Bowie wasn’t just a phenomenal singer. Over a career spanning five decades, he also racked up numerous roles in different films, working with some of the most influential figures in Hollywood including Nicolas Roeg, David Lynch and Christopher Nolan. In memory of the late icon, we reflect upon the performances that made him a star on screen.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Premiering at the competition at the 1967 Berlin International Film Festival, it features Bowie’s first starring role in a major motion picture. Nicolas Roeg directed the film based on Walter Tevis novel of the same name. It concerns fate of an alien, Thomas Jerome Newton (Bowie), who travels to earth in search of water for his drought-stricken planet.
David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust
In 1973 American documentarian DA Pennebaker recorded the final stop of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ world tour at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Released a year after Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s cult television show, was axed. This film can be seen as both prologue and epilogue as it tells the story of the last weeks of Laura Palmer’s life.
The Prestige
David Bowie embodies the role of reclusive genius Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan’s tale of two magicians hell-bent on revenge.
The Hunger
David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve depicted as vampiric couple in the film which is loosely based on the Louis Whitley Strieber novel of the same name. All’s well for the sexy vampiric couple until John (Bowie) unexpectedly begins to age rapidly.
