MUSICIAN MOVIE CAMEO MONDAY: David Bowie In YELLOWBEARD

Here I go again with another series, and it’s centered on one of my favorite subjects: movie cameos. The angle here of Musician Movie Cameo Monday (snappy, huh?) is that they obviously showcase famous musicians, who took time off of their meteoric careers to put in a few minutes often because they’re friends with the actors or filmmakers (or both). 

We’ll kick off with one of biggest rock icons to ever sashay in front of a camera: David Bowie. Bowie was in middle of one of his many peaks in 1983, which revolved around the hit singles, “Let’s Dance,” “Modern Dance,” and “China Girl,” when he agreed to appear in a crude pirate comedy entitled YELLOWBEARD – the brainchild of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman. With John Cleese, and Eric Idle, the film features half of Monty Python, and a rich ensemble that even included Cheech & Chong.

Midway through the movie, an uncredited Bowie pops up as a character named Shark, though he’s addressed by Idle as Henson, who is escorting Madeline Kahn through a ship that’s careening through the seas. Bowie’s Henson/Shark, takes Kahn to dining room inhabited by a tired-looking Eric Idle. Kahn says that she seems to remember something about an island,” and that “it must’ve been that shark that jogged my memory.”

With a “well done,” Idle dismisses Bowie, and as he turns to exit we see what the scene was building to – Bowie was wearing a rubber shark fin on his back, meaning that the revered rocker at the height of his pop powers was reduced to a sight gag in a subpar Python knock-off.

YELLOWBEARD was one of the biggest flops to come forward from the well that sprang MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, and LIFE OF BRIAN. It’s a painfully unfunny experience that even my 12-year old self couldn’t find much comedy within.

But at the very least, this misguidingly star-studded non comic epic, had something no other ‘80s film could ever dream of having: David Bowie wearing a rubber shark fin in a cameo that only lasts just over 3o seconds.

So check out the glory that is Bowie sharking it up in the largely forgotten (for good reason) Chapman vehicle YELLOWBEARD:

After seeing that understated walk-on, you really don’t need to see anything else from the failed pirate production. At least that’s what I’d recommend, but if you are a glutton for punishment, so then, knock yourself out.

More later...