It appears that Elizabeth McGovern has spent most of her time in the U.K. since getting married to a Brit in 1992. She still does a fair amount of work in the U.S. though. This is actually fairly common among actors who have reached the point that they can expect to get reasonable amounts of work every year. The live one place and fly to any other place that they get a job acting at, regardless of where in the world it might be. It’s like actors who live on a ranch in Montana or some such and regularly fly to Los Angeles for acting jobs:
How about Sam Wanamaker (and his daughter Zoe? He moved to the UK in the 1950s after being blacklisted in the US and was responsible for the modern recreation of the Globe Theater.
Take it you have never watched Downton Abby then
On the afore mentioned Downton, she is hotter then the three actresses who play her daughrers.
Bill Ramsey (originally from Cincinnati) was a household name in German schlager music during the 1950s and 1960s. He is also an accomplished jazz musician. I guess nobody has ever heard of him in the United States.
I’ve seen every episode, and if she’s a British actress, then Hugh Laurie is an American.
See post #36 ;).
Every third-rate band in Austin will tell you, “We’re gods in Norway” or “We’re huge in Liechtenstein.”
Ups … :o
Melvin Lasky was a renowned journalist in Germany since the late 1940s. Don F. Jordan, originally from New York, has been based in Germany for decades. He has worked for CBS News, the Voice of America and the Guardian. Jordan has been a frequent guest on German political talks shows since at least the 1980s; he has also played archetypical Americans in a number of German TV movies (minor roles). Melinda Crane from Boston is another well-known American journalist in Germany, also a regular on German TV.
[QUOTE=Donnerwetter;18464591 Jordan has been a frequent guest on German political talks shows since at least the 1980s; he has also played archetypical Americans in a number of German TV movies (minor roles). [/QUOTE]
What are the characteristics of an “archtypical American” on German TV?
In one role I remember (really a minor one, more like a cameo) he played a dominating, boisterous, somewhat intimidating American law enforcement officer. It kind of fits his personality, on political talk shows, he usually is a fearless defender of US policies.
Emo Philips. I saw him on the Comedy Channel years ago and thought he was fairly amusing, then he went to England and hosted numerous specials. Evidently they liked him a lot.
The American heavy metal band Manowar remains little known in the States, but their albums chart high in countries where metal has always remained popular such as Germany.
What about August Darnell (aka Kid Creole → Kid Creole and the Coconuts - Wikipedia )? The band was hugely popular in Europe during the 1980s.
Mort Shuman, as a singer, had a series of hits in France during the seventies. In the US, it seems that he is only known as a songwriter, not as a performer.
I was going to say Al DiMeola as it seems he is always touring in Europe. But then I looked at his web page and shows seem to be pretty evenly split between the U.S. and “over there”. And he was playing less than two hours from where I live two nights ago and I missed it! Damn.
Ry Cooder has never achieved much commercial success in the U.S., but he’s always been big in Scandinavia.
The Violent Femmes are a bit of a cult act, especially WRT their classic first album, but they have had bigger chart success in Europe too.
As for the singer who was unknown here but huge behind the Iron Curtain, I think you may be talking about Dean Reed.
Jerry Lewis is a god in France. 
Earle Hyman spends the majority of his time in his adopted Norway, acting in Ibsen and in imported American shows translated into Norwegian. He may still be better known overall for playing Bill Cosby’s father Russell Huxtable, though.