David Bowie

Born: January 8 1947
Where: Brixton, London, UK

The chameleon-like qualites of the rock star have meant he has enjoyed a parallel acting career with more success than his music peers.

Big screen highlights include sci-fi modern classic The Man Who Fell To Earth, the prisoner of war drama Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and romantic fantasy Labyrinth.

His songs have also featured in dozens of films ranging from the sumptuous Moulin Rouge! to blockbuster Godzilla.

Born David Jones (he changed it to Bowie to avoid confusion with the Monkees' Davy Jones), Bowie initially embarked on a folk career in the Sixties.

When success was elusive he toyed with both mime and acing before he had a breakthrough in 1969 with the song Space Oddity.

The upturn was shortlived so - making the most of the theatrical leanings that would serve him so well - Bowie reinvented himself as Ziggy Stardust.

He had already made his first appearance on film as a painting that comes to life and is stabbed by the artist in the short The Image in 1967.

Two years later he had an uncredited appearance in the comedy-drama The Virgin Soldiers and went into mime mode for the short Love You Till Tuesday.

However, it wouldn't be until seven years later with Bowie at his creative - and drugs addled - peak as The Thin White Duke that he would make a firm impression.

He had just scored his first American number one with Fame when he appeared in Nicolas Roeg's sci-fi classic The Man Who Fell To Earth in 1976.

With his different-coloured eyes and skeletal, cocaine-ravaged frame, he certainly looked the part of an alien.

Three years later he appeared in David Hemmings' Just A Gigolo with Kim Novak and got his music career back on course in Berlin with Brian Eno at the controls.

Towards the end of the 70s, he finally kicked his drug habit, and recorded the album many of his fans consider his best, the Japanese-influenced Scary Monsters.

He played the Elephant Man on Broadway, to considerable acclaim, and the next few years saw his musical output declining as his acting career flourished.

In 1982, he narrated Raymond Briggs' animated cartoon The Snowman, played Brecht's Baal on TV and starred in Tony Scott's vampire tale The Hunger with Catherine Deneuve.

The highpoint came with the role of Major Jack "Strafer" Celliers alongside Tom Conti in the Japanese POW drama Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence in 1983.

The same year he recorded Let's Dance, an album which proved an unexpected commercial success and produced his second number 1 hit single in the US.

In 1985, he turned down the role of Bond villain Max Zorin in the movie A View To A Kill because of his alleged lack of enthusiasm for baddies in the recent 007 outings.

Subsequent acting roles - in Into the Night, an uncredited part in Yellowbeard - failed to repeat the earlier success and Absolute Beginners, the story of swinging sixties London, was branded an elaborate flop.

His last serious stab at cinema as Jareth The Goblin King in Jim Henson's 1986 adventure fantasy Labyrinth did little to restore his fortunes in comparison with earlier triumphs.

Since then most roles, including Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ and comedy The Linguini Incident, have been cameos or glorified cameos.

Concentrating on music, he put the failure of the Tin Machine venture behind him to enjoy renewed success with Eno in the 1990s with Outside.

In 1992, he had a walk-on part in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Firewalk With Me and he played artist Andy Warhol in the 1996 drama Basquiat.

Subsequent appearances include the comedy western My West in 1998 and the crime drama Everybody Loves Sunshine the following year.

In 2000 he starred in the family fantasy Mr Rices's Children as a 400-year-man and keeper of the "potion of life."

In the early 2000s, with his music career back on the up with well received albums, he still attracted attention providing songs - sung in Portuguese - for Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

He was married to Angie Bowie for ten years from 1970 before marrying model Iman in 1992, with whom he has a daughter.