# Musicians Better Known as Actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2008, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542 "2008-09-14T07:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [September 15, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/61 "2008-09-15T12:15:40Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > John Schneider, of Dukes of Hazzard & Smallville fame, had a fairly successful career as a country singer. Tom Wopat, the other Dukes of Hazzard’s half, has had success on Broadway. Also John Hurley, best know for Seinfeld and hosting “Family Feud,” and Bebe Neuwirth of Cheers fame have done Broadway. Charo is one of the world’s top flamingo guitar players. And there’s Barbra Streisand, who has had some success with both music and acting. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/62 "2008-09-15T12:38:21Z")
[Creed Bratton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed_Bratton), AKA as Creed on The Office, was guitarist for [The Grass Roots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grass_Roots) (they did _Let’s Live For Today_, _Midnight Confessions_ and _Wait A Million Years_) in their heyday in the late 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/63 "2008-09-15T13:18:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **Annie-Xmas** > Charo is one of the world’s top flamingo guitar players. Originally Posted by **Lewis Carroll** The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it would twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/64 "2008-09-15T14:11:14Z")
:smack: That didn’t even look right to me when I posted it! John Lithgow and Jason Alexander both have speaking voices that don’t sound like they could sing well. Yet they are both fine tenors, have done Broadway, and Jason Alexander won a Tony for Jerome Robbins’s Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/65 "2008-09-15T14:41:07Z")
> [@Sanity\_Challenged](#): > > Musician/Actor? That’s easy. It takes _real_ talent to be an [accomplished musician](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Shaquille-ONeal/dp/B00000054C), a [major Hollywood actor](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116756/), and an [NBA All-Star](http://www.nba.com/playerfile/shaquille_oneal/index.html) all at the same time. > > Why, yes, I did type that with a straight face. Why do you ask? I’m pretty sure 'What’s up Doc? (Can we rock)" is on my iPod somewhere. Cameron Diaz performs on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack as her character Julianna Gianni. But I think she’s supposed to be a pretty mediocre performer. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/66 "2008-09-15T15:00:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > John Lithgow and Jason Alexander both have speaking voices that don’t sound like they could sing well. Yet they are both fine tenors, have done Broadway, and Jason Alexander won a Tony for Jerome Robbins’s Broadway. John Lithgow has written children’s books, and recorded a CD of children’s music, too. I went to a reading and signing and he opened with a couple songs. He was at least as good as you’d expect him to be. And there’s his outtake scene from _L.A. Story_, which is for a somewhat older audience. I haven’t seen Levon Helm mentioned. I first saw him as Ridley in _The Right Stuff_, but he was also a member of The Band, and is in the Rack and Roll Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/67 "2008-09-15T15:04:10Z")
And gone to rack and ruin! 😛 With the above Lithgow and Alexander, did I miss a mention of Mandy Patinkin? ---
**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:** [September 15, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542/68 "2008-09-15T15:06:42Z")
What was Jeremy Irons’s first professional gig? John the Baptist/Judas in the original London cast of the musical “Godspell.” I have a programme signed by him! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-better-known-as-actors/463542.md?page=3)