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David Bowie

David Bowie stars in LABYRINTH as the powerful and compellingruler of a magical world. He performs the five original songs hewrote for the film.

From the very beginning, director Jim Henson envisioned Bowieas the lead of this major new fantasy film production. "Way back whenwe first started working on the story, we came up with this idea of aGoblin King, Henson explains. And then we thought; 'Wouldn't it bewonderful to have music and someone who can sing?' David was ourfirst choice from the very beginning. And he liked the idea. So thewhole thing was really written with him in mind."

Bowie stars as Jareth, the handsome and charismatic ruler whokidnaps Sarah's baby brother, challenges her to solve the labyrinth,and then tries to entice her into remaining with him in his magicalkingdom.

What attracted Bowie to the role? Jim gave me the script,which I found very amusing, he says. "It's by Terry Jones, of MontyPython, and it has that kind of slightly inane insanity runningthrough it. When I read the script and saw that Jim wanted to putmusic to it, it just felt as though it could be a really nice, funnything to do."

Bowie's songs for LABYRINTH range from a hauntingly beautifullove song, As The World Falls Down, to a lively dance number,Magic Dance, which he performs on camera with his rowdy goblinsubjects. He also sings the powerful and moving LABYRINTH theme song, Underground, and is seen performing a song in one of the film'sfinal and climactic scenes, Within You. A fifth song Chilly Down,sets the mood for a wildly exuberant dance number by some of thefilm's fantastic creatures, the Fireys.

As one of pop music's biggest and most influential stars,Bowie has been responsible for setting trends and standards that haveinfluenced musical stars and audiences around the world. Since his first major hit single, Space Oddity, in 1969, andhis album The Man Who Sold The World, the following year, Bowie'smany successful albums have included Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fallof Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (which also launchedthe hit single Starman) Aladdin Sane, Station to Station,Heroes, Let's Dance and Tonight.

Bowie made his motion picture debut in 1975 as the star ofNicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth and his films since thenhave included Just A Gigolo, The Hunger, Merry Christmas Mr.Lawrence, Into The Night (a brief guest role), and AbsoluteBeginners. In 1980, he starred in the title role of The ElephantMan on the Broadway stage and, during 1983, undertook his successfulSerious Moonlight Tour, covering Europe, the United States, Japan,and Australia.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

David Bowie Facts

Birth NameDavid Robert Hayward-Jones
OccupationMusician, Actor
BirthdayJanuary 8, 1947 (77)
SignCapricorn
BirthplaceBrixton, South London, England, United Kingdom
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is David Bowie compared to you?

Selected Filmography

David Bowie
The Man Who Fell To Earth
David Bowie: A Reality Tour
Labyrinth
David Bowie: The Serious Moonlight Tour
Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars
The Hunger
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