# Artists Who Wanted To Be Recognized For Something Else **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2019, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024 "2019-06-25T12:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [June 26, 2019, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/21 "2019-06-26T06:25:23Z")
Barbra Streisand thinks of herself as an actress who sings, not a singer who acts. And it’s still debatable whether Leonard Bernstein will be remembered as a conductor or a composer. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/22 "2019-06-26T07:15:02Z")
Sam Kinison wanted to be a guitar player, got big screaming jokes at people. Johnny Depp was in bands before films I’ve read. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2019, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/23 "2019-06-26T07:35:13Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor. He thought the Sistine Chapel and the Last Judgement were not his best work. Given how he paints women, I’m forced to agree. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/24 "2019-06-26T09:08:42Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > Johnny Depp was in bands before films I’ve read. Russell Crowe had a brief period of wanting to be taken more seriously as a singer in his band _30 Odd Foot Of Grunts_ (TOFOG). After a somewhat tepid response, I don’t think he does as much anymore, so acting dominates again. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/25 "2019-06-26T10:20:26Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Barbra Streisand thinks of herself as an actress who sings, not a singer who acts. She at least accomplished that in the eyes of this straight 40 year-old man. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/26 "2019-06-26T12:47:26Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > Sam Kinison wanted to be a guitar player, got big screaming jokes at people. > > Johnny Depp was in bands before films I’ve read. I saw Kinson last night… His guitar volume was so low, and you can tell he wasn’t good. He couldn’t even do a simple triplet, so he just did some bending. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/27 "2019-06-26T13:40:17Z")
Yoko Ono wants to be remembered as a serious artist, not as a Beatle wife/widow. ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/28 "2019-06-26T14:11:12Z")
As I remember, Karen Carpenter thought of herself as a drummer who sang, not as a singer who drummed. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/29 "2019-06-26T14:20:26Z")
I’ve heard that Patrick Swayze considered himself a dancer who acted rather than an actor who could dance. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/30 "2019-06-26T14:22:18Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Given how he paints women, I’m forced to agree. [His sculptures of women aren’t much better](http://www.ansa.it/english/news/lifestyle/arts/2017/04/05/michelangelo-carved-female-sex-organs_920cfed5-d197-494a-9c1a-7178c008f38c.html) - this is a man who has never seen a woman in the flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/31 "2019-06-26T14:37:41Z")
Shaquille O’Neal would have you believe out side of acting and rapping he can also play basketball. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/32 "2019-06-26T14:53:48Z")
Arthur “Two Sheds” Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/33 "2019-06-26T15:51:53Z")
J.R.R. Tolkien was a teacher and a scholar, with no ambitions to be a world-famous author. He created Middle-Earth and its languages for his own amusement. Bill Watterson is famous for creating _Calvin and Hobbes_, but would prefer to not be famous for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/34 "2019-06-26T16:03:54Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > I saw Kinson last night… His guitar volume was so low, and you can tell he wasn’t good. He couldn’t even do a simple triplet, so he just did some bending. Am I being whooshed here? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/35 "2019-06-26T16:06:38Z")
When Leonardo da Vinci went to Milan he wanted to work as an engineer designing war machines and casting a horse sculpture. Painting the Last Supper and Mona Lisa were essentially side hustles for him. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/36 "2019-06-26T16:08:41Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Steve Martin, also. Steve Martin has won multiple Grammy awards, so while he is more well-known for acting, he is no dilettante as a musician. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/37 "2019-06-26T16:33:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Am I being whooshed here? I assumed “saw” == “saw on TV” > [@zimaane](#): > > Steve Martin has won multiple Grammy awards, so while he is more well-known for acting, he is no dilettante as a musician. Who said he was? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/38 "2019-06-26T16:34:09Z")
[Violon d’Ingres](https://wordhistories.net/2018/01/05/violon-dingres-origin/) is the classic example. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/39 "2019-06-26T17:15:49Z")
I think Keanu Reeves would have left acting all together if Dogstar took off. When I saw them on talk shows and so forth, they spoke to the lead singer, not him. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024/40 "2019-06-26T17:19:44Z")
Garth Brooks wanted to play professional sports and/or be a rock musician. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-wanted-to-be-recognized-for-something-else/836024.md?page=3)