# What artist would you like see as the subject of a biographical drama? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** arts-crafts\ **Created:** [August 8, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305 "2022-08-08T13:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305/41 "2022-08-11T17:32:49Z")
Edgar Allen Poe would be a good subject. His death is all kinds of mysterious. ETA: an on the opposite side of the dramatic spectrum, I can imagine a great Mark Twain comedy. > **[The (Still) Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/still-mysterious-death-edgar-allan-poe-180952936/)** > > Was the famous author killed from a beating? From carbon monoxide poisoning? From alcohol withdrawal? Here are the top nine theories ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305/42 "2022-08-13T15:22:01Z")
Crafter\_Man Member > My first thought was Frank Zappa. But a biographical drama probably wouldn’t work, as people would be bored to tears with it. Biopics tend to form around a single event in the subject’s life, lead up to it logically from their humble beginnings, peak at the event, and have a text crawl describing the rest of the subject’s life. What would it be for Zappa? I’m thinking the senate hearing circa 1987 about labeling music albums. Or maybe the concert described in “Smoke on the Water.” Frankly, he never had a single or album that stood out as a culmination of his life’s work; I think his biggest hit was “Valley Girl.” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305/43 "2022-08-13T15:30:06Z")
Agree. The “problem” is that there wasn’t much drama in Zappa’s life. He was also a workaholic, and didn’t partake in the drug scene. People would be bored with a biographical drama on him. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305/44 "2022-08-13T15:31:57Z")
Yeah, you’d think a man who once ran for president and got blackballed by Lorne Michaels would be a little more cinemagenic! ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305/45 "2022-08-13T19:42:48Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Rod Evans _might_ be a good candidate. I wonder if anyone has actually put any effort into trying to find him? I mean like checking tax records etc. I just read about a deserter from the US Air Force that was found after 35 years because of a passport check. I think he actually lived in the same state the whole time. The government had theories about him being a Soviet agent and maybe responsible for rocket test failures and the Challenger disaster. Turns out he was just tired of the USAF and had been an accountant for 35 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-artist-would-you-like-see-as-the-subject-of-a-biographical-drama/969305.md?page=2)