STARS WHO FOUND THE KEY TO SUCCESS
MARION McMULLEN looks at actors with a talent for tickling the ivories as Hollywood star Jeff Goldblum releases his debut album
1 JURASSIC PARK star Jeff Goldblum, left, has just released his debut jazz album, The Capitol Studio Sessions, at the age of 66.
The American actor began playing the piano as a boy and surprised train travellers at St Pancras Station in London this year when he turned up for an impromptu performance.
He says his love of jazz began as a schoolboy in Pittsburgh. 2
SILENCE Of The Lambs Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins has been playing the piano all his life and studied at the Welsh College Of Music and Drama.
Nine of his original compositions and film scores were recorded in 2012 by the City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and released on CD. 3 JAZZLOVING actor and director Clint Eastwood began playing the piano in high school. He won a Golden Globe for his 1988 biopic Bird about US jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker and saw him play in 1945. The actor can also be heard whistling on the track Big Noise from his son Kyle’s 2004 jazz CD Paris Blue. 4
IRON MAN star Robert Downey Jr brought out his debut album The Futurist in 2004 and was often seen playing the piano in American TV series Ally McBeal.
The Futurist featured eight pop ballads written by him and two covers – a song by Charlie Chaplin called Smile and Your Move from the Yes song I’ve Seen All Good People. 5
PRACTISE makes perfect for impressionist and performer Alistair McGowan.
He rediscovered a love for the piano later in life and started practicing up to six hours a day.
He brought out The Piano Album last year featuring some of his famous classical pieces.
It went to number one in the Official Classical Charts. 6 AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN star Richard Gere played a range of instruments growing up and was a skilled trumpet player by age 14. He also wrote music for his high school productions.
His musical talents were highlighted in the 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts. Richard played the piano in the film and also composed the piece of music for the hotel scene. 7
HOLLYWOOD star Dustin Hoffman, left, trained for a time at Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. He said: “I wanted to be a jazz pianist, but I wasn’t good enough.”
He can be seen playing his own composition called Shoot The Breeze in 2008 film Last Chance Harvey. 8 BRITISH actor Hugh Laurie began playing the piano at age six and now plays guitar, sax, harmonica and drums. He brought out blues album Let Them Talk in 2011, followed by Didn’t It Rain in 2013. He has played at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and performed on Later... With Jools Holland. He once said: “Let the record show that I am a white, middle-class Englishman openly trespassing on the music and myth of the American South.” 9 KELSEY GRAMMER plays the piano and attended the Julliard School of Music for two years. His apartment in TV comedy Frasier had a piano and he was seen playing in several episodes.
He also performed the theme tune, Tossed Salad & Scrambled Eggs. Co-star David Hyde Pierce also studied classical piano at Yale. 10 RYAN GOSLING, right, learned to play the keyboard for his role of jazz pianist Sebastian in musical La La Land. He spent two hours a day, six days a week, learning the movie’s music. Co-star John Legend, a classically trained pianist, said he was jealous at how quickly Ryan picked it up.