David Bowie. A renaissance man who excelled in music, fashion, as well as acting.
Along with being a great singer/songwriter, Bowie delivered several memorable performances in movies, television and theatre throughout his life.
Debuting on screen in the 1976 sci-fi film "The Man Who Fell to Earth," Bowie went on to play in fantasy, comedy and more.
Here are David Bowie's greatest roles in film, television and theatre:
David Bowie played an ageless vampire opposite Catherine Deneuve in Tony Scott's 1983 horror film showing the dark side of immortality.
An artist of Bowie's complexity was perfectly cast in the part of Pontius Pilate, a complicated figure who was asked to pass judgment on Jesus Christ (Willem Dafoe) in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ."
This prequel to the TV series "Twin Peaks" saw Bowie playing an FBI agent who reappears in an office after going missing for two years. He had gone to another place, and few could comprehend him when he returned.
David Bowie judged a walk-off between Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel (Owen Wilson). It led to an uncomfortable finish for Derek.
Andy Warhol was eccentric. David Bowie was eccentric. So who better to play the artist who made art out of a Campbell's soup can in this film, about the rise of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright)?
David Bowie could impress as much on the stage as on the screen. In 1980, he played John Merrick in a New York production of "The Elephant Man." Merrick was based on a historical figure who was born with deformities all over his body. They so altered his face that he had difficulty breathing. It fell to Bowie to evoke those deformities on stage, without makeup.
Bowie showed his comedy chops in an appearance on Ricky Gervais' show about background performers in movies. Meeting Gervais' Andy Millman, he was suddenly inspired to write a song about a "pathetic little fat man."
Bowie lent serious dramatic heft to Christopher Nolan's fantasy picture as inventor Nikola Tesla. In the film, he invents a machine that uses electricity to clone people — but remains deeply concerned about its costs, when he reveals it to magician The Great Danton (Hugh Jackman).
Bowie's film debut as an alien who comes to Earth to seek water for his planet remains one of his most iconic roles.
Any kid who grew up in the 1980s remembers the Goblin King, who kidnapped a baby and forced his sister (Jennifer Connelly) to traverse a labyrinth in order to get him back. And who can forget "Dance Magic Dance"?
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