Everyone sang their own parts except Drew Barrymore, who apparently just plan can’t sing.
Edward Norton was surprisingly good, I thought.
I thought Bill Murray sounded pretty good singing “What’s So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding” in Lost in Translation’s karaoke scene.
But you forget that Jerry Orbach originated the role of El Gallo in “The Fantasticks” and yes, he is a longstanding bonafide Musical theatre star and was at one time a true triple threat.
Someone mentioned Lucy Lawless a bit upthread - I first heard her sing as guest on David Letterman’s show, and not only did I just about fall off my chair, but so did Dave. She has a seriously good singing voice - what really surprised me was hearing this Aussie lady belt out a country song with an absolutely perfect Southern US twang.
I may be wrong here, but I believe Jason Lee did his own singing in the movie Almost Famous. Not my style, but not bad.
George Clooney sang a heck of a song in Oh Brother. Funny thing is, he sounds exactly like Dan Tyminsky, who sings the same song with Union Station. Hmmm.
Tom Servo has a lovely voice.
Barney Fife’s caterwauling was a running gag on ANDY GRIFFITH, but in real life Don Knotts has a very fine tenor and frequently toured singing gospel and folk songs with Andy and Jim Nabors on the Vegas and County Fair circuit during the early years of the show.
I was very surprised watching an episode of ARCHIE BUNKER’S PLACE in which Carroll O’Connor sings a song to his niece. He had a beautiful voice.
The DVD scenes of Audrey Hepburn’s undubbed singing voice in MY FAIR LADY weren’t bad at all. She was no Julie Andrews (or Marni Nixon), but she was better than Nicole Kidman in MR.
Tom Wopat from DUKES OF HAZZARD has a b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l singing voice, as does Jackee (of 227 and other assorted sitcoms fame).
Off the subject perhaps, but I really liked David Cassidy’s recent appearance on MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE when he mocked his own lounge-lizard singing style.
The flip side of these is what I call “The Linda Lavin Syndrome” (unless you’re male, in which case it’s “The John Davidson Syndrome”): actors who seem to think they can sing and have to work it in whenever possible.
The Muppet Show used to be great for this, getting celebrities to do something besides what they were famous for.
Who knew Beverly Sills could tap dance?
63 year old Aussie actor Max Cullen can sing like Billie Holiday which he did in the 1995 movie Billy’s Holiday. Aussie actor (born in Canada) Tom Burlinson sings like Frank Sinatra and provided the vocals for the 1992 TV series Sinatra and this year’s The Night We Called It a Day about Frank’s 1974 fight with the unions. Burlinson regularly does a season of Frank: A Life In Song so we fans can pretend it’s back in the day.
I was surprised at how good a singer Jean Stapleton was when I heard her singing on TV once, as I was only familiar with her as Edith Bunker.
Well, there’s singing and then there’s real singing. When I saw Chicago, I thought everyone sounded a bit, well, bland. Then Queen Latifah sang–hoo-eee! Them’s a set of pipes!!!
I guess it depends a lot on what you’re expecting.
Nit: Lucy Lawless is actually a New Zealander.
I was rather impressed with Richard Gere in Chicago. He did the tap dancing, if the documentary on the DVD was accurate (and if I’m not remembering wrong), he absolutely nailed the role, and he sang pretty well.
“Paint Your Wagon.”
Ouch.
We had a thread on that a while back, on how come they called the wind Mariah. Eastwood singing “I talk to the trees” just cracks me up. I kept supplying my own lines, including:
“You feeling lucky, trunk?”
And Lee Marvin! What a horrible, horrible choice for a musical. His comic acting was good, but that singing …
Someone mentioned on that thread that the female lead had her singing dubbed, and if Eastwood and Marvin got away with it, she must have been horrible.
No one’s mentioned Minnie Driver yet. She has a song called “Everything In My Pocket” that I like quite a bit. I didn’t know she could sing, and her voice is very nice.
There’s a short snippet of it here:
http://trampolinerecords.com/greatestv2.html
I heard the whole thing at real.com, but I don’t think it’s up there anymore.
Too bad really, I liked the singing in that movie.
Actually both Duke boys** have released albums. And apparently, on the “Dukes of Hazzard” soundtrack, (yes, there is such a thing) Daisy Duke sings too!
**The original Duke boys, Wopat and Schneider, not that awful pair Coy and Vance, blehck!
Being an avid Moonlighting fan, I, of course, have both the Moonlighting soundtrack album and Bruce Willis’ The Return Of Bruno on CD.
Willis can belt out old rock and roll and blues - and play a mean harmonica in the process.
While Cybill Shepherd’s voice was more than passable on Blue Moon and a great camp song called I Told You I Love You, Now Get Out!
Highly recommend both albums - if you can even find them anymore.
Any Trekkie who doesn’t know Brent Spiner can sing isn’t a real Trekkie.
Gary Busey sounded exactly like Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly story.
Ditto Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors.