the 50s and 60s who moved the France and became a major star in a series of hard boiled detective films. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/28 "2015-06-24T02:48:24Z")
Woody Allen’s films typically do better in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/29 "2015-06-24T04:54:28Z")
The band **eels** , which is musician/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett and a changing roster of band members, has enjoyed more success overseas, mostly in England, than in the U.S. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/30 "2015-06-24T05:44:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Eddie Constantine was an American actor of the 50s and 60s who moved the France and became a major star in a series of hard boiled detective films. Yes! Eddie Constantine is kind of a quintessential example of this. If you’re an American who doesn’t watch French films you don’t know him; if you do… like if you watch Godard films… he’s a major figure. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/31 "2015-06-24T05:53:24Z")
> [@chiquitita](#): > > He was touring summer festivals across Europe some twenty years ago, but not as a headliner. I personally saw Tony Joe White headlining a show in Spain circa 2002. In fact that was the first time I’d ever heard of him, although I knew his song “Polk Salad Annie,” since Elvis had sung it, and his song “Rainy Night in Georgia” because other people had sung it. It wasn’t a massive crowd, but it was a full house and I was struck by the their enthusiasm and I remember thinking, “this would never happen in the States.” ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/32 "2015-06-24T06:06:50Z")
I presume that you will exclude those Americans whose professional life was mostly in Europe? ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/33 "2015-06-24T06:09:17Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I presume that you will exclude those Americans whose professional life was mostly in Europe? No, I will include them. Who are you thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/34 "2015-06-24T06:51:59Z")
According to this article (which is almost 17 years old), Woody Allen’s biggest markets are (in order) the U.S., France, and Argentina: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/features/woody0824.htm](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/features/woody0824.htm) I would be interested in seeing a list of the amount of money made by each Woody Allen film adjusted by the population of the country (and by inflation). The following article (which is over 16 years old) discusses a number of artists who are more popular outside their own country: > **[A world of difference](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/apr/11/3)** > > Woody Allen thrives in Europe. The Far East loves Schwarzenegger. And Mr Bean works in any country that doesn't speak English - unlike Gorgeous George Clooney, who wins no fanfare in Serbia. So much for the global village: welcome to the intriguing... ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/35 "2015-06-24T08:35:00Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > No, I will include them. Who are you thinking of? Elizabeth McGovern. Terry Gilliam (now surrendered citizenship). Alexis Denisof (before Buffy). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/36 "2015-06-24T12:04:15Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I presume that you will exclude those Americans whose professional life was mostly in Europe? > [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > No, I will include them. Who are you thinking of? Two examples for the German market:[Bill Ramsey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ramsey_%28singer%29) served as a soldier in post-war Germany, stayed and had a successful career as Schlager and Jazz singer. He mostly sings in German. [Peggy March](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_March) was a child star in the U.S., but had her biggest success as a grown up on the German Schlager market, also singing mostly in German. Both were regulars on German radio and TV in the 60s and 70s. ETA: Btw., Jerry Lewis was also very popular in Germany back in the days. His films, especially the ones with Dean Martin, were shown regularly on German TV in the 70s and 80s. I grew up with them. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/37 "2015-06-24T12:08:02Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Elizabeth McGovern. Terry Gilliam (now surrendered citizenship). Alexis Denisof (before Buffy). Elizabeth McGovern? From **Ordinary People** , \*\*Ragtime \*\*and **Once Upon a Time in America**? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/38 "2015-06-24T12:24:02Z")
What has she done in the U.S. in the last 25 years. There was… ---
**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:** [June 24, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/39 "2015-06-24T12:38:46Z")
I agree that you could perhaps call her someone who is now more active in Europe, like the OP said, but you can’t claim that her professional life was mostly in Europe. She still hasn’t made anything as important as those three movies since then. I still think of her as Hollywood actress, just one who’s currently working in Britain. On a related note, _holy crap_ she was sexy back then. She’s still an attractive woman, but back in the early-mid 80’s she was sex personified. ---
**Author:** ![Sasori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sasori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasori)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272/40 "2015-06-24T12:47:28Z")
I’m not sure how popular he is/was in the US, but Henry Silva spent the better part of his career in hard-boiled italian poliziotteschi and western, becoming quite a household name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-are-more-popular-or-respected-in-europe/723272.md?page=3)