# General Mandolin Topics > General Mandolin Discussions >  Famous people who play(ed) mandolin

## JeffD

On another thread we saw Orville Wright's mandolin! Someone said that Patrick Henry played mandolin - I think I had heard that as well.

Anyone else?

I just found out Warren Buffett plays ukulele. Think how far he could go if he played mandolin.

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## mandocrucian

> *Mussolini* was a big fan of mandolin music and Calace built several for the dictator. After World War II, Calace and mandolin music fell out of favor in Italy.

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## John Flynn

There was a thread some time ago reporting that Michael Johnstone, an actor in the HBO series "Deadwood," owned a Rigel Q-95 and was supposedly an avid player.

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## JEStanek

> Originally Posted by  
> 
> *Mussolini* was a big fan of mandolin music and Calace built several for the dictator. After World War II, Calace and mandolin music fell out of favor in Italy.


Didn't Mussolini fall out of favor after the war too?  :Wink: 

Jamie

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## Keith Erickson

I can assure you that neither of these folks played the mandolin but still pretty interesting.

Elizabeth Garrett was a famous opera singer who was blind. #She also wrote the state song for New Mexico. #Elizabeth was the daughter Lincoln County, New Mexico sherriff Pat Garrett who shot and killed Billy the Kid.

Billy himself was also musically inclined and sang while attending school up in Silver City, New Mexico.

Sorry for the lack of mandolin content.

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## Chip Booth

I believe Tom Hanks had a Gilchrist on order a few years ago. #Never heard if he recieved it.

This looks like a good opportunity for someone to post a link to the Milla Jovovich picture agin  

Chip

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## mounmon

[I]Didn't Mussolini fall out of favor after the war too?  :Wink: 

An old WW II vet once showed me a photo he had taken of Mussolini. If bullet holes are a sign of disfavor, then YES. Fortunately no mandolins were present at the time.

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## JEStanek

Re: Tom Hanks... I don't know about the Gil but didn't the luthier who made all those cool instruments in "The Ladykillers" (Danny Farrington) build Tom a mandolin? IIRC that was mentioned in the extra features on the DVD. 

I also heard a story about Jamie Lee Curtis buying husband Christopher Guest a mandolin as well.

Jamie

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## bradeinhorn

> I also heard a story about Jamie Lee Curtis buying husband Christopher Guest a mandolin as well.
> 
> Jamie


makes sense - they all learned how to play their instruments in mighty wind - parker posey had a pretty nice chop on an old, a-4 i believe. barry mitterhoff was the resident instructor.

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## John Flynn

> I also heard a story about Jamie Lee Curtis buying husband Christopher Guest a mandolin as well.


Although Christopher Guest has been a professional mando player. According to an interview with Guest in USA Today, he played mandolin backing both Arlo Guthrie and Loudon Wainwright in the 60's. Then of course there was his mando work with a Collings MT2 in "A Mighty Wind."

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## JeffD

This from a presidential pastimes website:

Surprisingly, few of our Presidents have had much musical ability or experience. Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler played the violin, and Harry Truman and Richard Nixon played the piano. In fact, Harry Truman once joked that if he had not gone into politics, he would have probably become the piano player at a bawdy house. Calvin Coolidge played the harmonica, Warren Harding played the alto horn and cornet, and Bill Clinton played the saxophone.

So, no mandolins. Well imagine how far Jefferson could have gone if he had played the mandolin.

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## Alex of the North

You know I remember seeing a cittern at Monticello when I toured it years ago. According to this: http://explorer.monticello.org/text/...p?id=50&type=4 it was probably played by Martha Jefferson, but being musical I'm sure Thomas must have picked it up now and then.

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## Larry R

Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922) was a mandolin player.

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## Neil Gladd

According to Bickford, Calvin Coolidge's son played the mandolin-banjo. I was once told that Larry Hagman (J.R. / Major Nelson) played the mandolin, but I have no reference for it.

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## Ken Feil

Comedian Joey Bishop used to play occasionally on his talk show. In fact Homer & Jethro were frequent guests. Bishop played an F style Goya. On one show Jethro presented Bishop with a new Gibson F-5, a gift from Gibson. I believe this was in the 1970s.

Ken

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## Neil Gladd

Fibber McGee, of the old radio show "Fibber McGee and Molly" played the mandolin.

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## JeffD

> Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922) was a mandolin player.


Way cool!

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Jack out of the White Stripes plays a bit I believe.
DD

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## AlanN

Jack Benny, fiddle.

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## Martin Jonas

Queen Margherita of Italy famously played the mandolin, and her royal patronage was a fairly important factor in the mandolin boom of the 1890s. #There is a Vinaccia mandolin built for her in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. #

Incidentally, and quite unrelatedly, Queen Margherita also gave her name to the pizza of that name, created in her honour in 1889 by Raffaele Esposito in Naples. #Intriguingly, here is a bowlback made by one "Raffaele Esposito" in Naples. #I've seen one of these before, but I've never figured out whether this was the pizza baker moonlighting as luthier (or the other way around for that matter).

Martin

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## The Old Sarge

> Fibber McGee, of the old radio show "Fibber McGee and Molly" played the mandolin.


I was listening to Fibber McGee and Molly the other day (I have a very old radio in my car) and Fibber commented that he got a free mandolin with a pin-striped suit he bought. Had a choice between that an a baseball bat. Mollie suggested he would have gotten more hits with the bat. That was a show from about February of '43.

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## JeffD

> #Mollie suggested he would have gotten more hits with the bat. #


 

Hard to argue with that.

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## Tom C

At one time a Gibson teens mando was for sale at a Guitar Center in White Plains NY and I believe the person who reported it said it was owned by the guy who acted with Matthew Broderick in Ferris Buhler.



Here is the Deadwood Link

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## Mike McCoy

Paul Gauguin played mandolin.

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## brunello97

> Incidentally, and quite unrelatedly, Queen Margherita also gave her name to the pizza of that name, created in her honour in 1889 by Raffaele Esposito in Naples. #Intriguingly, here is a bowlback made by one "Raffaele Esposito" in Naples. #I've seen one of these before, but I've never figured out whether this was the pizza baker moonlighting as luthier (or the other way around for that matter).
> 
> Martin


Extraordinary information, Martin. #Where is Carl Jung when you need him?

Mick

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## SternART

I believe it is Christopher Guest that owns a Monteleone Grand Artist Delux.

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## keith_rowan

Milla Jovavich
http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Comedy-Milla/dp/B000002TNT

from the movie The Fifth Element

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## Ted Eschliman

Fanny Tellier, model for Pablo Picasso (also speculated secret lover):

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## Elliot Luber

So was Musalini shot with O holes or F holes?

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## JeffD

> Paul Gauguin played mandolin.


I did not know that. I love his paintings.

Perhaps this was his mandolin.

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## Alex Orr

Ben Jones, the guy who played Cooter on the Dukes of Hazzard, plays the fiddle.

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## AlanN

> Fanny Tellier, model for Pablo Picasso (also speculated secret lover):


Hmmm, wonder if Grisman's Hot Dawg took its cue frpm this?

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## Bob A

Orville Wright was a player. His bowlback is on display somewhere, and there are pictures of it on this site, but I'm far too lazy to look 'em up and make a link.

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## farmerjones

Does Levon Helm count?

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## JEStanek

JeffD where did you find that cool painting?

Jamie

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## Jonathan Peck

It makes a great screen saver

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## John Flynn

Since we are getting into figures in abstract paintings, apprently the great Moorish painter Juan de Pareja played the mandolin also:

Dali's "Portrait of Juan de Pareja Repairing a String of His Mandolin"

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## cbarry

I just saw a couple of shots of Warren Buffett playing what looks like an old Martin ukulele on the AP Photo wire yesterday. He played with the Quebe Sisters Band at the Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting in Omaha on Saturday. The caption said it was his own uke.
Chuck

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## JeffD

> JeffD where did you find that cool painting?
> 
> Jamie


I "image googled" Paul Gauguin. I was halfway remembering he did a painting with a mandolin on a table, but I wasn't sure till I searched. 

There is another one I saw, with a nude in the foreground, and a mandolin against the wall in the background. Its a nice painting but not appropriate for this forum I didn't think.

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## Keely

The great humorist Robert Benchley played the mandolin. His lifelong friend, writer Dorothy Parker, even wrote a Broadway play based on Benchley in which his mandolin played an important part; the wife of the Benchley character hates the mandolin so much that she won't let him play it in the house, so he falls in love with the sweet young thing next door who not only loves his playing, but plays duets with him! 

By the last act, the character has learned to assert himself at home so much that in the final scene he lights his pipe--strictly forbidden--and gets out his mandolin and starts playing--right in the middle of the living room!

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## Mandolin Fan

Nudie...tailor to the stars, played mandolin...

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## Bill Snyder

> Orville Wright was a player. His bowlback is on display somewhere, and there are pictures of it on this site, but I'm far too lazy to look 'em up and make a link.


Check the original post of this thread. Orville Wright's mandolin is what got this thread off to a start.

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## Chad Thorne

> This looks like a good opportunity for someone to post a link to the Milla Jovovich picture again...


Does Milla Jovovich play mandolin?

Oh, wait - who cares?

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## John Flynn

[/QUOTE]Does Milla Jovovich play mandolin? Oh, wait - who cares?[QUOTE]

I, for one, care:

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## Chad Thorne

Ain't Milla just the bee's knees?

Johnny, I for one didn't have the nerve to post one of the many nearly nekkid pics of Milla that are on the 'Net. Good on ya! 

And for those of us who play guitar:

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## JeffD

Until now I did not know who Milla Jovovich was. And she plays mandolin?

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## Chad Thorne

> Until now I did not know who Milla Jovovich was. And she plays mandolin? #


I have no information that she plays mandolin; apparently the reference is to the pic in which she uses a mando to cover her "naughty bits..."

Milla is a model-turned-actor, appearing in movies like "The Fifth Element" and "Resident Evil."

EDIT: I take it back. Apparently Milla is also a singer and songwriter; in this article, http://thecelebritycafe.com/interviews/milla.html she mentions playing mando on her album, "The Divine Comedy!" And this listener review from Amazon.com:

_"Wow, who could've guessed that Milla Jovovich was such an artistic, multi-talented individual! Not only can she model and act, she's a singer, wonderful mandolin player and composed all the lyrics of this delightful -11 track- masterpiece."_ 

Just one more reason to love her...

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## Martin Jonas

> _"Wow, who could've guessed that Milla Jovovich was such an artistic, multi-talented individual! Not only can she model and act, she's a singer, wonderful mandolin player and composed all the lyrics of this delightful -11 track- masterpiece."_


Indeed, and I'm pretty sure it has been mentioned in the past that the Flatiron pancake shown above is her own instrument, and the one she plays predominantly (although no doubt she has MAS just like the rest of us).

Martin

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## Charles Johnson

Richard Gere plays acoustic guitar, and plays well. He checked out some of my vintage Martins while he was in Richmond filming "The Day of the Jackel".

There was a Vintage Guitar magazine article a while ago on Johnathan Kellerman, the author. He has a very large and impressive collection, which includes all four Loars - mandolin, mandola, mandocello and L5 guitar.

Steve Martin is a professional level banjo player.  

Charles Johnson

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## Charles Johnson

From somewhere on the web:

Captain Corelli's Mandolin star Nicolas Cage discovered a real talent for playing the mandolin during filming of the movie. Cage said that he had no musical talent before he became the mandolin-playing star of the movie. But, the man who taught him to play, musical director Paul Englishby, says Cage quickly became an accomplished player. Although the movie soundtrack was recorded by mandolin expert Giovanni Parricelli, Cage was required to play the instrument during the filming. "Cage actually played it and there is lots of footage of him doing that. It was incredible," says Englishby. "He really is very talented. Nicolas used to go away for the weekend. He had a private jet and one weekend he asked me to go to Venice with him so he could have his music lessons." Englishby is now teaching Hugh Grant to play guitar for his latest role in the film version of the Nick Hornby novel About A Boy.

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## makoto

The short-story writer, O. Henry, was a mandolin player. I was in Austin this spring and the O. Henry museum was across the street from my hotel, so I went in and saw an old bowl-back on a shelf. The attendent told me that in fact he played quite a bit, and the piano too.

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## JeffD

> The short-story writer, O. Henry, was a mandolin player.


Wow that is great. Another reason to love O. Henry.

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## JeffD

> O. Henry museum was across the street from my hotel, so I went in and saw an old bowl-back on a shelf.


It would be cool to get a pic posted here.

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## Peter Hackman

Gunnar Gren (1920-1991), "il professore", a famous soccer 
 player for AC Milan, and
ACF Fiorentina, Olympic champion in 1948, played the mandolin.

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## makoto

Jeff,
For whatever reason I did not have my camera the day I visited the museum, which is really O. Henry's three-room home that was preserved and moved a block from it's original location to a small park in downtown Austin, (405 East Fifth Street) across the street from the Hilton downtown. A picture would be cool. His mandolin is in really bad shape but has some nice butterfly inlays in the pick guard.

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## Don Christy

I've never heard that Matisse played, but one of his models has on in this painting:

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## Timbofood

Harry Dean Stanton, I have ben told, can drive one to distraction playing(guitar, at least) on the set. Great scene in "Cool Hand Luke"

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## Alex Orr

No Mando content, but I do recall a story about Ed Harris (the actor) on Flatpick-L. The guy who posted it knew a guitar store owner/repair guy who did some work on one of Mr. Harris's guitars. As I recall, he was filming up in some rural area of coastal Mass and had someone ship out an older Martin that he had bought. The thing got somewhat busted up in the mail. He took it to the local guitar shop/repair guy to see if he could fix it. The guy recognized him immediately but never really made a big deal about. Supposedly he and Ed talked about old guitars for quite a while - according to the post, Ed is not only a fine picker but also fairly knowledgable about vintage acoustics. He said the only awkward moment came when the guy asked for a phone number Ed could be reached at to let him know when the guitar was ready to be picked up - being less tha eager to give out his cell number, Ed just said he'd be back in a few days. And yes, the guitar was fixed.

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## MandoSquirrel

> The short-story writer, O. Henry, was a mandolin player. I was in Austin this spring and the O. Henry museum was across the street from my hotel, so I went in and saw an old bowl-back on a shelf. The attendent told me that in fact he played quite a bit, and the piano too.


The piano played the mandolin? That's neat.

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## Monte37

One of my favorites is Clarence Nash, who is the voice of Donald Duck. In his book of Disney Donald Duck illustration he is pictured with a F4 27' era Gibson. Dawg just bought it at the local flea market and I asked him why he got this particular book. I opened it up and saw this picture and it certainly brought a smile to us. Clarence was still living in S.Calif and David called up information and found him still alive, got his number, called him, and went down and interviewed him for Mandolin World magazine. He did the interview in Donald Duck voice.

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## AlanN

And didn't the same Mr. Nash voice We Wish You A Merry Chistmas on Dawg's Acoustic Christmas recording?

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## JeffD

Marilyn Monroe - no relation I assume, at least posed with a mandolin!

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## Kirby161

Bruce Springsteen! And according to the mando cafe news feed, so does Jethro Tull and Keith Richards.

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## Steve G

Senator Robert Byrd is an avid old time fiddler. I wonder if he plays some mandolin as well.

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## Shana Aisenberg

Robert Duvall played guitar and also wrote some of the songs in Tender Mercies

Seth

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## Lefty&French

> Bruce Springsteen! And according to the mando cafe news feed, so does Jethro Tull and Keith Richards.


Jethro Tull? I suppose you mean Ian Anderson.

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## JimRichter

Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). Avid member of his banjo and mandolin clubs in High School.

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## JeffD

> Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss).


Well there you go.

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## Tim

> The great humorist Robert Benchley played the mandolin. #His lifelong friend, writer Dorothy Parker, even wrote a Broadway play based on Benchley in which his mandolin played an important part; the wife of the Benchley character hates the mandolin so much that she won't let him play it in the house, so he falls in love with the sweet young thing next door who not only loves his playing, but plays duets with him! #
> 
> By the last act, the character has learned to assert himself at home so much that in the final scene he lights his pipe--strictly forbidden--and gets out his mandolin and starts playing--right in the middle of the living room!


I just watched the DVD of "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle". #There is a scene with Benchley holding his mandolin as he talks on the phone.

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## cbarry

Boy, Marilyn obviously got the looks in the Monroe family! (Although she got stuck with a kind of dorky looking mando.)
Didn't she play uke in Some Like It Hot? I think she was really playing it, too.
Chuck

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## Paul Kotapish

Cartoonist/artist/social critic R. Crumb plays lots of fretted instruments--including mandolin. He's better known for his amazing illustrations, portraits of classic blues, country, and French musicians, and for his contributions to Zap Comix, but he has made a number of recordings over the years with the Cheap Suit Serenaders and more recently with Les Primitifs du Futur.

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## cooper4205

> Jack out of the White Stripes plays a bit I believe.
> DD


this month's issue of Guitar World magazine has an interview with Jack where he talks about his mandolin playing. He was originally going to buy the one he played on Cold Mountain, but they auctioned it off before he did and he bought a black Gibson F4.

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## JeffD

> Cartoonist/artist/social critic R. Crumb


I should have thought of that. I have the first two Cheap Suit Serenaders record albums.

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## El Greco

Tommy Ramone - Unlce Monk (yes, THAT Ramone)

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## Jim Hilburn

Scott Carpenter, the astronaut is a guitar player. My friend Drew got a gig playing a wedding party at his house and had his photo taken with him while holding the mandolin I made for him.

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## Paul Kotapish

Film director and writer Finn Taylor (_Cherish, Dream with the Fishes, The Darwin Awards_) is a mandolin player and enthusiast. Very nice guy and good player. I think he may occasionally post here and may have listed one of his mandos in the classifieds at some point.

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## Paul Kotapish

Here's Les Paul with an Gibson A-50 (or -40).

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## Treblemaker

Finn Taylor is a bonafide shredder on mandolin.
He has occasionally attended the NorCal CoMando Gatherings in Inverness and one or two at the home of Arthur Stern and he can rip it up with the best of 'em. I think he might even own a Loar - but I have seem him play Monteleone's.

-Treblemaker

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## JeffD

I just found out that Parker Posey, the TV and movie actress plays mandolin. Would be cool to find a picture of her playing.

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## B. T. Walker

Here's a pic of Parker Posey as Sissy Knox in "A Mighty Wind", a member of The New Main Street Singers. #Sissy is the daughter of one of the original Main Street Singers. #She's the one holding the mando. #According to Ms. Posey's bio, she lives in New York City with her Bichon Frise and dabbles in pottery. She's currently available and dates guys. Grab your Wegens in the Big Apple.

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## JeffD

I noticed also that Nicolo Paganini was an accomplished mandolin player.

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## John Flynn

Mentioned on other threads, but I think not yet mentioned here, John Paul Jones, bass player with Led Zepplin, now a record producer.

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## mrmando

Harvey Dow Gibson, the hotelier who organized the 1939 World's Fair, was an avid mandolinist. No relation, apparently ... he played a National Res-O-Phonic electric model.

I'm guessing Ms. Posey learned a couple of chords from Christopher Guest for the film. I don't know that she plays other than that, although I believe Mr. Guest does.

The infamous "Three-Card Monte" Monteleone Radio Flyer A belonged to Finn Taylor before Mitch Simpson bought it. Art Stern had it before that.

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## mrmando

> Fanny Tellier, model for Pablo Picasso (also speculated secret lover):


I didn't know there was anything secret about any of Picasso's lovers!

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## JeffD

I just found out that Maurice Chevalier played the banjolin - and perhaps we can infer the mandolin as well.

These pics, from Bernunzio's, shows a banjolin he had made for him.

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## JeffD

And the headstock...

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## JeffD

Stan Laurel played, or at least owned, a banjolin. It would be cool if anyone has a video clip of him playing.

This picture of his banjolin comes from the Laurel and Hardy Central Museum site: http://laurelandhardycentral.com
which is a lot of fun in its own right.

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## Jim MacDaniel

David Freshwater once told me that Simpsons creator Matt Groening and film director Barry Levinson are proud Freshwater mandolin owners, both of whom purchased _Celtic Soundhole_ models from him. Levinson actually plays mandolin on several ITM-inspired tunes on Hans Zimmer's excellent soundtrack for Levison's charmingly quirky _Everlasting Piece_ (about two Prison barbers from the North who start their own toupee business on the side, and end up selling thier hair pieces to both the IRA and the British Army, hence the title  :Wink:

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## Bill Van Liere

Mike Kemnitzer (famous to some of us) told me a few years back that he started playing a little mandolin, but he usually plays old time banjo.

And I believe that Taylor Guitars presented Predident Bill Clinton with a guitar.

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## Marcus CA

Okay, you mandomanic PhotoShop experts out there. I'm sensing the need for some inspirational work here. Replace the Statue of Liberty's torch, the V-J Day sailor's smooched woman, Fay Wray in King Kong's hand, and any other iconic images at your technological disposal with the mandolin of your choice.

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## Ron Landis

I've heard that Alan Greenspan was once a professional clarinet player. Just think how far he could have gone had he played the mandolin.

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## JeffD

> I've heard that Alan Greenspan was once a professional clarinet player. #Just think how far he could have gone had he played the mandolin.


Yea, he could'a been a contender.

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## JeffD

Brazilian defensive midfielder Gilberto Aparecido da Silva, nicknamed Parede Invisível (The Invisible Wall), a member of the Brazilian National Team ( the Seleção ), has played most of his career for Northern London club Arsenal FC. Gilberto is also a passionate cavaquinho / mandolin player.

Woo hoo!

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## John Rosett

> Here's a pic of Parker Posey as Sissy Knox in "A Mighty Wind", a member of The New Main Street Singers. #Sissy is the daughter of one of the original Main Street Singers. #She's the one holding the mando. #According to Ms. Posey's bio, she lives in New York City with her Bichon Frise and dabbles in pottery. #She's currently available and dates guys. #Grab your Wegens in the Big Apple.


Gee, it's too bad I'm married, old, ugly, and live far from NYC.

Otherwise, I'd ask her out...

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## Brandon Flynn

> Brazilian defensive midfielder Gilberto Aparecido da Silva, nicknamed Parede Invisível (The Invisible Wall), a member of the Brazilian National Team ( the Seleção ), has played most of his career for Northern London club Arsenal FC. Gilberto is also a passionate cavaquinho / mandolin player.
> 
> Woo hoo!


Excellent! I'm an Arsenal fan, and now I have a renewed appreciation for Gilberto. Where did you learn this? Is there an article somewhere?

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## MandoBen

Bob Applebaum told me that he was teaching Nicholas Cage how to "fake it" for the movie, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and Cage actually ended up learning how to play for real.

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## JeffD

> Where did you learn this? Is there an article somewhere?


I found it here!


http://musicandsports.bossaball.net/2007....yer.htm

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## Elliot Luber

Oflynny,
My brother-in-law is a BIGGGGGG Arsenal fan, but he plays guitar, not mando.

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## Brandon Flynn

> Oflynny,
> My brother-in-law is a BIGGGGGG Arsenal fan, but he plays guitar, not mando.


Well, kudos for being an Arsenal fan, but its a shame he doesn't play mando. JeffD, thanks for the link! It's awesome seing someone else with two of the same passions as me: futbol and mandolin!

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## Paul Kotapish

Mandolinist/film director Finn Taylor (mentioned above) has been doing interviews for a new movie he has coming out called _Darwin Awards_. 

In a recent newspaper interview he mentioned that one of his upcoming projects is a Bill Monroe biopic.

Looking forward to that one!

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## JeffD

I just found out that astronaut Steve Robinson plays the mandolin!!

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/...trobinson.html

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## JeffD

An uncle of mine seemed to remember that Joey Bishop played the mandolin. Sure enough a web search turned up this pic, of Joey Bishop with the Lennon Sisters.

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## JeffD

> Comedian Joey Bishop used to play occasionally on his talk show. In fact Homer & Jethro were frequent guests. Bishop played an F style Goya. On one show Jethro presented Bishop with a new Gibson F-5, a gift from Gibson. I believe this was in the 1970s.
> 
> Ken


Sorry, you already mentioned this. Well anyway its a cool picture.

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## Tom C

Pretty strange.....
Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowan said Thursday.

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## JeffD

> Pretty strange.....
> Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowan said Thursday.


The last of the rat pack. He was pretty funny.

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## JeffD

Two new additions to this thread I found over on the women with mandolins thread. 

There is a video of Natalie Portman being shown a few mandolin chords - its up on YouTube (thanks to plami).

And there is a picture of Mary Astor playing mandolin (thanks to martinjonas). For you young'uns, she was a movie star back in the black and white days - my best memory being in Maltese Falcon.

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## CES

Can't believe over 5 pages no one's done this yet, but I hear the famous Bill Monroe played a little mandolin  
Seriously, though, fun thread!

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## Alex Orr

> There is a video of Natalie Portman being shown a few mandolin chords - its up on YouTube (thanks to plami).


Good Lord... 

Ms. Portman just seems to keep finding new ways to remain at the top of my list of "girls I have the biggest crushes on".

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## Jim MacDaniel

> This looks like a good opportunity for someone to post a link to the Milla Jovovich picture agin


I see someone else posted the pic in question, but here is another, if not less controversial pic of Milla with her Flatiron...

Additionally, here is a link to a video of her singing a Ukranian folk song on YouTube. (The video is actually a photo slideshow, but there might be mandolin playing in the background -- but I could be wrong.)

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## Peter Hackman

There is one example missing from this impressive list, it seems.


Or would anyone say Sir Paul is *famous* for playing the mandolin?

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## JeffD

> Or would anyone say Sir Paul is *famous* for playing the mandolin?

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## f5loar

That looks like a 1967 F5E (factory electric)but I've never seen an F5 with the extension cut off like the F12 and having a gold Humbucking pickup. They usually had the black P90s with full fingerboard. This would be a very rare F5. I bet the family still has it.

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## Jim MacDaniel

> Originally Posted by  (Peter Hackman @ Dec. 04 2007, 16:24)
> 
> Or would anyone say Sir Paul is *famous* for playing the mandolin?
> 
> 
>  #


To _us_, he is a famous guy playing a mandolin; to the general pop-listening public, he is an ex-Beatle playing a left-handed Ukelele. #

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## barney 59

Stan Musial played a A-4 or so I've been told and would play it traveling between games on the bus or train.

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## billkilpatrick

> Paul Gauguin played mandolin.


i didn't know that.  here's a self portrait by gaugin with mandolin:

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## John Flynn

> Stan Musial played a A-4 or so I've been told and would play it traveling between games on the bus or train.


Interesting, I didn't know that. As some of you may know, Stan the Man was also a very accomplished harmonica player and he even authored a basic harmonica instruction book. 

Years ago, my wife and I had the privilege of sitting with Stan and his wife at a charity dinner. I got to hear Stan and Richard Hayman, who was then the pops conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, do a harmonica duet mini-concert. It was pretty incredible. I also won a door prize, which was an autographed copy of Stan's instruction book and a "Stan Musial" signature harmonica, both of which I still have. So it was a very memorable evening!

----------


## barney 59

Stan the Man was a man on the road. I guess he picked easy to carry instruments . I had heard that his A-4 was for sale once and when I checked it out there was no real provinance, but it was one celebrity instrument that caught my fancy.

----------


## RSomers

Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck has a picture of him posing with his F4. and he looked just like Walt D.

----------


## journeybear

> here's a self portrait by gaugin with mandolin:


That's great! Very cool. Hey, I think I've just found my new avatar!

Wait! What? D'oh!  :Disbelief:   :Mad:   :Crying:  

 :Grin:

----------


## journeybear

> To _us_, he is a famous guy playing a mandolin; to the general pop-listening public, he is an ex-Beatle playing a left-handed Ukelele. #


This is from a guy whose avatar is Bugs Bunny playing a - a -  :Confused:  oh, never mind!

Hey, waitaminnit! What cartoon character is more famous than Bugs Bunny? And clearly he plays a - a - oh, never MIND!  :Whistling:  

 :Grin: 

PS: Pogo missed the group portrait shoot because he had a gig - playing mandolin, natch!  :Laughing:

----------


## billkilpatrick

ah-yeh!...

----------


## OKMike

Kermit, Teddy Roosevelt's son played mandolin.

----------


## journeybear

From http://anecdotage.com/ -

Luciano Pavarotti fell in love with vocal music as a young man. One day, he plunked himself down in a chair in the courtyard of the apartment house, played a small mandolin and sang at full throttle for a gaggle of neighbors who tossed candy and nuts in approval. How old was the future tenor? He was five years old.

----------


## JeffD

OK folks, we can add Al Capone to the list.

According to the article linked in that thread, "Capone could read music and liked to play a banjo and a mandola, which is like a mandolin, only bigger".


Who knew?

----------


## John Flynn

I saw a recent picture of comic actor Thomas Lennon (Lt. Jim Dangle on "Reno 911") out of character, playing a 17-fret tenor banjo, holding what appeared to be a barred A major chord in GDAE. I think that would count for this list.

----------


## Eddie Sheehy

> Orville Wright was a player. His bowlback is on display somewhere, and there are pictures of it on this site, but I'm far too lazy to look 'em up and make a link.


It's in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.  I took some pics of it in January.  I think it was a Washburn.

----------


## journeybear

> At one point he got into a fight with an inmate named Lucas, and Lucas stabbed him in the back, Eig said. Capone responded by hitting him in the face with his banjo.


We've been warning people for _years_ about the dangers of banjos.  :Laughing: 

Thank goodness he had the presence of mind to use the banjo instead of the mandola. That could have been tragic!  :Disbelief: 

This may be the only time a gangster actually had an instrument in his instrument case.  :Laughing:

----------


## Jim Garber

I don't know if this came up on this thread yet:

Capone may have had 1 last hita musical 1




> Capone could read music and liked to play a banjo and a mandola, which is like a mandolin, only bigger. According to Larsen, who is working on a documentary about Capone's influence on music in the 1920s and '30s, the gangster begged the warden for permission to form a small band. The warden relented, the inmates sent away for instruments, and Capone made music behind bars.

----------


## journeybear

> It's in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.  I took some pics of it in January.  I think it was a Washburn.


As far as can be determined by perusing the Smithsonian's website, it's the only mandolin they have in their collection - and it's on loan from the San Diego Aerospace Museum.

For more on the subject, read this thread, particularly posts in the 60s - 90s, pages 3 & 4.

But that reminds me - while researching for that thread, I discovered this: The great jazz drummer Louie Bellson's first instrument was a mandolin. As his parents were Italian, he and his siblings got started on stringed instruments.

----------


## Eddie Sheehy

Yep, that's the hinged Washburn tailpiece....

----------


## pickloser

> OK folks, we can add Al Capone to the list.
> 
> According to the article linked in that thread, "Capone could read music and liked to play a banjo and a mandola, which is like a mandolin, only bigger".
> 
> 
> Who knew?


Those tommy guns everybody thought were packed in violin cases were really in mando cases.  It's a recurring problem.

----------


## JeffD

You can get a heck of a tremolo with a tommy gun.

----------


## journeybear

> You can get a heck of a tremolo with a tommy gun.


Unfortunately, more rhythmic than melodic. And only one tempo!

----------


## billkilpatrick

> Unfortunately, more rhythmic than melodic. And only one tempo!


... and what it does to the finish is nobody's business.

"trigger finger" tremolo ... hmmm ...

----------


## journeybear

> ... "trigger finger" tremolo ... hmmm ...


.. and "machine gun" hand. Sorry, it had to be said.  :Grin:

----------


## Neil Gladd

> As far as can be determined by perusing the Smithsonian's website, it's the only mandolin they have in their collection - and it's on loan from the San Diego Aerospace Museum.


The Smithsonian has THOUSANDS of instruments that are not on display. When I was there a month ago, most of the Musical Instrument section has closed off altogether, but even when it was open, it only showed a small sample and none of the mandolins. I made an appointment once to see the mandolin collection (20+ years ago), and they have several, including an 18th century Vinaccia. I have pictures, somewhere...

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

Not only did Al Capone play mandola, but Bugsy played mandolin...

----------


## Eddie Sheehy

He must have got pretty ticked off when people said "Hey, is that a tommy-gun?"

----------


## journeybear

> The Smithsonian has THOUSANDS of instruments that are not on display. When I was there a month ago, most of the Musical Instrument section has closed off altogether, but even when it was open, it only showed a small sample and none of the mandolins. I made an appointment once to see the mandolin collection (20+ years ago), and they have several, including an 18th century Vinaccia. I have pictures, somewhere...


That is good news indeed. I was stunned to see only Orville Wright's mandolin listed when I used their search engine. I mean, literally jaw-dropping stunned. At the other thread I mentioned, I listed what little I found in my online search - very scant. My hope was that they have more in their collection than is catalogued and/or listed online, and it sounds like your visit bears this out. It just doesn't make sense that the mandolin would be so nearly completely ignored. Seeing all of 165 hits on "mandolin" was disheartening to say the least, especially since most of them were merely textual references, and 2/3 of them were repeats.

----------


## journeybear

> Not only did Al Capone play mandola, but Bugsy played mandolin...



Do you mean Bugsy Siegel, Bugs Moran, or Bugs Bunny?  :Grin: 

Um, ya know, I did a little research concerning the origin of the word "mandolin." I had always thought it was a combination of the words "violin" and "mano," Italiano for "hand," as it is closely related to the violin and played with the hand rather than a bow. Then someone pointed out that in the dictionary the etymology goes thusly: "mandolin" from Italian "mandolino," diminutive of "mandola," from French "mandore," modification of Late Latin "pandura," a 3-stringed lute. I dispute this, as it seems more logical for an instrument with four double strings to have evolved from a four-stringed instrument, especially if they are tuned alike, than from a three-stringed instrument, but what do I know? I'm not a professional lexicographer, I'm just an amateur, who happens to have devoted most of my life to this instrument. What do_ I_ know? Harrumph!  :Mad:  

Anyway, the point I am trying to make here is that as far as I can tell, Mr. Bunny is playing a pandura, not a mandolin.  :Disbelief:  Sorry, but it needed to be said. I apologize, because it is such a delightful image, and you seem like a nice guy, and you have clearly brought your son up right, but  ...  :Whistling: 

Then again, what do the folks at Looney Tunes know? They seem to think that subtracting a finger from their characters makes some sort of visual sense; maybe they feel the same way about instruments, and subtracted a string? Maybe Bugs is really playing a tenor? Who knows?  :Confused:

----------


## journeybear

Moving right along ...  :Whistling: 

In November 2005, Lee Evans, British comedian and actor, broke the Guinness World Record for a solo act performing to the biggest comedy audience, playing to 10,108 at the Manchester Evening News Arena, beating the previous record of 8,700 set by Eddie Izzard.

Evans is also a singer and musician as is shown on the Lee Evans XL Live Tour 2005. He can play a variety of instruments, including mandolin, ukulele, guitar, bass, electronic keyboards, piano, and drums.



Ed. note: Nice of them to put mandolin first!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## Bill Snyder

> ... you seem like a nice guy, and you have clearly brought your son up right, but  ... :


You can tell someone is bringing there son up right because they post a picture of Bugs playing and mandolin? Do you read tea leaves too?  :Laughing:

----------


## journeybear

> You can tell someone is bringing there son up right because they post a picture of Bugs playing and mandolin? Do you read tea leaves too?


No, that was a light-hearted and complimentary reference to Jim's new signature line, a quote from his son, who seems to have a presence of mind characteristic of someone beyond his young age.

----------


## Bill Snyder

I would not want strangers hugging my 3 year old.

----------


## John Flynn

I watched "The Moody Blues Live at the Royal Albert Hall" tonight on PBS. It was a pretty cool concert and it prompted me to google some more info about the band. I was surprised to see that according to Wikipedia, guitarist and singer Justin Hayward is an "expert" mandolin player, and played it on their album "A Question of Balance." I gotta go back and listen to that one!

----------


## journeybear

Forgot about this one - Simon and Garfunkel - Simon playing ukulele and Garfunkel playing mandolin!

----------


## Bill Snyder

JB, I don't mean for it to seem like I am picking on you but you do know that that is not Simon or Garfunkel, right?

----------


## journeybear

> JB, I don't mean for it to seem like I am picking on you but you do know that that is not Simon or Garfunkel, right?


OMG!!! I been took in!  :Disbelief:  What was I thinking?!?  :Crying: 








Um, yeah ...  :Grin:  


Kind of running out of material for this thread ... and I've been searching ...  :Whistling: 

Hard to believe we haven't turned up more than the couple dozen or so we have. Perhaps an adjustment in search parameters is needed. Perhaps its popularity truly is less than we'd like to believe. I've gone old school with my search, which involves a lot of scrolling and reading, but it's rather discouraging to realize 600 hits have turned up just two or three names, and a few more for the Women With Mandolins thread. Sigh ...  :Frown: 

Well, back to the grind ...

----------


## JeffD

> Hard to believe we haven't turned up more than the couple dozen or so we have. ...



I started this thread a way back, after I first heard about Orville's mandolin. I do some searching now and again. 

Rarely, but every now and then I or someone does come up with another fameous addition.

I think that back in the day (which is way back for the mandolin), it was not really newsworthy to play mandolin, it wasn't something particularly noticed or written about. Something akin to noticing that Sting likes to watch CSI Miami on television. (I don't know that he does or doesn't, its just an example.)

----------


## journeybear

> I think that back in the day (which is way back for the mandolin), it was not really newsworthy to play mandolin, it wasn't something particularly noticed or written about. Something akin to noticing that Sting likes to watch CSI Miami on television. (I don't know that he does or doesn't, its just an example.)



It's just an example! Don't start analyzing the pros and cons and whys and wherefores of Sting's and/or Stewart Copeland's and/or Andy Summers' choices in TV shows or the hidden significance of Gordon Sumner's (Sting's real name) as it relates to Andy Summers' name or that of his album "Summoner's Tales" or why he would want to watch CSI Miami when it is by far the worst of the three and virtually unwatchable because of the cast's constant mugging and David Caruso's overly ponderous stage presence - it's an _example,_ durn burn it!  :Mad: 

Whew!  :Whistling: 

The point I was making is, I was surprised that a fair amount of dedicated searching has turned up a rather small amount of famous people who play mandolin; I was hoping there would be more. I'm going to try some different search parameters, but I'm taking a break as there are other, more pressing matters to attend to. Curiosity is a harsh mistress - just doesn't want to let go.

BTW, it doesn't seem to be newsworthy _nowadays,_ either ...  :Wink:

----------


## downtowner

I can't believe nobody mentioned our old friend Sheridan Downey.  In fact, if anyone wants to buy his mandolin I can arrange it for a mere $700,000.  If anyone is intersted I can throw in a bridge too.

----------


## barney 59

About 20 years ago I came upon a Martin 2-30 in a music store and they were asking $800 for it--I left the store and thought about it for a day or so and decided that I should buy it. When I called the store they said "Sorry, Bob Dylan bought it!" 
 I ultimately heard the whole story - Dylan was in a recording session and a mandolin was wanted. They called the music store and said "Bring what you have and we'll buy one."  So maybe Bob Dylan....?

----------


## journeybear

> ...  So maybe Bob Dylan....?


Well, there is _this_ well-known album cover, but I'm not sure there's any evidence of him _actually_ playing it.

In another lifetime, thirty odd years ago, I spent a summer and fall in Boulder CO. A music store there had for sale a mandolin supposedly previously owned by Chris Hillman. I wasn't too interested in purchasing it, being both poor and still on my honeymoon with my F-12 - but that didn't stop me from fooling around on it for a good long while, just because ... Something like an A-40 or A-50, I believe.

----------


## barney 59

Well we know he at least played around with a mandolin.

----------


## Mike Bunting

And don't forget Bill.

----------


## journeybear

Bill always struck me as more of a banjo player. Could go a long way toward explaining his condition!  :Laughing: 

BTW, PhotoShop is revoking your license!  :Disbelief:

----------


## billkilpatrick

william macy playing ukulele:


george segal playing baritone ukulele:


... and banjo (famous mandolin players appear to be thin on the ground):

----------


## Booie

Daniel Pearl, Wall Street Journal reporter, was apparently not only an amazing human being, but also an accomplished musician on several instruments, including the mandolin, 

http://www.danielpearlmusicdays.org/about.php

----------


## kristallyn

she was metioned allready ..but ...here she is again
mila jovovitch

----------


## JeffD

lowell bailey

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...lympic+athlete

----------


## AlanN

May have been mentioned in the preceeding pages, but The Marx Brothers all played: Chico - piano, Harpo - (duh) harp, and Groucho vamped on the arch-top guitar. They worked around the time of Loar. In one movie, there's a scene of Groucho in a boat, serenading a young lady. In my hazy mind's eye, I seem to recall his guitar had the Loar look.

----------


## Paul Kotapish

> May have been mentioned in the preceeding pages, but The Marx Brothers all played: Chico - piano, Harpo - (duh) harp, and Groucho vamped on the arch-top guitar. They worked around the time of Loar. In one movie, there's a scene of Groucho in a boat, serenading a young lady. In my hazy mind's eye, I seem to recall his guitar had the Loar look.


Groucho played a Gibson L-5--quite well, in fact. The movie was _Horse Feathers_, and he sang "Everyone Says I Love You" to Thelma Todd. The row of ducks trailing the boat quack along on the chorus, and at the end of the scene Groucho throws his guitar at them. If you look at the scene carefully, you can see that they did a quick edit where they swapped in a cheap-o guitar for him to pitch into the drink. It's very funny.

I've seen some other footage of him playing guitar, too, including a studio publicity piece of him singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" to his daughter in a a setting that recreates that famous boat scene in _Horse Feathers_.



Here's an article about Groucho and his guitar: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyl...erious%20Tale/

----------


## Paul Kotapish

> May have been mentioned in the preceeding pages, but The Marx Brothers all played: Chico - piano, Harpo - (duh) harp, and Groucho vamped on the arch-top guitar. They worked around the time of Loar. In one movie, there's a scene of Groucho in a boat, serenading a young lady. In my hazy mind's eye, I seem to recall his guitar had the Loar look.


One more of Groucho.

----------


## Wesley

I just read a fine novel by Isabelle Allende about the old swashbuckler "Zorro". She descrides Diego/Zorro as a good mandolin player but a bit tenative around other musicians. She also mentions pirate Jean Lafeete as an accomplished guitar player.

It's a fun book if any of you should be in the mood for something like that. 

I'm also reading "Crazy Heart" by Thomas Cobb. It's the new Jeff Bridges movie that should finally earn him an Oscar. No mandolin content but it's pretty obvious that the author knows music and is a player himself. Or else he got a lot of good advise.

----------


## Mandolin Mick

Somewhere in this thread somebody mentioned Keith Richards. Here's a picture of him playing mandolin for the Beggar's Banquet album shoot.

----------


## David M.

Interesting article on *Robert David Hall*, the pathologist on CSI.  BIG collector of Martins, etc.  Plays mando, piano, guitar.

_"Robert David Hall:  Guitar, piano and mandolin. I also used to play flute and French horn when I was younger. I played in a series of semi-good and semi-###### bands and I loved it."_

http://www.abilitymagazine.com/Rober_David_Hall.html

----------


## journeybear

In fact, he was on Craig Ferguson's show last Thursday, 6/24. Surprised the heck out of me. Not mandolin, though ...

----------


## Plectrosaurus

> Wow that is great. Another reason to love O. Henry.


No one mentioned the candy bar he made :-(.

----------


## billkilpatrick

somewhere ... i've seen a photo of mussolini holding a mandolin but can't find it.  he advocated it as an italian instrument and played violin so it's not all that inconceivable:

----------


## Paul Cowham

adrian edmondson (possibly best known from the Young Ones - not sure if he is known across the pond) plays the mandolin

----------


## journeybear

Nope, not famous over here.  :Grin: 

Eh, but what do I know?  :Whistling: 

Oh wait - he's married to Jennifer Saunders of Ab Fab fame? Good enough for me!

----------


## Jim MacDaniel

I remember the Young Ones. Their reruns were on TV over here in the mid to late-80's, maybe early-90's, on MTV IIRC -- a lot of fun, that series.

----------


## Chad Thorne

> I noticed also that Nicolo Paganini was an accomplished mandolin player.


And guitarist.

----------


## Chad Thorne

> Mentioned on other threads, but I think not yet mentioned here, John Paul Jones, bass player with Led Zepplin, now a record producer.


Now also playing in Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme.  I love that he's making new music and not content just to play in "Old ##### of Rock" tours!

----------


## Chad Thorne

> she was metioned allready ..but ...here she is again
> mila jovovitch


There can never be too many mentions of Milla...

----------


## Chad Thorne

> Now also playing in Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and Josh Homme.  I love that he's making new music and not content just to play in "Old ##### of Rock" tours!


 Really?  The censored word is only a colloquial which refers to breaking wind...

----------


## journeybear

> There can never be too many mentions of Milla...


Yes, there can. Been done, and done, and done again. Yawn ...  :Sleepy:

----------


## Paul Cowham

> I remember the Young Ones. Their reruns were on TV over here in the mid to late-80's, maybe early-90's, on MTV IIRC -- a lot of fun, that series.


Very good! 
Adrian is the punk with the stars on his forehead. Interestingly, he plays punk covers on the mandolin with a folk band, the bad shepherds...

The Young Ones was a big hit in the early 80's and brought alternative comedy to the mainstream: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Young_Ones_(TV_series)

----------


## journeybear

> _"Robert David Hall:  Guitar, piano and mandolin. I also used to play flute and French horn when I was younger._ 
> 
> http://www.abilitymagazine.com/Rober_David_Hall.html


Just updated his wikipedia article to reflect this, and referenced the same interview you did - which I found on my own ... or so I thought ... perhaps I was subconsciously guided ...  :Whistling: 

By the way, Jim and manc mando, at first glance I thought the second guy from the left in that photo from "The Young Ones" was Weird Al Yankovic. Of course it's not him, but the resemblance is noteworthy.

----------


## bagpipe

Thanks for posting that. The Young Ones was one of the best shows of the 80's. I enjoyed that clip AND they're playing Teenage Kicks by The Undertones - great stuff.




> adrian edmondson (possibly best known from the Young Ones - not sure if he is known across the pond) plays the mandolin

----------


## Paul Cowham

nice one bagpipe...
plenty more on you tube where that came from ;o)
It's interesting which comedy programes are also famous in Canada/the US. I had no idea that ab fab was famous in America which an earlier post suggests, and that the Young Ones are known by some folks...

----------


## bagpipe

Should have clarified: I grew up in Scotland (Greenock) and moved to Canada in 1988. Thats how I know, and love, The Young Ones. I think thats why I like The Bad Shepherds so much - I know all the original punk songs they're playing, and I really like the folk slant they put on them. I've been watching more of them on Youtube - that Adrian Edmondson is a talented dood.




> nice one bagpipe...
> plenty more on you tube where that came from ;o)
> It's interesting which comedy programes are also famous in Canada/the US. I had no idea that ab fab was famous in America which an earlier post suggests, and that the Young Ones are known by some folks...

----------


## Pez D. Spencer

Van Gogh wanted to play mandolin but he didn't have an ear for it.

----------


## Don Raven

Lady Gaga has future mando player written all over her. Maybe she should get a mando tatoo. Mando Gaga.

----------


## Ed Goist

> Lady Gaga has future mando player written all over her. Maybe she should get a mando tatoo. Mando Gaga.


I wouldn't be at all surprised to see her add a mandolinist to her band. She had a harpist playing a Celtic harp on stage during her Today show performance

----------


## Buttonwood Bob

Suprised that *Al Capone* didn't get mentioned back among  the Moussilini/Italian contributions.  Word has it he took up the mandolin at Alcatraz and developed some honest and respectable licks.  Maybe he had one left over from the days when his bodyguards carried Tompson sub machineguns in their cases after people became suspicious of violin cases.

----------


## journeybear

Oh, but this HAS come up before ... though it was a year ago April. Some funny stuff back there.  :Laughing: 

Also this link brings you to a story about this as well as the framed sheet music for a song he wrote while in prison. This is from another thread from back then.

What a treasure trove of information we have at the Café!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## B. T. Walker

I love this, quoted from the AP article, "Capone's last hit could be a tender love song."

"Capone’s love of music was evident right up to the end of his life. In his research for a book about Capone, Chicago author Jonathan Eig found that even when Capone’s mind was ravaged by syphilis and he was paranoid and delusional, he continued to play his mandola.

That doesn’t mean that Capone totally abandoned his preferred way of settling scores.

“At one point he got into a fight with an inmate named Lucas, and Lucas stabbed him in the back,” Eig said. “Capone responded by hitting him in the face with his banjo.”

Eig joked: “This may be the only time a gangster actually had an instrument in his instrument case.”"

----------


## journeybear

Yep - I've said it before, I'll say it again - that is assault with a deadly weapon!  :Laughing: 

How could you tell which mobster was Al Capone? He was the one with a mandola case (instead of the usual violin case).

----------


## Rob Brown

how about Joey Bishop?  "My mandolin please"

and  Paul McCartney?   (a lefty)

----------


## journeybear

Already mentioned - See posts #15 and #102 for Joey Bishop. And McCartney ... Well, I don't know what to say about this, but somehow neither he nor George Harrison have been mentioned here.  :Disbelief:  Maybe that's because they've been mentioned aplenty elsewhere. I don't know what the rules are here, whether musicians not generally known for playing mandolin should be included (note the absence of guitarists like peter Buck and Rory Gallagher), or if we're supposed to be concentrating on people famous for non-musical reasons. I prefer the latter; the former seems to dilute the thread a bit. Maybe that's just me.  :Confused: 

I don't mean to carp, nor single you out, because a lot of people don't take the time to do this, but a quick Search Thread is often in order before posting to old and long threads. Also, why not read through them first anyway? They often are very fun reads.

----------


## journeybear

Apparently Adrian Edmondson, well-known British comedian, plays mandolin and similar instruments, even has a band, The Bad Shepherds. Thanks to Paul Cowham for the heads-up.

----------


## journeybear

This may be kind of a "So what?" (this thread and similar considerations may be kind of a "So what?",  but so what?  :Wink:  ), but while poking around the interweb, I happened to see that, according to imdb.com, Alicia "Lecy" Goranson, the original "Becky" on "Roseanne," plays guitar and mandolin (and rugby, too, while she attended Vassar). Have not found corroboration, video or otherwise, so she may be just a hobbyist (one soundtrack credit, for singing in "Boy's Dont Cry"), but there it is. I know - "So what?"  :Smile: 

OK, found confirmation in an interview.

----------


## John Flynn

> There can never be too many mentions of Milla...





> Yes, there can. Been done, and done, and done again. Yawn ...


Any future mentions of Milla are welcome as far as I'm concerned. +1 for new pics of her with a mandolin!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## journeybear

Got any? New ones? Didn't think so. If you do, post them - at Women With Mandolins. That's what that thread is for. This one ... well, it seems to me once a famous person has been mentioned, further mention is mere repetition. So, yeah, yawn ...  :Sleepy: 

I know that came out a bit snarky, and I don't mean to single you out. I just don't see the point in bringing her up again, and again, and again. Yes, I am aware she has a certain allure, and a couple of posed photos exist, but repeated mentions just don't add to or further the search for more information on this subject. IMO. YMMV.

----------


## Martin Jonas

I saw this photo in an article on classic MGM musicals that ran in the Guardian newspaper here in the UK last week -- luckily it's in their online edition too (Link).  While this is not a famous person actually _playing_ the mandolin, it is _with_ a mandolin: this is a still of Judy Garland in "Meet Me In St Louis" (1944).  The movie is set in 1904, and so the mandolin in the photo is a period-correct bowlback.  The guy holding the mandolin is Henry H. Daniels Jr, who plays Judy's brother in the movie.

As it happens, there is a scene with Judy Garland from this movie on Youtube, which has that mandolin as a prominent prop throughout (even though it doesn't seem to be on the soundtrack).  Different scene from the still, though: Judy wears a different dress.  Of course, somebody in the comments refers to it as a ukulele...:



Martin

----------


## journeybear

Interesting. I've seen this movie 3-4 times, it's in the collection, but I've never noticed the mandolin before. Must have been watching Judy.  :Wink:  Thanks for pointing that out. And nice of the prop master to use a period-appropriate instrument.  :Mandosmiley: 

I tried  searching through imdb.com with mandolin as a keyword, thinking that it might show up in someone's bio info or trivia, as it did with Lecy - got 46 hits but had no luck narrowing it down from there to anything relevant (besides "Captain Correli's Mandolin," of course). I don't know how their search engine kicked out those hits. I've also had difficulty with google searches, which keep turning up musicians as playing mandolins rather than non-musicians (one way to interpret the subject). Frustrating.

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## journeybear

OK, wrong instrument, but fascinating story. A billionaire bluegrass picker? There's hope!  :Mandosmiley: 

_A rugged iconoclast whose views on life rarely failed to surprise, Hellman was a lifelong Republican who supported labor unions, an investment banker whose greatest joy was playing songs of the working class in a bluegrass band, and a billionaire who wanted to pay more taxes and preferred the company of crooners and horsemen who shared his love of music and cross-country “ride and tie” racing._
Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/14Vgl)

Disclaimer: He was (among other things) founder and chairman of this news organ, thus the laudatory three-page obit.

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## Steve Lavelle

I believe Mr Hellman was a banjo player, not that there's anything wrong with that. I started on banjo myself. But this may be the wrong thread.

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## Pete Summers

> Van Gogh wanted to play mandolin but he didn't have an ear for it.


That's worth the price of admission, right there.  :Laughing:

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## Chad Thorne

> This looks like a good opportunity for someone to post a link to the Milla Jovovich picture agin  
> 
> Chip



 Done. There was another one where she was naked, but I think this a family-friendly forum and some might object. (I wouldn't!) Besides, she's just as beautiful with clothes on, IMO...

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## John Flynn

If my memory serves it was the Cafe's fearless leader who first posted the now-taboo photo of Milla, not that I am complaining. I think his first instincts were laudable!

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## mrmando

> As it happens, there is a scene with Judy Garland from this movie on Youtube, which has that mandolin as a prominent prop throughout (even though it doesn't seem to be on the soundtrack).


Well, at the beginning of the clip you can see that the mandolin's bridge is missing! Doesn't look like it has any strings either. Strictly a prop.

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## journeybear

Watching this on my dinky little laptop, I didn't notice that. But that _would_ help explain (perhaps) why I didn't hear any clunkers or clams.  :Wink:

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## JeffD

So it is posted elsewhere that Agatha Christie played mandolin: 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/even...oto-album.html

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journeybear

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## JeffD

And as was pointed out in another thread, somewhere, Mother Theresa played mandolin.




> A local musician and relative taught her to play the mandolin and commented later that she was quick to learn and became a good player.


https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/sebba-teresa.html

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journeybear

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## journeybear

Thanks for reviving this grande olde threade. Here's Dame Agatha as a young lady of eight, with mandolin:

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billkilpatrick

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## Josh Levine

Maybe so, maybe not?

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## Caleb

> The short-story writer, O. Henry, was a mandolin player. I was in Austin this spring and the O. Henry museum was across the street from my hotel, so I went in and saw an old bowl-back on a shelf. The attendent told me that in fact he played quite a bit, and the piano too.


Roadtrip idea for me here.  I read "The Gift of the Magi" every year at Christmas.  Thank you.

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billkilpatrick

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## mandolinstew

Al Capone played mandola.

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## crisscross

There is a picture of former German chancellor Willy Brandt sitting in a beer garden and playing the mandolin.

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## journeybear

> Al Capone played mandola.


Yes. This has been mentioned before, a couple of times.

Please, everyone. Read through a thread before posting. Maybe even use the Search Thread function. Thank you.

And look out for things like this. There is no proof Gromit actually plays mandolin, though he might. But this is PhotoShop.

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## JeffD

Just pointed out to me - astronaut Stephen Robinson plays mandolin, as well as lap steel, stand up bass, and banjo.

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/robinson.html

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## domradave

Jack Crystal, Billy Crystal's father, played mandolin for an hour every Sunday, on his day off.  Billy mentions this in his show, "700 Sundays."  Jack Crystal was a jazz concert promoter and ran Commodore Records and the Commodore Records store.  Jack Crystal brought to the Crystal home a lot of famous musicians.  The show is about Billy Crystal's life growing up in Long Beach, New York.  The show is very moving, especially for me, who was born in Long Beach and lived there until I was 8 years old.

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journeybear

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## mandolinstew

thought this was a new thread,just saw it started May 2007

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## BJ O'Day

> There is no proof Gromit actually plays mandolin, though he might. But this is PhotoShop.


Gromit IS the smarter one.

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journeybear, 

zedmando

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## journeybear

> Just pointed out to me - astronaut Stephen Robinson plays mandolin, as well as lap steel, stand up bass, and banjo.


'Twas ever thus - the good tempered by the bad. He just couldn't have said, "Enough's enough;" he had to go and pick up the banjo.  :Frown: 

This reminds me of the story from a couple of years ago, about Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who brought a guitar to the ISS, and shot a video of "Space Oddity" up there. He doesn't play it (in the video), just uses it as a prop, but it's cool anyway. He messes with the words too, a bit.

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## JeffD

There is another astronaut plays mandolin - he hasn't been on a mission yet. I can't find the thread but the gist of it was naming new folk tunes after geological features of Mars. Something like that.

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## travellerbytrade

> Does Levon Helm count?


Does Levon Helm count? Levon will always count, no matter what. What a great voice, too.

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## johnbaxter

Here's a uke custom built for Warren Buffet.






> I just saw a couple of shots of Warren Buffett playing what looks like an old Martin ukulele on the AP Photo wire yesterday. He played with the Quebe Sisters Band at the Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting in Omaha on Saturday. The caption said it was his own uke.
> Chuck

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## barney 59

Someone in here mentioned Judy Garland and a mandolin in a movie. The movie was "Meet Me in St Louie" Judy did not play the mandolin but one of the other actors did. It was a Washburn bowl back and a few years ago it showed up on ebay and backed by a certificate from Warner Bros. that it was the actual prop from the movie. If I remember correctly it sold for the whopping price of $200!

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